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‘Londongrad’: How a golden visa system welcomed Russian ‘dirty money’

London has earned the nickname ‘Londongrad’ as the preferred destination for wealthy Russians - some with links to the Kremlin.

It’s been estimated property worth more than £1.5bn has been financed with Russian ‘dirty money’ in the UK.

Many of the Russian oligarchs who are close to Putin came to the UK unvetted on a golden ticket visa system.

But the government is now scrapping the scheme, in a crackdown on money laundering.

So how much influence have these oligarchs had in the UK? And how much Russian money is there in the UK?

Policy Editor Lewis Goodall reports.

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5 minutes