Russian metals magnate Oleg Deripaska (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP)
(Picture: AP)Bank accounts of a British businessman accused of having ties to a sanctioned Russian oligarch have been frozen for the next six months.
Graham Bonham-Carter is suspected by the National Crime Agency (NCA) of helping billionaire oil magnate Oleg Deripaska to “mask the true owner” of a string of luxury homes in the US and UK.
Mr Deripaska was hit with British sanctions earlier this month.
He has also been sanctioned in the US where he is accused of ties to Russian organised crime, ordering the murder of a businessman, racketeering, extortion, threats, and wire-tapping.
At Westminster magistrates court on Thursday, Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram extended a freezing order on five bank accounts held by Bonham-Carter, containing more than £100,000.
Lawyers for Bonham-Carter did not put up opposition to the extended freezing order, writing to the court to say they are “not in a position to oppose the application today”.
At an earlier hearing, Andrew Chadwick, representing the NCA, told the court he has been investigating businesses and properties with suspected links to Deripaska, including homes worth more than £50 million in Belgravia and the Grade II listed Hamstone House in Surrey.
“My investigation to date in respect of Mr Bonham-Carter is that he is heavily linked with a well-known Russian oligarch, who is linked to various crimes and criminality and is indeed currently sanctioned in the United States of America,” he said.
“It is alleged the funds put into the accounts held by Mr Bonham-Carter are either for the use of, or from, criminal activity.”
The court was told £797,000 has been transferred between November 2020 and January 2022 through four accounts at NatWest and a Clydesdale bank account in Bonham-Carter’s name, which are all under NCA investigation.
In October last year, FBI agents raided luxury homes in New York and Washington allegedly tied to Deripaska, while sanctions were first imposed in the US in 2018.
The properties are owned through Gracetown inc, a corporate entity registered in Delaware, with Mr Bonham-Carter listed as chief executive.
Homes in Belgrave Square and Belgrave Mews are owned through a British Virgin Islands registered company, the court heard, while £18 million Hamstone House is registered to a company based in Cyprus.
“Mr Bonham-Carter has well-documented, strong links to Russian national Mr Deripaska who is subject to US sanctions”, said Mr Chadwick.
“It is suspected properties held in the name of Mr Bonham-Carter and companies he is linked to do in fact belong to Mr Deripaska.
“The reason for the structure is to mask the true owner and ultimate beneficiary, and evade sanctions.”
He said there are “suggestions of money laundering taking place”, but confirmed that Bonham-Carter has no criminal convictions and is not suspected of direct links to Russian organised crime.
Mr Chadwick pointed the court to a 2018 announcement from the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, making a string of allegations against Deripaska as sanctions were imposed.
Deripaska, who is close to Putin and has represented Russia abroad, is accused of “money laundering, threatening the lives of business rivals, illegally wiretapping a government official, extortion and racketeering, bribery, ordering the murder of a businessman, and links to Russian organised crime,” said Mr Chadwick.
At today’s hearing, Mr Chadwick confirmed that his enquiries are ongoing into the luxury homes, adding: “I’ve identified further accounts.”
When the conflict in Ukraine began, Deripaska was one of many Russian business leaders to speak out against war.
“Peace is very important! It is insane to prolong [peace] negotiations!” he wrote online.
Despite his anti-war stance Deripaska was among a raft of Russian businessmen who were sanctioned by the UK on March 8.
A court in Washington this week rejected Deripaska’s attempt to overturn the US sanctions that were imposed in 2018.
In the wake of the first freezing order court hearing, one of Deripaska’s London mansions was occupied by protestors, before they were evicted by squadrons of police.
A temporary freezing order on the bank accounts of Bonham-Carter is now in place for six months, with a full hearing expected in the case later this year.
