Russian president Vladimir Putin 's personal wealth of millions will be frozen if it can be found by the UK's new "kleptocracy" unit.
An inquiry to identify where the hidden money is stashed is set to be launched by the National Crime Agency, working alongside the intelligent services.
A team is expected to identify any assets owned by Putin in the UK, after the Russian leader built up a vast personal wealth during his time in the Kremlin.
His official declared annual income is a salary of about 10 million roubles (around £70,000 a year).
The government has already placed Putin under sanctions, so any assets identified by the NCA will be frozen immediately.
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Speaking in the House of Commons at the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Boris Johnson pledged a new ‘Kleptocracy Cell’ to “target sanctions evasion and corrupt Russian assets hidden in the UK”.
The Prime Minister called the Russian President a “blood-stained aggressor who believes in imperial conquest” and was “always determined to attack his neighbour, no matter what we did”.
He told MPs “this hideous and barbarous venture of Vladimir Putin must end in failure” as he revealed London will now target all major Russian banks, five oligarchs and more than 100 companies and individuals.
The UK immediately froze assets worth £154bn in VTB - the second largest bank in Russia - while Rostec, Russia's biggest defence company with over two million employees, with exports of over £10bn of arms each year, also faced strict sanctions as part of measures the PM said were designed to "hobble" Russia's economy.
The PM said the new powers would allow the UK to “totally to exclude Russian banks from the UK financial system” and stop them from accessing sterling and clearing payments through the UK.
He said about half of Russia’s trade is in dollars and sterling, and said the US is taking similar measures to the UK.
He said: “These powers will also enable us to ban Russian state and private companies from raising funds in the UK, banning dealing with their securities and making loans to them.
“We will limit the amount of money that Russian nationals will be able to deposit in their UK bank accounts and sanctions will also be applied to Belarus for its role in the assault on Ukraine.
An NCA spokesman said: “The NCA are working closely with government partners to establish the new cell at pace.
“We will use all legislative options and tactics available to the agency to pursue corrupt elites laundering their assets within the UK.
“We have already surged additional officers to support existing efforts and will further enhance the unit to progress what are inevitably complex and lengthy operations.”
The NCA has stressed that the new unit will not only investigate corrupt Russian money in the UK but other countries including Belarus, which has aided and abetted the invasion of Ukraine.
