Anti-mafia author Roberto Saviano
on Thursday urged Britain to stay in the EU saying that only by
complying with EU rules will it have a hope of ending its status
as the pre-eminent haven for dirty money.
'Gomorra' author Saviano said "If I were to ask which
country was the most corrupt in the world, you might say
Afghanistan, Nigeria or Russia - maybe Mexico. I would say, the
United Kingdom."
"In 2013 a study by the Italian transnational crime
research centre Transcrime revealed that Italian mafias have
taken over numerous UK businesses: the Sicilian Cosa Nostra has
invested in gambling; the Naples Camorra in public building
contracts, restaurants, and property development in Scotland;
the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta in London property.
"A number of studies have shown that the City of London is
the world capital for laundering the profits of drug
trafficking. The Russian mafia has contributed to the London
housing bubble and inflated prices by investing in property,"
Saviano said.
He concluded: "It is probably the argument least used by
the remain campaign, but the only chance the UK has of avoiding
a flood of criminal capital is to stay in Europe. How can we
deal with issues that are by definition international - money
laundering, terrorism, organised crime, drug trafficking - using
only national instruments? The walls of regulation needed to
stop the flow of dirty money can be built and maintained only in
cooperation with the rest of Europe."
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