SFO secures almost £1.2m from owner of luxury apartment in West London

Article summary

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has secured £1,198,424.78 from the owner of a luxury apartment in West London following an investigation into the purchase of the property. The SFO investigated the £4.25m apartment, a number of Swiss banks and offshore companies as it was suspected that the owner, Julio Faerman, purchased the property with corrupt funds following his own criminal conduct in Brazil. While under investigation by Brazilian prosecutors, Faerman confessed to paying bribes in order to win contracts for the Dutch company SBM Offshore NV. The Head of the Proceeds of Crime and International Assistance Division, Liz Baker, stated: ‘This is an excellent result for the SFO, sending a clear message that we will not sit back and allow the United Kingdom to be a safe harbour for dirty money. We will continue to investigate, confiscate and recover criminal assets which are held on our shores.’