Oxford Street candy shops selling counterfeit goods may be owned by ‘oligarchs abroad’

By Hannah Neary, Local Democracy Reporter

Oxford Street’s US-themed candy shops may be run by foreign oligarchs, a council leader has warned.

Westminster City Council wants to tackle “dirty money” amid its crackdown on shops selling fake and counterfeit products in the West End, like out-of-date chocolates and unsafe vapes.

Enforcement officers have found the stores are often owned by shell companies with no assets. So far, the council has seized about £600,000 worth of dodgy goods from the sweet shops and souvenir stores.

Council leader Adam Hug said it was difficult to pinpoint exactly who is running the shops and the authority is struggling to get landlords renting out the shops to chuck out tenants.

Mr Hug told fellow councillors at a meeting on Wednesday of last week: “There are issues around identifying who is running shops in Oxford Street and elsewhere.

“There is a problem of criminal activity and also issues around untransparent ownership from abroad which may or may not be from oligarchs.”

The authority is also investigating 30 shops for business rates evasion. But a chief officer recently told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the authority was unlikely to reclaim £7.9m in unpaid business rates.

Cllr Hug also told councillors the authority is looking into money laundering with HMRC and other organisations to try and tackle the issue.

A new report by Cllr Hug said: “There is a growing problem of candy and poor-quality souvenir shops on Oxford Street and in the surrounding West End area… Through partnership working with relevant academics, the council will also be looking to understand how to inform the national policy debate and tackle issues around ‘dirty money’ in Westminster.

“Of particular interest are empty or underused homes by oligarchs and their families, as well as opaque investment in commercial property.

“As a responsible local authority, it is in the council’s interest to see greater powers and resources given to enforcement agencies and responsible bodies, such as Companies House, the Land Registry, HMRC and others to help improve transparency, accountability, and action.”

The report also said the council has written to 28 landlords urging them to “consider the impact ” of the candy shops on Oxford Street. It adds: “Enforcing against these stores remains challenging, due to the complex chains or leases, sub-leases, and licences in place.”

Conservative councillor Rachael Robathan said the previously Tory-run council made great steps to tackle the rising number of candy and souvenir shops along Oxford Street and asked Cllr Hug how the now Labour-led council is continuing the mission.

She added: “It’s a concern because they are proliferating. Items like money laundering… is clearly not an item which the council has jurisdiction over but clearly has a huge impact in our city.

Cllr Hug said the council is continuing its crackdown on dodgy stores and more action is in the pipeline, but it cannot be announced yet to avoid compromising the success of planned operations.

Pictured top: Raided goods at the shop on Oxford Street (Picture: Westminster City council)