The Crown Prosecution Service UK has frozen a luxury mansion in the London district of Highgate, valued at $32.7 million. The property belongs to Yu Cong, a Chinese-born individual who holds Cambodian citizenship. The restrictive measures were imposed due to suspicion that the property was purchased with funds of illegal origin. However, no charges have been brought against the owner for committing crimes in the UK.
WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE FREEZING OF THE PROPERTY
According to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the proceeds of crime unit of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on 3 July 2026 submitted documents to the land registry confirming the freezing of the mansion.
As noted in the publication, information about the measures taken was previously not public. The documents were obtained by Transparency International U.K. and passed on to the OCCRP.
WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE PROPERTY OWNER
According to the documents, Yu Cong purchased the mansion in July 2024. The CPS has not disclosed details of the investigation and did not respond to inquiries about the origin of the funds used to purchase the property.
The publication specifically emphasises that Yu Cong has not been charged with any criminal offences in the UK. He also did not respond to journalists' inquiries about the transaction and the origin of the funds.
HISTORY OF THE MANSION
The mansion previously belonged to Nurali Aliyev, the grandson of the former president of Kazakhstan.
In 2019, the property was frozen by the National Crime Agency (NCA) as part of proceedings for an unexplained wealth order. However, the following year, the court overturned both the order and the freezing of the asset.
After this, according to registration documents, Nurali Aliyev sold the mansion to Yu Cong. The article emphasises that there is no evidence of any ongoing connection between them.
WHAT OTHER ASSETS ARE MENTIONED
Land registry documents also show that Yu Cong purchased an apartment worth around $8 million in 2022 at the Gasholders Building complex near King's Cross station in London. This property is not subject to the freezing order.
According to the publication, in July 2024, ownership of the apartment was transferred to a person named Xu Peng. The article notes that the nature of their relationship with Yu Cong is not specified.
Separately, it is reported that Yu Cong and Yuan Yihua, also a Chinese-born individual with Cambodian citizenship, appear in corporate registries in Singapore and Cambodia. Yuan Yihua was also previously the subject of a separate CPS asset freezing order.
WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE PROSECUTION SERVICE'S POSITION
As reported by OCCRP, the CPS stated it is stepping up efforts to identify and recover assets suspected of being purchased with funds of illegal origin. In a statement from the department on 4 June 2026, it said that asset recovery would become one of the priorities of its prosecution strategy.
