hey!

this topic is for post about famous money laundering activities around the globe and to post about businessman that opreat in legal and illegal world... beemoe - i think this topic going to be very very intersting!

the huge amounts of mafia profits are going to different places around the globe, about large part of this activity we don't know...but what we do know is also very intersting, for exmple: camorra investing in spain-in the costa del sol area they buy a lot of tourist resorts and pepole say camorra had built large part of tenriff tourisem...in marbella-rolex shops ,night clubs etc'......

so-start your engains!!!! and post good stuff!!!!

:D

x-man.

Marbella is soooooooo interesting because both AK (Adnan Khasshoggi) and Al-Kazzar live and operate out of there. Gilbraltar (offshore finance center) is nearby. I wonder are there any O.C. groups that have sponsored OFC`s, a la The Lansky Group in the Bahamas (The Masters of Paradise Island). What do you know about a very discreet OFC named Campione?

From Loretta Napoleoni: I invited her over to the LA Crimefile and she came by to take a look at what we were doing. This lady does her own legwork. Her books do a good job of going behind the scenes. http://www.lorettanapoleoni.com

From her website:



Special Guest Article

10 Things You Don't Know About Terrorism


Loretta Napoleoni is a true journalist, someone willing to uncover shocking facts that the powerful fatcats would rather keep secret. That's dangerous. Be sure to tell others to read this remarkable article.

by Loretta Napoleoni
Two and a half years into the 'war on terror', the US is running a $500 billion budget deficit, its highest ever and the country is struggling to cover war costs. Terrorism seems to be a very costly business. So how can terrorists afford it? The answer is simple: terrorism is their business.
1. Terrorism has always been a business

During the Cold War terrorism was the trade of the superpowers. They fought wars by proxy across the world by funding local armed groups with legal or covert operations (for example the Contras in Central America). In the late 1970s-early 1980s, some of these groups managed to privatize terrorism. To raise money, they used a mixture of legal and illegal activities -- the IRA had the monopoly of private transport in Belfast; the PLO got a cut out of the Hashish trade from the Bekaa Valley; Carlos the Jackal and Aby Nidal became 'guns for hire' for Arab leaders such as Gaddafi.

2. Globalization boosted terrorism

In the 1990s, as international economic and financial barriers were lowered, terror groups expanded their businesses, which become transnational. Today, money is raised cross border, as proved by the joint business empires of Yousef Nada and Idris Nasreddin, two of bin Laden's associates. According to the UN, their portfolios, which range from real estate to fisheries, sprawl across Europe and Africa, and are worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

3. Each time an American reads a newspaper or takes a sip at a soft drink, they contribute to Osama bin Laden's financial empire

Terror businesses could not stay out of the largest consumer market in the world, the US. In the mid 1990s, while residing in Sudan, Osama bin Laden acquired 70% of Gum Arabic Company Ltd, which produces about 80% of the world supply of gum arabic. Extracted from the sap of the acacia trees that grow in Sudan, gum arabic is used to make ink stick to newspapers, to prevent sediment forming in soft drinks and to create a protective shell around sweets and pills to keep them fresh. The US is the largest importer in the world. Bin Laden's investment proved to be a very sound one. In November 1997, when Clinton imposed economic sanctions on Sudan, a number of American importers including the Newspaper Association of America, and the National Soft Drinks Association of America, objected. Eventually, Gum Arabic was exempted.

4. The Terror Economy is Bigger than the GDP of the United Kingdom

Globalization also facilitated the merging of terror enterprises with criminal and illegal activities. This meant big business. Today their joint yearly turnover is a staggering $1.5 trillion dollars, higher than the GDP of the United Kingdom.

5. The terror economy props up western capitalism

The bulk of the $1.5 trillion flows into Western economies and gets money laundered in the US and Europe. This is a vital infusion of cash into these economies. If we were to cut it overnight, the West would be plunged into a recession.

6. The illegal/terror economy grows faster than the US economy

Up to now, terror business has been conducted in dollars, primarily in 100 dollars bills; so are arms and drugs smuggling and other criminal and illegal activity. Thus, a rough indication of the rate of growth of the terror economy is given by the yearly infusion of new stock of US dollars. In the year 2000, as much as two third of the US money supply, equivalent to $500 billion, was taken out of the US monetary system for good and is now held abroad. This figure refers to money taken abroad in suitcases or via offshore accounts. If these statistics are correct, then the rate of monetary growth of the terror/illegal economy is higher than that of the US economy.

7. 9/11 was one of the greatest insider-trading events in modern history

Terrorists are also very skilled speculators. During the week before 9/11, an unusually high volume of trading was reported in certain sectors, e.g. air transport, energy and insurance. Shares of American Airlines and United, the US airlines involved in the 9/11 attack, were targeted. A similar trend was reported in the insurance business, with leading companies becoming the object of exceptional and unexpected speculation on the futures market. The weekend following the attack, Ernst Welteke, president of the German Bundesbank, admitted that there had been insider trading by 'terrorists' and added that the commodities markets had also been targeted. Indeed, days before the attack, oil and gold experienced a sudden and inexplicable rise in price. This was followed by a surge in activity on the futures market. On 12 September, oil prices jumped by more than 13 per cent and gold prices went up by over 3 per cent. Prices continued to climb all week. Anybody who knew what was going to happen on 11 September could have predicted such a trend.

8. Profiteering on Terrorism

Terrorism is such a good business that even the US government tried to get a stake in it. Last summer, the Pentagon was forced to abandon a 20 months project, Future PAM, to launch an online futures market that allowed speculators to bet on assassinations, coups and acts of terrorism. The project was headed by a leading expert on state sponsored terrorism, retired vice admiral John Poindexter, formerly national security adviser under President Reagan. In the1990s, Poindexter was convicted on five felony counts, including lying to Congress, destroying documents and obstructing congressional inquiries into the Iran-Contra scandal. Several US senators strongly opposed the project on the ground that terrorists would be the biggest beneficiaries as they are the ones who carry out the attacks.

9. Terrorism is such a good business that nobody really wants to eradicate it

So far, international efforts to curb terror financing have failed. An insignificant $140 million of terror money have been frozen since 9/11, 70% coming from accounts held in the West. Business profits generated by Al Qaeda front companies and donations from the Muslim world are mostly untouched. For example, Haramain Charitable Foundation, a Saudi charity worth $30 million per year, is still active in several countries. Recently Haramain has opened a new Islamic school in Jakarta, a hot bed of Islamist terror in South East Asia. Twice the Saudis have agreed to shut this charity, which is headed by Sheikh Saleh bin Abdul Aziz al-Ashaikh, Saudi minister for Islamic affairs, but never did it. So far the Saudis have frozen $4.7 million of terror money, closed 6 of the 241 Saudi charities and prohibit the collection of coins at the entrance of shopping malls. Not a lot when compared with UN reports stating that prior to 9/11, as much as 20% of Saudi GDP went to fund Al Qaeda alone.

10. Twice the US passed on the opportunity to get hold of Osama bin Laden

Is terror such good business as to prevent the arrest of bin Laden? In 1996, the Sudanese Minister of Defence, Major General Elfatih Erwa, offered to extradite Osama bin Laden, then resident in Sudan, to the US. American officials declined the offer. Instead, they told General Erwa to ask bin Laden to leave the country. 'Just don't let him go to Somalia,' they added. In 1993, 18 US soldiers had been brutally killed in Somalia in street riots involving Al Qaeda supporters and the US feared that bin Laden's presence in the country would create further unrest. When Erwa disclosed that bin Laden was going to Afghanistan, the American answer was 'let him go'. A few weeks after 9/11 the leaders of the two Pakistani Islamist parties negotiated with Mullah Omar and bin Laden for the latter's extradition to Pakistan to stand trial for 9/11. Once again the US refused the offer.

Two and a half years into the 'war on terror' it is apparent that the winners are the terrorists -- while Al Qaeda's finances are still intact the US is running the highest budget deficit in history. What can be done? Start by treating terrorism for what it is: a global business; force our Muslim allies to act immediately to curb terror funding and concentrate our efforts to hunt terror money in our countries, even if that implies putting under investigation the strongholds of Western capitalism: Wall Street, the City of London and the thousand offshore centres linked to them.

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Loretta Napoleoni is an economist who has worked for banks and international organizations in Europe and the US. She has written novels and guide books in Italian and translated and edited books on terrorism. She is among the few people who interviewed the Red Brigades in the early 1990s. She developed the idea to research and write a book on the economics of terrorism while interviewing the leaders of the Red Brigades.

Napoleoni's latest book, published September 2003, is Modern Jihad: Tracing the Dollars Behind the Terror Networks










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Indeed x-man should become a very interesting topic.

Some Dutch input from me. Johnny Mieremet had invested in property in Thailand. He was building a tourist complex in Banglamung. Willem Holleeder (currently in jail awaiting trial) has invested in property in Belgrado. Both Holleeder and Mieremet laundered millions through shady real estate deals. Both men using Willem Endstra (murdered) one of the richest men in The Netherlands. Holleeder's girlfriend is Maike Dijkhuis, daughter of property tycoon Chris Dijkhuis.

This is the first chapter of "Revelations" by Denis Robert. This is the book that a lot of very sharp journalists, forensic accountants and financial professionals talk about. Recents books by Alan Block, Jefferey Robinson, James Henry and Lucy Komisar (forthcoming) make good use of this book. For good reason because it goes behing the scenes on how crime, finance and geopolitics intersect.









Révélation$


The Financial Village




The story I’m about to recount may seem hard to believe.

The story unravels in the heart of what’s commonly called the “Financial Planet,” the “Global Village”, but perhaps best called the “Financial Village.” In this seemingly impenetrable universe, information circulates at almost unreal speed. Its language is coded, decipherable only by insiders, and the rules are rarely written or communicable. Many of us outside this microcosm behave as if the speculations, mergers, and massive moving of funds at lightning speed have no concrete bearing on our lives. What most of us know is that bankers and brokers buy and sell securities. They let us know from time to time that all’s well. They have their own press, their own television shows, their specialized books, their stock market index and plenty of myths in the making.

To start off, a man from Luxembourg’s financial inner circle will serve as our guide.

I met Ernest Backes four years ago in a small office belonging to the Luxembourg Butcher’s Union. His old Ford Scorpio was parked in the lot outside. “So he drives a Ford Scorpio” was my first observation. The mileage counter read 300 000 kilometers. “That’s one solid Scorpio,” was the second thing that came to my mind. Backes was, I saw, an enigma, one with certain problematic traits. This Rosport sparkling water drinker spoke like a book. “You’re going to have to filter through what this one says,” I told myself. But I was wrong. What I’ve now understood leaves me gaping at the enormity of the situation.

Ernest Backes was born in 1946 in Trier, Germany where Karl Marx was also born. The similarities between the two men don’t stop here. Both are heavy set, bearded and likely to attack the interests of capitalism. Marx is obviously better known than Backes. But Backes is alive which, for our purposes, is an advantage. He’s alive, lucid and in possession of an excellent memory.

What follows is the story of an association of international banks located principally in England and in Luxembourg but also in France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United States and in a number of tax havens. Originally only a hundred or so of these banks were involved in the creation of this interbank cooperative. Recently, we’ve discovered a list of accounts revealing that the “cooperative” enlists more than two thousand banks representing more than one hundred countries and uses more than fifteen thousand listed accounts of which only half officially exist.

We’ll come back to these figures and to the unusual practice of carrying out international financial transactions without the actual presence of the parties concerned. Among the users of this system are bankers, investment firm managers, wealthy individuals looking for tax exemptions, policemen, heads of military secret services, CEOs of multinational corporations and the “men of straw” of offshore companies.

The pages that follow demonstrate that a system of concealment regarding bank operations was put into effect and backed by bank directors, financial managers, corporate managers and influential politicians. The system is perfectly organized, user friendly and still in operation.

The reasons for concealing international banking transactions are numerous. While a certain degree of dissimulation to maintain confidentiality in business transactions may be benign, concealment might also be used to cover up covert operations such as money laundering, insider trading, corruption and tax evasion. Hidden from the eyes of the market, tax departments, competitors and intelligence services, these transactions may be legal or barely legal.

They can also be entirely illegal.

We are calling into question this system’s users as well as its managers and administrators, both European or American, who make it possible for clients to transfer securities and funds covertly, and who themselves, have used the system to do the same.

This fraud could very well add up - if we had the means of calculating retroactively - to hundreds of billions of dollars. But never mind the colossal figures: what’s important here is to explain how a formerly healthy system, conceived to facilitate international banking transactions, has been put to other purposes.

Because these international transactions go undeclared, the system causes governments to lose significant tax revenue. Its other victims include millions of stock holders completely unaware of these practices and, of course, tax payers who end up, when all is said and done, footing the bill. We believe that this scandal is planetary though its source is possible to locate. One of the structures that we hold responsible for concealing and facilitating these practices has its headquarters and most of its offices in Luxembourg- City.
It should be mentioned that one of the important minds behind the conception of this project died a mysterious death in Corsica in 1983. His name was Gérard Soisson.

It should be mentioned that another man behind the initial project was Ernest Backes. For eighteen years he kept quiet, undoubtedly hoping that one day the story we are about to tell would be brought out into the open.

Only two international clearing houses liquidate the large majority of the Financial Planet’s international transactions.

Luxembourg, a small, quiet country in the heart of Europe known for its legendary discretion is home to two hundred and seventeen listed banks. Luxembourg with its royal family and its politicians getting ready for the European Union. Luxembourg and the unfailing American support it has benefited from since 1945. Luxembourg collapsing under the weight of dollars, euros, francs, yens, marks, and florins. Luxembourg and its 430 000 inhabitants. Luxembourg where in 1999, 554 billion dollars were invested in the stockmarket - four hundred times more than in the Bahamas, fifty times more than in the Channel Islands, twenty five times more than the Cayman Islands, six times more than in Bermuda, two times more than in Singapore, more than in Hong Kong... Most of Luxembourg’s citizens are unaware of what we’re revealing here, though unaware doesn’t necessarily mean “dupe.” It’s possible to ignore the details.


The financial structure we’re questioning has, since September 1999, gone by the name of Clearstream. Formerly it was called Cedel, an acronym meaning the central delivery office for transferable securities. Cedel was founded on September 28th 1970 in Luxembourg as one of two international clearing houses.
The other is called Euroclear and has its headquarters in Brussels.

We’re accustomed to saying and thinking that money, particularly the virtual money of bank computers, has no memory and moves at the speed of light from one account to another, from one fiscal haven to another. Without a trace of its trajectory.

This is false.

A majority of these incessant transactions are recorded in the accounting archives of these clearing houses. The difficulty resides in reading and interpreting the documents.

We are dealing with complete abstraction: money as such has not existed for some time.

But back to Ernest. At the time, I had just left the French newspaper Liberation, where I had worked for twelve years. I had also written a book relating my investigations in the heart of politico-financial affairs. Due to the nature of the book, its publication provoked the inevitable responses from paranoid conspiracy theorists and individuals victimized by the court system. I was contacted by a young man from Luxembourg, the son of the liberal parliament member René Mart, nephew of the former Minister of the Economy, Marcel Mart, and cousin of RTL television news reporter Caroline Mart. Marco Mart, as he is called, was stripped clean by one of the largest banks in Luxembourg, the International Bank. He has since been involved in a long, drawn-out court battle with the bank. Betrayed by his lawyers, abandoned by the public prosecutor, and cut off from his family since the death of his father, Marco Mart was helped by a mysterious consultant whose identity he kept from me. This silence piqued my curiosity. Who was this mystery man lurking in the shadows?

My questions concerning this “consultant” went unanswered until the Geneva Appeal when, for the first time on a political scale, the hypocrisy of tax havens was put under fire. Ernest Backes must have enjoyed this moment. In his first letter to me, he referred to himself as Sancho Panza and to me as Don Quixote: “I know this is a matter of windmills and I’m going to prove it,” he wrote. What he meant is that we would most likely battle in vain that that the battle was worth fighting.

We began writing each other, sending each other documents and clippings from the press. He was involved in investigations carried out by a number of different parties: the police, tax departments and magistrates of Luxembourg’s neighboring countries looking for information and using his knowledge of the banking sector. I contacted Marco Mart again for a film I was involved in and was finally introduced to his mysterious consultant.

Ernest Backes spoke a great deal but refused to be filmed. Later, he changed his mind and agreed to reveal himself before the camera. This was his first step towards coming out into the public after keeping a low profile for so many years.

Ernest managed a butchers’ cooperative. This job, I understood later, was both a cover and a means of earning a living. For someone who had been a mastermind behind the conception of one of the world’s two international bank clearing systems, the step down must have been dramatic. But Ernest didn’t let on to any bitter feelings. His Scorpio, the last vestige of the time when he still worked in the banking sector, remained parked below the building, worn with the years. He spent a great deal of time and energy explaining to me what I was just beginning to make out. He fed me bits and pieces of the puzzle, a disturbing puzzle and left me to assemble it myself.

I found him interesting but muddled, eccentric but overly cautious, generous in his explanations but cold in how he related facts and very defensive whenever I questioned his way of seeing and analyzing the situation. His manner of speaking was often rough and impassioned and he seemed to have ambiguous feelings toward his country. Although ready to attack the schemes of a number of implicated directors, he was loathe to battle head on, fearing that he would be met with incomprehension. He also feared stirring up the kind of trouble that gets dangerous.

In Luxembourg, silence and a polite smile are virtues.

In Luxembourg, the political parties in power since World War II – the Social Christians, the Liberals, the Socialists – have always maintained close ties with finance institutions. It’s not uncommon to find their representatives on the boards of directors of numerous banks.

In Luxembourg, judges are discreet. Very discreet. And the “finance police” are few in number. Too few.

In Luxembourg, banks are considered friends whose right to privacy requires protection from prying questions. And the Catholic Church watches over this tranquil and prosperous little world.

Early on in our correspondence, I noticed a character trait that become increasingly pronounced as our work together progressed. Ernest Backes’ mind works by association with one idea leading to another, suddenly more significant than the previous one. He constantly tells stories within stories. Spending a day with him is exhausting. In the evening, I was left to reconstruct the information, tiding it and putting it back together like a Russian doll.

The idea of dropping the whole project often crossed my mind.

Ernest spoke a good deal about clearing houses. This was the first time I had heard this term which has no equivalent in French. Ernest would say : “Today, the major international transfers between international banking institutions no longer go from bank to bank. Cash no longer exists. The transactions are performed on the basis of faxmoney.”

The idea is fundamental: money no longer exists. Or rather, the idea of money still exists but not as it formerly did. The term “money” no longer refers to what it did before the invention of microchips and clearing systems. Financial transactions between bankers, buyers and sellers pass through an electronic system founded, Ernest explained in the film, “on the mutual trust of those involved.”


It would seem then, that money has become immaterial. The wealthy are of course concerned with how to transfer their wealth into securities such as mutual funds, stocks, bonds etc. Securities, however, are as immaterial as the funds they represent and exist less and less on paper. Bought and sold everyday through clearing companies, millions of securities have a virtual existence.

How are these exchanges recorded ? Who guarantees the creditworthiness of both parties? What form of proof is there of the sales? Even if securities hop borders, some trace of their transfer has to exist. This intuition fueled my investigation.

From there, I quickly began to see with Ernest’s help, the logic behind clearing houses: to keep track of transactions and earn profits as quickly as possible, preferably without being seen doing so. Once the profits have been made , the next step is to invest them as rapidly as possible, and again, without being seen doing so. If possible.

Speeding up transactions and keeping the nature and amounts of these transfers as concealed as possible are the two obsessions of managers in the clearing business. Yet it is also essential to keep track of these transactions, preferably in a safe but largely inaccessible place.

To get an idea of the sums at stake, note that the current value standard begins at a trillion dollars or euros. The directors add, when they register your surprise, that there are “twelve zeros.” For example, in 2000, Clearstream claimed to have 10 trillion euros in its accounts. In other words, 10 000 billion euros worth of securities are kept in the Clearstream system annually- around forty-seven times France’s national budget. Its competitor Euroclear, reported 7 000 billion euros. In both cases, these clearing companies reported that they handle around 150 million transactions each year. If we look at the number of securities merely passing through their respective networks, the figures (from 1999) are even more remarkable : Euroclear reported around 45 000 billion euros worth of capital transited through its system; Cedel reported just slightly less.

Beyond these figures and this terminology, the word to keep in mind is “trust.” As with any financial exchange, buyers must put their trust in sellers. And vice versa. The clearing company is a space where trust between both parties has been established. Often the parties involved in the transaction never meet.

The entire system is completely abstract: money no longer exists in its usual form, the securities bought and sold are increasingly immaterial and even their profits, except for rare occasions, are virtually administered. But there’s a problem here: how can you put your hands on something virtual? This is where the clearing company steps in. The clearing process guarantees both parties’ creditworthiness and keeps concrete track of the transactions which take place.

Bankers use the term clearing, explaining that they make a kind of “settlement on delivery.” Their business can be likened to a pizza delivery service if, of course, you replace pizzas by securities, and the delivery boy’s scooter by the modem.

Clearing companies are the solicitors of the new world, and like solicitors, they appreciate confidentiality, sometimes to the point of being secretive. Their practices and strategies are kept as far as possible from public view, from people like you and me. They spend a considerable amount of money buttering up the financial press. With journalists outside the financial spheres, it’s a bit more complicated, though it’s also true that few of them have bothered investigating this milieu until now. Clearing enthusiasts hate questions (especially straight forward ones) and the curious men and women who ask them.

I was surprised to find that Euroclear, which owns one of the most beautiful sky scrapers in Brussels - a sixteen story glass building holding 1,300 employees – displays no distinguishing feature on its facade, not even a name on a doorbell. The only ostensible sign of the company’s presence is a clock counting down time until the Euro comes into effect. This clock bears the company’s acronym but is stationed some fifty meters from the building. The reason behind this anonymity was explained to me by a Euroclear employee. The group feels the need to protect itself from anti-globalization militant groups. Clearing companies know perfectly well just how central and instrumental they are to the globalization process.

On the other hand, Clearstream, its Luxembourg-based competitor, shows off its new name on the facade of one of the most beautiful homes in one of Luxembourg’s most up-scale neighborhoods. Here displays of wealth are perfectly acceptable and any fear of anti-globalization demonstrations or violence is readily dismissed. Such things simply don’t happen anymore... I first thought the name Clearstream suggested the idea of “clarity” but the firm’s employees ironically insisted on a slightly different interpretation. According to them, Clearstream meant the “stream that cleans. “

It took some time for me to accept the idea that Ernest Backes would be the man to get me inside the back offices of the Financial Village. If in financial terms, the stock market is referred to as the front office, the clearing company clearly functions as the “back office.”

This 100 kilo salad eater, who all too often weighs down his stories with seemingly banal details, possesses a treasure, a key to the secrets surrounding the figures and codes of the Global Village where being the first to obtain information is a form of power. Ernest Backes, now retired, has a way of relating information that is circuitous at best. He’ll mix a story about the Italian mafia with another about the mysterious activities of secret societies like the Bilderberg group or the Trilatérale Commission. He’ll come up with a scoop on odd characters such as a very influential arms seller named Harry whom everyone supposedly knows about, and connect seemingly unconnected facts, people and events at lightning speed. No doubt about it. Ernest is difficult to manage.

Having been one of the clearing house’s main men, Backes knew the system inside and out. Because of this, his convictions carried particular weight. At a certain point in his professional life, he understood that there was a blind spot making concealment possible. And he saw that nobody else saw which must have been a peculiar feeling.

The clearing house accelerates and records transactions. It also conceals.

But let’s go back several decades. When an insurance agent in Chicago wanted to sell part of his company’s capital to a Greek shipowner, how did he do it? He would go to his bank, let’s say the Bank of New York, and ask his banker to sell the shares. The latter then would hop on a plane to Athens where he would meet with the shipowner’s banker, say at the ABN Amro Bank. The initial purpose of the clearing company was to save time, hence money. There was no longer any need to travel overseas as a central organization guaranteed the viability of the transaction. The basic idea was to bring together bankers from different countries and create a trustworthy entity that would record and endorse bank transactions. Unlike a stock exchange which handles different parts of a transaction, the clearing company would be an essentially passive infrastructure. The shares wouldn’t move around; only the names of their owners would change. The clearing company would handle recording all transfers and endorse modifications.

There are fifteen national clearing organizations in Europe today. Generally unknown to banking clientele, national clearing offices limit their dealings to clearing operations within one country.
As for clearing houses which handle transfers of international capital, there are only two. One, Euroclear, has 1,350 employees, of which 1,300 are in Brussels and the fifty others spread out among ten or so branches throughout the world. Cedel, the other, has its headquarters in Luxembourg and 1,700 employees throughout the world, of which half work in buildings located in central Luxembourg and on the Kirchberg plateau outside the city in the “European” business center. Cedel’s other agencies are in London, Tokyo, New York, Hong Kong, Dubaï and Mexico. It’s clear that the majority of international financial transfers go through Cedel or Euroclear. They are obliged to pass through these agencies and records of them are kept in coded documents.

What we’re talking about here are securities. Even if Euroclear and Cedel transfer money, their specialty remains what bankers call “transferable shares.” These two companies have a near monopoly on international bond exchange. Bond commerce allows clients to borrow and loan money without their names appearing anywhere other than in the bank’s internal documents. Bonds are the preferred financial product of money launderers and clients with a large mix of liquid assets. Cedel and Euroclear also exchange numerous stocks, mutual funds, gold certificates and cash.

While we were making the film, Ernest Backes commented that “Money, whether you invest it in the Bahamas, in Liechtenstein, in Paris, in Francfort or in Luxembourg, circulates in the system. At a given time it can leave the international financial networks and be invested in industry. The question is how much money today actually leaves the big international networks and is invested in industry?”

He added : “If you wanted to mobilize a workers’ union today against what could be called “big capital”, who are you going to attack? A hundred years ago when the first unions began, you could go after the Thyssens and Krupps and the big French industrialists, because everyone knew who they were. Today, if you want to wage battle against “big capital” you have to go after shareholders or mutual fund holders in Vanuatu....”

Backes’ words inspired me to figure out exactly how these international bank networks function, how they fill the seemingly bottomless accounts of banks set up in fiscal havens and how money flows through them and disappears. The Madrid based magistrate, Baltasar Garzón, uses an image to symbolize the battle between judges and white collar criminals. He explains that magistrates are like mammoths after leopards. “When the mammoth gets to the leopard’s hiding place, the leopard is already far away, laughing at the slow giant.” The inability of judges to act quickly is due to the absence of a common judicial space. And thanks to the clearing system, the “leopards” move at lightning speed.

We are going to show how, due to the corruption of the clearing system, fraud is made possible at the international level. And we will see why this happens almost imperceptibly. We will delve into a world where “parallel finance” networks are commonplace. We will see that public authorities remain ignorant of these financial transactions of which we now have clear proof.

In the beginning, I wanted to the get the job done too quickly. My attempt to introduce Ernest Backes to the judges who had signed the Geneva Appeal backfired. Even with Jean de Maillard, a specialist in the field, our meeting was rocky. As they saw it, Ernest Backes no longer worked in Luxembourg’s financial circle, moreover, his explanations seemed far too “convoluted” to merit serious consideration. On the other hand, Ernest was surprised to find how little the magistrates knew about the world of finance, especially as they were hailed by the press as prominent figures in the fight against organized crime. Though they were all seeking ways to fight organized crime efficiently, most of them had never heard of the clearing system.

Now as I finish the first chapter, I don’t know if the book will be published. For over a year, numerous and unforeseen obstacles have come in the way of my finishing the book. Implicated as a judicial collaborator in various affairs, Ernest didn’t want to “give everything away,” and preferred to confide certain revelations exclusively to the judges. What made him decide to speak up? His initial difficulties making himself understood by the court system. And my insistence as well.

There were those who thought I was allowing myself to be manipulated. Ernest, some claimed, was an operator, a compulsive liar stringing me along. At the very beginning of our dealings, this idea had occurred to me. But after getting to know the man, and witnessing his evidence first hand, I was convinced he was up front. Undoubtedly Ernest would have preferred to keep a low profile and not get mixed up in the affair.


Throughout our work together, we were extremely cautions: we rarely spoke on the telephone and were careful with our e-mail correspondence. To the rest of the world, we were writing some kind of vague book on the history of Luxembourg. In the beginning, I worked with reports of taped interviews, but Ernest’s stories make up an important part of the book, shaping its overall narrative and demonstration. We saw a good deal of each other over the first six months of 2000. Subsequently, we met less frequently. I then took the next step and confronted the actual “characters” in Ernest’s stories, namely the bankers and technicians involved in the clearing process.

We had our clashes. Ernest complained I was slow to catch on and I was frustrated by how he would hold back from certain recriminations or try to protect his country’s reputation. For years, Ernest had kept everything he knew about the clearing system to himself. Stepping out from the shadows was a painful process for him at times, yet as the book progressed, he began to see its impact. It was with Backes’ help that I discovered this as yet unexplored world with both excitement and trepidation.

The pressures were tremendous. I would never have guessed how difficult it would be to investigate the clearing milieu. Those I met with all had one thing in common: fear. Some feared for their reputation, others for their jobs. And again others for their lives. Some spoke up only to beg me later not to quote them. Others made appointments with me but didn’t show up. Many clearly lied to me.

I often had the feeling that I was becoming an immobile explorer, surfing from one fiscal haven to another, from Japanese banks to investment firms in Singapore, following the underground networks of faxmoney smugglers.

One of the first unpleasant remarks made by Ernest Backes during one of our interviews was aimed at the French press: “You make me think of a lot of other French journalists. You’re like bees that gather the nectar and then forget to make the honey.” I didn’t quite see what he meant.

beemoe and david -good info indeed!

beemoe-about your question on Gilbraltar- i don't know about this spacific bank, but i heard that a lot of illegale financial activity is hapanning over there...
you know about it?

marbella is pardaise for o.c....russians, italians , bulgarians and colombians are doing almost what ever they want....
i think before 3 years the spanish police arrested a big money laundering ring that was laundering over 600 million euro.....

italian mafia-this is the real thing.

Not sure of the bank you`re talking about, X. Hey Dave A: That book you pointed-out to me "Europe of the Godfathers" sounds like it makes sense in this context. I`m really waiting on James Henry`s "Pirate Bankers". Here`s an exerpt:





James S Henry Pirate Bankers Pbk published February 2006 by Thunder's Mouth Press at £9.99 ISBN: 1560257261


The denizens of the global underground economy are as diverse as they are colourful: incredibly wealthy tax evaders with mega mansions, 200-foot yachts, and $45 million private jets; arms dealers and mercenaries; drug-dealing warlords; art forgers and art thieves; Russian oligarchs, Russian mobsters, and Chechnyan terrorists; the Saudi Royal family and their mujahideen arch-enemies; smugglers, interrogators, assassins, con artists and fraudsters of all description; more than a few corrupt First and Third World politicians, judges, dictators, generals; and even a prelate or two. Despite their diversity, all these players share the same basic financial concerns for their stocks of anonymous private wealth, at last count, worth more than $5 trillion against the threats posed by prosecutors, tax men, kidnappers, and each other. Fortunately for this Noah's Ark of subterranean characters, a sophisticated network has grown up to deliver precisely these services. They are all citizens of a brave new virtual country - one that lacks a physical location, but offers them freedom from most taxes, laws, and moral restraints.








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@x-man/all

si, la costa del sol (marabella) is a mess but they are cleaning up (arresting practically the whole ex-administration for corruption, targeting russian crime groups..etc)

just a little report of ops. against money laundering etc. in 2006(from el pais):

Las operaciones contra el narcotráfico y la corrupción bloquean 3.000 millones en 2006
Aumentan un 30% las actuaciones contra el crimen organizado, con un 17% más de detenidos y 50 veces más confiscaciones
JOSÉ MANUEL ROMERO - Madrid - 29/01/2007


Vota Resultado 1 votos
La policía y la Guardia Civil intervinieron a bandas de delincuentes durante 2006 tanto dinero, entre cuentas corrientes y bienes, como la suma del presupuesto anual de los ayuntamientos de Barcelona, Valencia y Sevilla juntos. En las 125 operaciones contra el blanqueo de dinero y la corrupción desarrolladas durante el pasado año, las Fuerzas y Cuerpos de Seguridad del Estado intervinieron cerca de 3.000 millones de euros, 50 veces más que en 2005. En estas operaciones fueron detenidas 589 personas, más de un centenar de ellas vinculadas a la corrupción en las Administraciones públicas. El Ministerio del Interior anuncia la inminente creación de una brigada contra el blanqueo de capitales y la corrupción con más policías dedicados a estas tareas.

La noticia en otros webs
webs en español
en otros idiomas
El balance de la lucha contra el crimen organizado, la corrupción y el blanqueo de capitales en 2006 arroja unos resultados históricos que difícilmente puedan igualarse en mucho tiempo. En el último año, el Cuerpo Nacional de Policía y la Guardia Civil desbarataron un negocio delictivo relacionado con el blanqueo de capitales cada tres días. Las actuaciones policiales aumentaron un 30%, y el número de detenidos, un 17%.

Con lo intervenido en estas operaciones pueden vivir durante un año tres o cuatro de los siete ayuntamientos más poblados de España. La lista es interminable: cientos de viviendas, más de 300 fincas, 24 locales comerciales, 15 plazas de garajes, 686 vehículos (la mayoría de lujo), 15 barcos, un helicóptero, 133 caballos, 200 toros de lidia, un lanzacohetes, decenas de armas de fuego, 390 obras de arte, 34 kilos de oro, 30 de plata, cuatro de paladio, 180 piedras preciosas... y miles de kilos de droga (cocaína, hachís, heroína).

El Ministerio del Interior destaca entre las operaciones más espectaculares desarrolladas durante el pasado ejercicio la que desarticuló la red delictiva que venía actuando desde hace años en el Ayuntamiento de Marbella, durante los mandatos del fallecido Jesús Gil y sus sucesores, Julián Muñoz y Marisol Yagüe, y que implicaba a la mayoría de la corporación municipal, significados funcionarios y una extensa red de empresarios que colaboraban con la trama pagando millonarias comisiones ilegales a cambio de licencias o recalificaciones de terrenos. Lo que sigue es un resumen de las principales actuaciones de la policía y la Guardia Civil durante 2006:

BALLENA BLANCA Los amos de la Costa del Sol
Se originó en 2004, se concretó en 2005 y siguió dando coletazos en 2006. La policía detectó blanqueo de capitales (casi 250 millones de euros) en la Costa del Sol con dinero procedente del tráfico de drogas, de diversas estafas y de fraudes fiscales. Fruto de esta operación se han producido 56 detenciones, intervenido 250 fincas y cuentas bancarias por valor de 62 millones de euros, además de 42 vehículos de lujo, un barco y dos avionetas.

OPERACIÓN PITUFO Cambio de billetes de 500 euros en el Banco de España
En el Banco de España de Murcia, una red utilizaba a jóvenes delincuentes para cambiar billetes de 10, 20 y 50 euros por otros de 500. Con ese sistema sacaron de esa sucursal murciana del Banco de España casi dos millones de euros hasta que la policía detuvo a 17 personas que dirigían dos grupos dedicados a tráfico de estupefacientes, robo con fuerza y asaltos a la propiedad.

OPERACIÓN ZEF 11 barcos y 38 inmuebles
En Alicante, un grupo de franceses y españoles se dedicaban al tráfico de drogas y blanqueo de capitales. En agosto pasado, un buque de la Armada, los GEO y funcionarios de Vigilancia Aduanera abordaron un velero con bandera inglesa llamado Spes Nostra. Dentro encontraron 3.000 kilos de cocaína. 15 personas fueron detenidas, se registraron 12 inmuebles y se intervinieron 11 barcos, dos motos acuáticas, 25 vehículos de alta cilindrada, además de 38 inmuebles.

OPERACIÓN SCAM X-25 Estafas 'online' y blanqueo de capitales
La organización desarticulada en la Operación Scam X-25 utilizaba un troyano (virus informático que se aloja en ordenadores y permite el acceso a usuarios externos para obtener información) a través del que obtenía claves y contraseñas de cuentas bancarias con las que realizaban transferencias a cuentas propiedad de los delincuentes. El dinero defraudado terminaba en Rusia y Ucrania, donde residían los responsables de la organización criminal. La banda estaba compuesta por 23 personas de nacionalidad española, italiana, uruguaya, rusa, ucraniana y panameña. Defraudaron con sus troyanos cerca de cuatro millones de euros. La policía bloqueó las cuentas corrientes de los delincuentes, en las que habían acumulado unos 600.000 euros.

OPERACIÓN MALAYA Corrupción en Marbella
Integrantes de la corporación municipal de Marbella (todo el equipo de gobierno), constructores y empresarios, y cualificados empleados del Ayuntamiento tejieron una red de complicidades basada en los sobornos. Más de 70 detenidos (alcaldesa, ex alcalde, concejales, funcionarios, abogados y empresarios) y bloqueo de distinto patrimonio que la policía ha valorado en 2.400 millones de euros. El presupuesto de este año en Marbella no llega a los 180 millones de euros.

OPERACIÓN FÉNIX Oro exento de IVA
Una sociedad importa de Suiza "oro de inversión" y lo vende a mayoristas imputando esta operación mercantil a sociedades interpuestas para que los compradores reales puedan escapar al control de la hacienda pública. El fraude investigado alcanza los 154 millones de euros. Las entradas y registros en viviendas de Córdoba y Barcelona han permitido intervenir 28,5 kilos de oro, 30 de plata, cuatro de paladio, bloqueo de cuentas por valor de 3,6 millones de euros, 4 turismos, 20 cuadros, 13 litografías, un reloj de mesa de oro y el bloqueo de 28 viviendas, 19 locales y 15 fincas rústicas.

OPERACIÓN ATRIO La estafa de Fórum y Afinsa
Las empresas de inversión filatélica Fórum Filatélico y Afinsa fueron intervenidas por orden judicial. Más de 400.000 clientes afectados. La policía detuvo a 10 dirigentes de las dos empresas, intervino 255 millones de euros, obras de arte, vehículos, joyas y grandes cantidades de sellos que aún no han sido valorados.

OPERACIÓN HOLANDÉS 26 detenidos, embargado
un club de alterne

La policía intervino en esta operación una barca, 31 vehículos de lujo, un camión-grúa, 2 escopetas de caza, un rifle, 28 relojes de lujo, y bloqueó 81 cuentas corrientes, embargó 3 viviendas, una nave industrial y un club de alterne.

OPERACIÓN PALMERA II El yate 'Evadida'
Operación hispano-italiana en dos fases. Fueron detenidas 11 personas que traficaban con droga. La policía les incauta un yate de nombre Evadida, varias propiedades inmobiliarias, un Ferrari valorado en 190.000 euros y un Porsche modelo Cayenne.

OPERACIÓN LEÓN BANANA Dinero de la droga para construir en Valencia
La policía investiga una red, uno de cuyos principales miembros está relacionado con negocios de la construcción, salas de juego y prostitución. La red trae la droga desde Ecuador para blanquear el dinero obtenido con la venta de la misma en distintos negocios. La policía detiene a 11 personas, bloquea numerosas cuentas y embarga tres fincas en Valencia por valor de tres millones de euros.

OPERACIÓN CABALLERO 2 Indigentes y toxicómanos para empresas pantalla
Nueve detenidos dedicados al tráfico ilegal de vehículos de importación generando documentos falsos y entidades instrumentales a cuyo frente ponían a indigentes, toxicómanos y delincuentes a cambio de pequeñas cantidades de dinero. Han aflorado 588 vehículos valorados en más de seis millones de euros.

OPERACIÓN TACOS Colaboración con la DEA estadounidense
Desarticulación de una red de blanqueo de dinero procedente del narcotráfico con sede central en México. La Guardia Civil se incautó de 2.038 kilos de cocaína en la operación e intervino 17 millones de euros de la trama.

OPERACIÓN TUNARA Blanqueo de capitales del tráfico de hachís
El tráfico de hachís desde el norte de África y con destino a Europa fue detectado a través de operaciones financieras por el Servicio para la Prevención del Blanqueo de Capitales dependiente del Banco de España. La trama delictiva tenía origen marroquí. La Guardia Civil detuvo a cuatro personas e intervino vehículos, dinero e inmuebles por valor de 13 millones de euros.

beemoe about Luxembourg -

I think it has the most rich citizens in the world...the italians are celebrting over there...a lot of secret bank accounts and real estate invesments...also lichtenstein and andora are favorite place for the mafioso....

than they can enjoy the huge profits they make... the hige level mobsters like pallazolo built business empires ...mainly in the building sector....and than they can show there wealth even inside europe because now they are legal and respected businessman (it they don't fugitives).

if you see mercedes maybach 62 or rolls roys phantom with a rang rover behind it don't do something stupied :D

x-man

The places you named are very important but you missed Campione and for good reason, nobody knows that it exist! The reason why the gangsters and others like Victor Bout, who isn`t a gangster, invest / wash in places like Campione because very few know it`s there. More tomorrow.

This isn`t stuff that makes the eleven o`clock news. which is why it works. It runs counter to how the vast majority of people think.

i don't know much about it ...just that Prince Vittorio Emanuele was arrested over there for connection between him-campion mayor and the sicilian mafia...
waiting for your info! :)

x-man

That`s interesting X, that you mentioned the Prince`s arrest in Campione because I had posted that article over at LA Crimefile. Nobody understood the signifigance of that event. The signifigance is that the biggest "criminals" are generally the "legal" ones........politicans, financiers and "intelligence agencies" These "legal" criminals are far more powerful than any gangsters. That`s why they put the gangsters in prison......when they don`t pay protection. Look at Riina and Provenzano vs. Palazzolo (SIC)

Check out a dude named Ryochi Sassakawa..... at one point the richest man on earth among other things. I think

Sasakawa......The Real O.G....hehehe


Fascism and Philanthropy: Understanding Why the Japanese Foreign Affairs Office Protects Fujimori
Sasakawa, a Respected War Criminal
by Denis Boneau*

Leader of a Japanese fascist party, Ryoichi Sasakawa developed a private army to exploit Manchuria and Mongolia. Convicted of the worst crimes during World War II, he was not tried by the Allies but he was retrained by the United States for their struggle against Communism. With the support of criminal organizations, the yakusas, he took control of the ruling Liberal Party and amassed one of the biggest fortunes of the world. Converted into a benefactor of the human race, he financed a philanthropic organization that equally served to implement his political conceptions in Third World countries.
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Ryoichi Sasakawa: the allied forces opened a file on him as a Class A war criminal after the unconditional capitulation of Japan during World War II. Ryoichi Sasakawa was locked up in the Sugamo prison in the outskirts of Tokyo.
Ryoichi Sasakawa was born in 1899 in Minoo, near Osaka. He made a fortune speculating in the local rice markets. In 1927 he founded the Kokubosha (National Defense Society) and then, in 1931, the Kokusui Taihuto (Mass Party of the Patriotic Peoples), two ultra-nationalist organizations. Thus, he organized an army of 150 000 militiamen who participated in plundering operations in China, sometimes collaborating with the Kodama Kikan, a fascist organization led by his friend Yoshio Kodama. It’s all about officially controlling the production and export of strategic resources.

Thus, the «lords of the war» amassed a large fortune in Manchuria and Mongolia with the support of the imperial government. Sasakawa and Kodama, thanks to their private armies - Sasakawa even created an airborne unit with 20 airplanes and an airport in Osaka -, defrauded rich Chinese dealers and traffic in opium on their own. Sasakawa was also arrested in 1936, accused of having organized a crime syndicate in China, but he was soon released. In parallel with these mafia activities that intertwine with the activities of the Japanese diplomacy [1], Sasakawa tried to strengthen his influence in the Japanese political circles. In 1939, in an effort to consolidate the alliance between Italy and Japan, he met with Mussolini whom he enthusiastically described as the “perfect fascist and dictator”. Being an admirer of the “Duce”, he had his militias march in black uniforms. In 1942 he was elected as a member of the Diet, the Japanese parliament. Its program, ultra-nationalist and militarist, served the economic interests of the “lords of the war”, and basically demanded the intensification of military operations in South-Eastern Asia.

Yoshio KodamaAt the end of the world war, the “lords of the war” were imprisoned with the other “Class A” inmates of the Sugamo prison. Kodama and Sasakawa would often visit Nobusuke Kishi, future key man of the Liberal Democratic Party [2], and Shiro Ishii, who directed the experiments of Camp 731 [3]. The Liberal Democratic Party was indeed a single organization that ruled Japan since their defeat with Washington’s approval. The American secret services, in a 1946 report, described the two fascists in the following manner: «Kodama’s long involvement in ultra-nationalist activities, sometimes of a violent nature, and his ability to unite the youth around him make him a man that will probably represent a bigger threat to security. Sasakawa is a potential threat for the future of Japan (...). He is a rich man who has no scruples as to the use of his fortune (...). He can change sides to take advantage of any opportunity» [4]. The CIA provides them with this opportunity by letting him become a combatant of the Cold War.

A Yakusa Godfather and Combatant of the Cold War
Ultranationalists Sasakawa and Kodama were solid bastions for the reconstruction of Japan that would become in the Asian showcase of market economy. General Willoughby, in charge of the American secret services, recruited henchmen at the Sugamo prison.

Kodama had vast experience in espionage: his activities in Manchuria were not limited to plundering but he also organized an efficient espionage service that passed important information to the imperial army. Sasakawa, for his part, heads a private army made up of experienced soldiers among whom the US secret services wouldl recruit informers, strikebreakers and “secret agents”. The ex-war criminal, who regarded his stay in Sugamo as «a vacation offered by the good God», was released in 1948 along with his comrades Shiro Ishii and Yoshio Kodama. In exchange, the “Class A” criminals put their political, military and mafia networks at the service of the struggle against communism conducted by the United States in Japan and in South East Asia.

Ryoichi Sasakawa, whose nickname was Korumaku (the shadow man) then became a decisive element in the reconstruction of Japan. Along with his friend Kodama, he financed the Liberal Democratic Party. On various occasions he influenced the election of the Prime Minister (he supported Sato in 1964 and Kakuei Tanaka in 1972). His political contacts allowed him to increase his fortune. Thus, in 1959, thanks to his former Sugamo comrade Nobusuke Kishi [5], he was appointed president of the Federation of Boat Races Organizers that was accountable to the Ministry of Transportation.

Ryoichi Sasakawa and Italian dictator Benito MussoliniIn 1994, the Federation declared a volume of businesses two billion yens, of which 3.2% completely depended on Sasakawa [6]. In parallel with his official activities, Sasakawa continued his career as an ultranationalist yakusa. In 1954 he joined the Butoku kai (Association of Martial Vitues), a militarist and fascist pressure group that included several “Class As”, especially the former director of the Mitsubishi, and important munitions manufacturing company and Prime Minister Yoshida Shigeru. Likewise, he supported anti-communist organizations like Nihon goyu renmei, a group of World War II veterans, and the Zen-ai kaigi federation.

The Korumaku broke strikes and harassed political opponents thanks to his militias whose existence never became of public knowledge. Sasakawa claimed to be the leader of an eight-million men army. He headed numerous associations that served as a cover for his mafia activities. His karate and saber dance clubs included more than 3,500 000 members he similarly headed groups that were openly fascist like the International Federation for Victory over Communism (IFFVOC) that declared 160,000 members. This army turned Sasakawa into one of the most respected yakusas in Japan. He and his friend Kodama controlled the mafia world and solved conflicts among rival gangs [7].

On the other hand, in 1963 Sasakawa became the main advisor of Reverend Sun Myung Moon. He encouraged the expansion of the Church of the Unification (Moon sect) [8]. With Moon and Chang Kai Chek he founded the World Anti-Communist League (WALC), a result of the merger between the Anti-Communist League of the Asian Peoples (APALC) and the Anti-Bolshevik Nations Bloc (ABN). The organization, that brought together the extremist factions of the Taiwanese, South Korean and American secret services, was behind military interventions in South America and Asia [9]. Sasakawa facilitated the coup d’état against Indonesian leader Sukarno and supported Philippine dictator Marcos through a mutual assistance association [10].

Philanthropy according to Sasakawa
The political leverage of Ryoichi Sasakawa, combined with his mafia activities, allowed him to build a huge empire with the consent of the US authorities. Thus, he immersed himself in a philanthropic career, investing part of his fortune in a foundation, the richest before the powerful Ford Foundation. He, who was proud of being «the richest fascist of the world» never hid his desire of obtaining, like his friend Jimmy Carter, the Nobel Peace Prize, but he had to content himself with the Helen Keller International Award, the Linus Pauling for Humanitarianism and the Peace medal granted by the United Nations.

Pope John Paul II and Ryoichi Sasakawa.
Sasakawa was a benefactor of the Holy See.
Money is odorless.The budget of the Foundation hides the dark past of its founder and attracts numerous leaders of international organizations, frequently linked with the United Nations, eager to obtain funds for their projects. The United Nations environmental award, the Sasakawa health award and the United Nations award for the prevention of catastrophes vouch for the efforts of the yakusa godfather.

In February 1978, by means of his naval construction foundation, he transfered half a million dollars to the United Nations and, in 1979, a million dollars to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), thus becoming the most important sponsor of the UN institutions. However, this generosity had another face. The Sasakawa clan, Ryoichi and his three sons) tried to control the organizations that receive their donations.

In 1999, when the election of an Egyptian lawyer ahead of UNESCO seemed definite, African representatives voted against their candidate and guaranteed the election of Japanese diplomat Matsuura. All the indications were that the Sasakawa Foundation promised «donations» in exchange for the votes of the African delegates. In 1993 and 1996, two internal reports of the United Nations already demonstrated the irregularities in the election of another Japanese man with few scruples, Hiroshi Nakajima [11], at the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) [12].

US President Jimmy Carter runs with Ryoichi Sasakawa, who was his main financing source for his post-presidential political campaigns and programs.
Once more, the Sasakawa clan was accused of organizing corruption. Nakajima, in recognition, erected a statue of his benefactor Sasakawa in the lobby of the WHO in Geneva. The powerful Japanese foundation, main private donor of the WHO, knew how to become indispensable: in 1996 it deposited 10 million dollars for a program to fight leprosy [13].

The Sasakawa Foundation similarly co-sponsored, along with the Jimmy Carter Foundation, the “Sasakawa-Global 2000”, a farming program directed to ten African countries [14]. A close friendship between the former US president and the Japanese godfather was the origin of this philanthropic collaboration. In France, an «affiliate» of the Foundation was declared a public entity in 1990. It financed the Institute of East Asia of Lyon [15], the festival of Aix in Provence, the Guimet museum, concerts of the Chatelet Theater and activities linked to the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS).

Who protects Alberto Fujimori?
Recently, the Sasakawa Foundation was involved in the forced sterilization of 300,000 Peruvian women [16]. Former President Alberto Fujimori is currently living in Japan as a refugee while Peruvian authorities make unsuccessful efforts to have him extradited so that they can try him for “crimes against humanity”. Alberto Fujimori is accused of having organized the Colina Group, a death squadron responsible for the elimination of members of the Maoist guerrilla Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) [17].

The Peruvian deputies also suspect that he may have planned the sterilization of indigenous women. Between 1995 and 2000, according to a report of a Congress commission, 331,600 women were sterilized and 25,590 men had vasectomies. This campaign, aiming at pacifying indigenous opposition groups and pleasing the IMF, that includes demographic control demands among its criteria [18], was mainly financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The Nippon Zaidan, one of the annexed organizations of the Sasakawa Foundation, also gave funds for this vast operation of Malthusian inspiration. Its president, Ayako Sono, is the main supporter of Alberto Fujimori, who obtained the Japanese citizenship to avoid the Peruvian justice. There is every indication that the Sasakawa Foundation has solid relations in the heart of the Japanese government and actively participates in “secret” operations in Latin America.

Yohei SasakawaRyoichi Sasakawa died in 1995 without the so much coveted Nobel Peace Prize. His three sons replaced him at the powerful Sasakawa Foundation and continued his businesses with the same networks and practices of their father. Yohei is the president of the Foundation [19]: he chairs the administrative council of the French subsidiary and he has met on several occasions with the friend of the family Jimmy Carter. Takashi has relations with the underworld and he has tried to buy the Shelburne Hotel Casino of Atlantic City so as to introduce himself into gambling in the United States [20].

The Sasakawa Foundation, too “generous” to be threatened, still covers mafia activities and diplomatic operations with unmentionable objectives.

Denis Boneau
French journalist, member of the French section of Voltaire Network.
This author's articles

I think you will like this article because it`s signifigant because this is one of the few places that actually explains the rationalization behind dummy and corporations. Almost all major crimes are done with dummy and shell corps. But very few people really know what they are and how they are used legally and illegally. If your going to study the big boys a la Sasakawa, Bout, al-Kazzar, Mogilevitch, D.Ibrahim, Larner, Lansky, Benjamin Herrera Zuleta etc......too many to name here you need to understand the terminology, baby.

I wish I knew who wrote this article!

Setting Up A Dummy Corporation...

How to get anything you ever wanted for free...

The "system" is a series of checks and balances. It's an insiders club and
unless you know the rules or are willing to break them, you'll probably never
have a pot to piss in. Not....

Where does it say, we have to put up with, read about or watch on TV, the
exploits of people like Donald Trump, Robin Leach or one of the "Kennedy's".
Personally, I'm tired hearing about all their bullshit. Who gives a shit what
Hillary or Tipper are wearing either?

When people like "The Donald" make a poor business investment and can't pay
their bills on time, what do they do? They renegotiate. Yep, that's right. They
tell the bank "I can't pay" but I'm such a fabulous person you should
renegotiate my loan. Bullshit!

How fast do you think the bank would have you or me out on our ass? In record
time, right? Money is power and unless you have money you're powerless right?
Not...

Money is an illusion. Power is an illusion. Both are projected by cunning and
affluent people and organizations to get what they want. And, if they can't pay
for it, they go bankrupt or renegotiate. Why should they have all that luxury
and not us? Hell, I can default on a loan as well as any of them!

Almost every company in America will ship you goods on credit if you project the
right image, ask the right questions and have the right answers...People will
kiss your ass if they think you have great wealth. The best resturants will seat
you "up front" if they think "you're a player". Why not? Sounds good to me...

Is this method for acquiring material things legal? Hell no! But half the shit
Big Brother does to us everyday isn't legal either...Want to ride around town in
a big black imported car for free? How about a brand new Pentium computer for
the office? The kids want Mopeds? Nooooooo problem! Pay attention.

Picking a company name...

What's in a name? Business wise it could mean everything...if you want to get
over. It also has a lot to do with what you want to acquire for free. Let's say
you want to start a new business and need all-types of office equipment.

You could call yourself "Sal's Pizzeria" but that wouldn't wash too well when
you're trying to establish a $100,000 line of credit. Most credit managers will
dump the application in the round file and require COD cash. Not the best choice
of names. How about something like Tri-Star Industries Intl or RCA Electronics?
The idea is to project the image of a big well known company. Joe's Paving
Company won't work either...think of a large company and play with the
name...something that gives the illusion of being a huge conglomerate like
MicroSoft Corporation but in fact you use Microsoft Labs. Inc. Close but no
cigar, get the idea? When you speak with a salesman you tell him you're from
MicroSoft...

I know someone who put together a company called Tandy Merchandising. When he
applied for credit with vendors he alluded to being the buying agent for Tandy
Corporation (Radio Shack) but sent purchase orders stating his company was Tandy
Merchandising. The greedy salesman always figure it's a subsidiary and try their
best to push initial orders through credit in hopes of "getting the big one".
This guy always ordered two dozen "pieces" as a sample order. The list of stings
was impressive. He also always ordered the best model of everything with all the
options. Imagine having two dozen Pentium computers, laser printers, desktop
scanners, big screen televisions, fully blown out stereos with speakers, ect,
etc, etc. These things can be turned into easy cash...

The goods you can acquire are only limited by your imagination...lets say you
want to open your own recording studio. No problem. Put together a "wish list"
and cut the purchase order. Fax it to the appropriate vendor and wait for the
salesman to call. Oh yeah, I forgot a few things. You'll need to set up first...

Let's say for the purposes of this lesson we're gonna pick RCA Electronics as
our name, not to be confused (God forbid) with RCA - Radio Corporation of
America, the giant who made the radio, phonographs and television famous. Sounds
like a good name to me. Imagine the greedy son of a bitch salesman at the "Blue
Widget" company when you call and say you're "John Smith (think of something
better), vice president of corporate purchasing for RCA" and you need 50,000
blue widgets. I guarantee the salesman will shit...but "since you got burned,
dealing with XYZ company you'll require 500 samples ($200 each) for testing
purposes". You must have them within ten days for evaluation and you'll send
along a purchase order. I guarantee the order flys through processing . They
will extend you Net 30 days payment without even blinking. They want the big
order.

Acquiring dummy corporate papers

To open up a bank account you'll need a corporate seal and certificate of
incorporation. You'll also need a Federal Tax ID number. Certain states may vary
but generally this is all that is required.

Find a corporate resolution book from somewhere and get the certificate of
incorporation. This is the proof that the corporation is registered with the
state. Get a good typewriter, preferably one with interchangeable fonts. Make a
copy of the certificate of incorporation and "white out" the corporate name.
Insert your bogus corporate name (RCA Electronics Inc.) on the original and make
a good photocopy. You should now have a good photocopy of the certificate of
incorporation with your bogus corporate name on it.

Now you need a corporate seal. Let your fingers do the walking through the
yellow pages and find a company that makes rubber stamps. Generally these
companies also make corporate seals. Call them up and tell them you lost your
company seal and need a replacement to "do a deal" in a hurry. Most places will
take the order and have the new seal with your bogus corporate name on it in a
few days.The cost is usually about $20. You'll have to supply them with the
corporate name, year and state of incorporation. Get this info off the
certificate of incorporation you liberated. Pickup the seal in a few days and
you're all set. Be sure to get a tax ID number. In the New York area they
generally start with 13-xxxxxx. The second set of numbers is seven digits long.

Opening a bank account

Wait a minute. What is this? I thought we were robbing this stuff? Why do we
need a bank account? The simple answer is, some companies no matter how well you
try, will always require a company check with the first order. I suggest staying
away from these companies but sometimes they have merchandise you're ALMOST
willing to die for...No problem. The check is gonna bounce anyway...You'll also
need a bank account for a reference (don't worry we'll cover that).

Put a few hundred in your pocket, drive out of your area, and pick a large
commercial bank. DO NOT do this in your neighborhood or local small town! Pick
an area away from where you live. Dress well and wait until 15 minutes before
the bank closes for the day...Everyone is always in a hurry to get to happy hour
right?

Find an officer or new account teller and tell them you want to open a business
checking account. All you need is the corporate seal, certificate of
incorporation and the tax ID number. They might require personal ID so show them
your phony drivers license (see Creating a New Identity). You'll need to fill
out a few forms, stamp your corporate seal and before you know it you're out the
door with your starter checkbook. The real checkbook will be delivered by UPS in
about 7-10 days. Make sure you've given the "drops" address not your own. Try to
pick a bank that will give you an ATM card. They're always nice to have in order
to get your cash back...

Setting up the drop

You'll need an office to operate out of and I suggest a small suite with
reception area and one private office. Find an office with a good address (RCA
wouldn't be on the poor side of town) and rent it for cash. Usually this will
require the first months rent and two months deposit. You DON'T HAVE TO SPEND A
LOT OF MONEY! Keep it cheap. You're not gonna be there that long...provide the
landlord with phony ID also. DO NOT RENT AN OFFICE NEAR YOUR HOME OR NORMAL
PLACE OF BUSINESS.

Call the telephone company and order two phone lines. Try and get a "Gold"
number like 555-5000 or 666-4900. Something that sounds like a "big company"
telephone number. Make sure the fax number is not one digit off the telephone
number like: Tel: 555-5000 and Fax: 555-5001. This obviously means only two
lines. Don't ever make a personal call from these telephone lines. Don't ever
call home or anyone you know personally, not even a beeper. These phones are for
the "sting" They will be investigated after you're gone. Make sure they find
nothing. Remember, you want to give the impression of a large company. If the
telephone company wants your reach number, give them a voice mail number ringing
into your beeper that you have acquired for cash in a fictitious name. NEVER
GIVE YOUR REAL NUMBER OR INFO. The phone company usually requires a few hundred
dollars deposit for two business telephone lines. Pay it. It's chicken feed
compared to what you're gonna make. Make sure you order voice mail with remote
access on the telephone line. It is not necessary on the fax line. When the
lines are installed, place a single-line phone with "hold" on the telephone line
and a fax machine on the fax line.

Next step is get a female (we're not trying to be sexist but most telephone
receptionists ARE female) who's "in" on the sting to answer the phone. She would
say something like "Good morning, RCA, please hold" and immediately put each
incoming call on hold for about 30 seconds. This gives the impression of a busy
switchboard. When she comes back on the line she would say something like "How
may I direct your call, please hold...while I connect you"...Get the picture?
Another nice touch is if you get one of those GOOD voice changing machines so
she can come back on the line as "your secretary". Again, you must create the
impression of a large company. If you have a few people in on the "sting" let
them answer, creating the illusion a large department.

Credit References

Gee, how are we gonna establish credit? We're only a few days in
business...Right. You are what you say you are! Most companies require three
credit references. Sometimes more. Set up your own references.

Go back to the friendly out-of-the-neighborhood beeper guy and setup four voice
mail beepers. Always pay cash. No record. Program the message on each one
differently. Something like "Hello, you've reached Northstar Distributors, all
lines are busy right now, we value your business, please leave your name and
telephone number and one of our representatives will return your call in a few
minutes. Thank you for calling NorthStar". The "mark" will ask for "John Doe"
the credit manager to return his call. When the beeper goes off, simply make
note of the caller, wait a few minutes, and return the call to "John Doe" giving
"good" not "super excellent" credit info. You don't want to draw suspicion.

Generally, if you're trying to rip off $10,000. worth of merchandise you would
give a credit reference of something like "yeah, RCA has done business with us
for about 6 years, their high credit is $30,000-$40,000. dollars and their terms
are Net 30. They pay their bills on time...No problems...They're a good
customer"...Every once in a while, you might question the "mark", "Hey, what do
you guys sell? Not the same things as me I hope. I don't wanna lose this
customer"...Heh, heh... it ALWAYS works...Remember, use different voices or a
GOOD voice changer..

Program two more beepers the same way with different company names that are your
"credit references". Have each voice mail ask the "mark" to leave a name and
telephone number for a prompt response. Make sure the "credit references" are
large sounding companies with a resident credit manager or officer who handles
credit.

Program the fourth beeper as the bank. remember the credit application always
asks for the bank, bank account number and the number of an officer to contact.
The message might sound something like "Hi, this is Joseph Cupcakes...I'm away
from my desk right now, please leave your name and telephone number and I'll get
right back to you...If this is an internal bank message, you can reach me at
extension 316". The "mark" has no way of reaching extension "316" so he will
assume he HAS reached the bank and leave his name and phone number for the bank
officer to return his call.

Wait a few hours or even until the next day. Have the "bank officer" call back
the "mark" and ask what this is in reference to...when he hears it's a credit
reference he should be "reluctant" to give info at first. Credit managers are
used to that. It gives the appearance of normal bank resistance to divulge
customer information. After a little prodding have the "bank officer" agree to
divulge that "RCA" maintains several accounts of "mid-six figure numbers" in
that bank and is a customer in "good standing". Translated, it means that "RCA"
has a few "million" on deposit with that bank. The "bank officer" might also add
"Don't you know who RCA is?" Again, it creates the illusion of power and money
and appeals BIG time to the GREED of the "mark".

Dun & Bradstreet Reports

Good old D&B. The ultimate business information network. Bullshit. The only
thing that goes into an initial D&B report is what YOU TELL THEM. Believe it or
not, I know several people that have acquired D&B reports on real companies,
copied the financial statements and passed them off as their own. Pick a company
that does several million dollars worth of business with an excellent D&B rating
and copy their financial statement. Include it with your applaication and D&B
will give you the same rating!

Call D&B and request a D&B number. They will give you one right over the
telephone. Ask them to fax over a credit rating application. Fill it out and
attach a copy of the "liberated" financial statement. In a week or so someone
will call from D&B to "go over" the rating form. Of course, you'll be waiting
with all the "right answers" and in a few days you'll have your new D&B credit
rating stating that your company is worth "several million dollars" and "pays
it's bills on time". D&B will actually send you a copy in the mail and this can
also be attached to any credit application your filling out to "sting" a company.
Sometimes D&B checks the bank. Not always. Don't worry about it, your "bank
officer" is waiting anyway...

Getting the Loot...

Now that you've got the office with telephone and fax in place (some prefer a
laptop instead of fax and typewriter), you're just about ready to start. You
must now do your homework. Make a complete list of what you're ordering, from
whom and how many of each you need. Have backup vendor companies in case one or
more vendor companies is "out of stock" on an item. To expedite the ordering
process place a call to the "mark" companies and request a quote on the items.

The request should sound something like this "Hi, this is Rufus Teapot, I'm at
corporate purchasing with RCA. I have a request for six Pentium 133 Mhz
computers with 40 Meg RAM, built in CD rom with high speed internal modems. They
also want 20" color monitors. I need a firm quote. I'm getting ready to cut a
purchase order. Can you fax me that quote today? I need to get three bids. I
need delivery by Friday" (3 days away). Do you have the items in stock? Can you
get them here here by Friday? Otherwise I have to go elsewhere. If these
computers fit the bill, we'll need 60 more"....Guaranteed the salesman is
getting a woody...In a short while you'll recieve the firm quote. You'll also
receive a credit application.

Great care should be given to the preparation of the purchase order. You must
insert exactly the same information and model numbers that are on the price
quote. You don't want anything to slow the process. Great care should be given
to the design of the purchase order. If you're trying to shadow the real RCA,
get one of their purchase orders and design yours to look the same. You don't
need a printer. Do it with a desktop publishing program. It also adds "illusion"
when you add something like "4500 outlets throughout the USA" on it.

When the salesman asks for the completed credit report say something like "Ok,
I'll get that done for you. By the way we're rated 1A by D&B. That should be all
you need. I'll fax over a copy of our financial with a copy of our D&B report".
The salesman will have the credit manager by the neck to approve the order and
your goods will be winging their way to you in no time...

It's as simple as that...

Oh, by the way. UPS will deliver the merchandise unless you ask for FedEx or DHL.
No problem. Sign for it and get a van to cart it away. It's not STOLEN
merchandise yet. You applied for and got credit right? No one is screaming fraud
yet right? You have about a thirty day "window" to get any and all merchandise
you want. After that the "mark" companies will be looking for payment. Be smart.
Get out of the "sting" location after three weeks. The average "sting" can get
you $100,000 dollars worth of merchandise for free. DON'T EVER GO BACK FOR ANY
REASON. DON'T BE GREEDY. This scam is so sweet you can do it over and over from
different location for years and years. There is NO WAY to track you if you
followed this plan. Also, DON'T EVER HIT THE SAME COMPANY TWICE...DON'T USE THE
SAME BOGUS COMPANY NAME TWICE. LOSE THE BEEPERS. ETC. ETC ETC. BE SMART.....

hey beemoe, very good stuff!!!!

i like the off shore compenies ......very smart thing

you know i was looking for stuff on campione that you were talking about...it is indeed one of the most secret tax heavens in the world...it is also known as the millioners gambling resort....like a small monte carlo...but as for mafia connection- i did not find nothing except the story about the prince that was arrested for connection with sicilian mafia clans....

so what you can tell us about this place and who is working over there?

:D

x-man.

The Milan Families operate out of Campione......and for that matter almost ever major tax evader, corporation and person wealth (legal or illegal). I know the Lansky Group via John Pullman operated out of there.

You`re only looking at Mafia connections but there are far bigger criminals in the world. Just take a look at Sassakawa or the people who fund and create wars or better yet take a look at Benjamin Herrera Zueleta. Many more people die in Iraq than any mobster can kill and their monies go through Everclear etc. as well as Campione.

I agree Beemoe!
Yakuza men like Kodama & Sasakawa were/are very powerful!

Nice overview of tax havens:

-------

Obscure Tax Havens of the World
By Robert E. Bauman, JD
October 2006
At The Sovereign Society, we constantly refer to our top four financial havens—Switzerland, Panama, Liechtenstein, and Hong Kong (with Austria as honorable mention for its banking secrecy).

But there are several other tax and asset protection havens out there. Each of these lesser-known havens has its own specialties that may be worth considering. Take the Isle of Man—it’s a leader in annuities and life insurance as investment vehicles. Nevis is great for asset protection trusts and is one of only two nations that might arrange for immediate economic citizenship and a second passport.

So here’s my “readers digest” version of somewhat unknown offshore financial centers.
Republic of Andorra: Nestled between Spain and France high in the Pyrenees, this is a residential tax haven for very wealth foreigners who enjoy winter sports. You must live here 20 years to become a “privileged citizen,” who has all rights of citizenship except voting, but establishing immediate residency is fairly easy.

Just move in and apply for a resident’s card. There is no income or estate taxes for anyone and banking privacy is very strict. With political and economic stability, no labor problems, virtually no unemployment, and the lowest crime rate in Europe, remote Andorra could be your safe haven away from the modern world’s problems. But plan on driving because the only access is by road.

Campione d’Italia: This little bit of northern Italy is completely surrounded by Switzerland, and it’s one of the least known residential tax havens in the world. But you have to buy a very expensive home to become a resident.

Foreigners who can afford to live here pay no taxes, and can run their foreign-owned businesses tax-free. It may be Italy, but everything here is Swiss, including license plates, currency, postage and banking. The residence permit allows the holder free movement within Switzerland and Liechtenstein, making Campione a valuable European executive base.

Principality of Monaco: Monaco is a tax haven for the ultra wealthy—and great wealth is what it takes to afford living here. There are no taxes on resident foreigners (unless you’re French). It’s home to millionaires and billionaires from around the world, many retired and enjoying the very good life. Monaco is for those who already have made their money—people who want to spend time and money by day on the Riviera and by night in the Monte Carlo.

Gibraltar: The Rock, as it is known worldwide, is the United Kingdom’s only continental European possession, although it is claimed by Spain. It has fashioned itself into a dual-purpose residential tax haven for high net-worth individuals and as a professional base for tax-free international business corporations and trusts. Because of Spanish claims, its future is in some small doubt, but locals have voted nearly 100% in favor of staying British. It’s likely to remain so.

The Sovereign Society
The Sovereign Society, headquartered in Waterford, Ireland, was founded in 1998 to provide proven legal strategies for individuals to protect their wealth and privacy, lower their taxes and to help improve their personal freedom and liberty.
The Society's highly qualified contacts recommend only carefully chosen banks and investment advisors as well as financial and legal professionals located in select tax and asset haven jurisdictions around the world. The Society provides advice concerning the establishement and operation of offshore bank accounts, asset protection trusts, international business corporations (IBCs), private foundations, second citizenships and foreign residency, as well as practical safeguards for financial, Internet and personal privacy.
The Sovereign Society stands alone in fulfilling this singular, international offshore service role for its members. To learn more about our organization and how you too can become a member, please click here.
.
United Kingdom Offshore Havens: Even though the U.K. government under the Labour Party has tried to curb tax havens worldwide, some of the world’s major tax haven jurisdictions have been the British Crown dependencies, including the islands of Jersey and Guernsey in the English Channel off the coast of France, and the Isle of Man to the west of the U.K. in the Irish Sea. There are many possibilities here for investment profits and tax deferrals, including life insurance and annuities as investment vehicles.

These islands offer even more sophisticated financial services than those found in the fabled City of London. Thousands of investors and business persons worldwide use these islands’ investment houses, accountants, lawyers, insurance brokers, and trust and corporation services. Zero corporate tax is now the law in each of the islands. However, pressure from London has weakened financial privacy, and the islands now have tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs) with the United States.

Grand Duchy of Luxembourg: Luxembourg is primarily a business and banking haven, rather than a personal tax haven. It is also a haven for international holding companies and investment funds. Luxembourg has a long history of strong financial privacy laws, enhanced by the fact that it is one of three EU nations that are exempted from tax information sharing with other EU member states under the EU tax directive.

Bermuda: This British overseas territory off the coast of North Carolina used to be dubbed the “Cadillac” of offshore banking. It catered to lots of high-dollar Yanks and Brits with a high degree of financial privacy. Its three respected banks have worldwide branches and investment services, especially since the Bank of Bermuda was taken over by HSBC. But Bermuda has greatly diminished its haven status by signing a TIEA with the U.S., by making foreign income tax evasion a local crime, and by curbing its former financial privacy laws. Of equal concern, as a U.K. colony, it takes orders from London. However, this mid-Atlantic island still is the world’s leading place for captive self-insurance companies used by businesses and for reinsurance. It offers excellent asset protection trusts as well as IBCs.

The Cayman Islands: A few years ago, the Caymans (located just south of Cuba) claimed that its financial institutions held one-fifth of the entire world’s assets under its management. It was the premier jurisdiction for tax-free international banking and business that wanted (and got) iron-clad secrecy guaranteed by law. But a series of highly publicized cases involving drug and other criminal money laundering contributed to ending this haven’s secrecy and some of that cash has fled elsewhere. This U.K. colony, under extreme pressure from London and Washington, has eased its financial and banking secrecy laws. But the Caymans is still a tax-free haven for offshore bank accounts, trusts and international business corporations, as well as a leader in hedge funds, mutual funds, insurance, and annuities.

British Virgin Islands: The BVI has only 21,000 people —but over 400,000 registered IBCs, second only to Hong Kong in total number. That’s because the BVI specializes in creating, servicing, and promoting offshore corporations for every purpose. The BVI can truthfully say, “IBCs ‘R’ Us.” And don’t overlook their asset protection trusts, international limited partnerships, and insurance. But London is ultimate boss of this U.K. colony.

Nevis: While this Caribbean island is not well known outside offshore financial circles, Nevis is one of the best tax-free asset haven jurisdictions in the world. That’s because it has had in place, for over two decades, asset protection friendly laws allowing trusts, IBCs and limited liability companies. Its courts have assembled an enviable record of support for offshore business and its government is a strong offshore supporter, too. And any entity you need can be set up in a matter of a few days at minimal cost. If there is any one offshore haven country that has all the things you need, this may be it. And it’s a great place for beach resorts, too.

Belize: This is the only English-speaking nation in Central America and it has had in place, for a decade, a series of offshore laws allowing asset protection trusts, IBCs, maritime registration, insurance—plus maximum financial privacy. Its parliament, courts and government are very pro-offshore and regularly cultivate foreign business. An unusual feature is a special, tax-free retirement residency program for foreigners. But having said all that, Belize is still definitely a Third World country, with all the problems that entails.

United States Virgin Islands: It’s not generally known, but under a unique special federal income tax arrangement applying only to the U.S. Territory of the Virgin Islands, it is possible for American nationals and others who make the islands their main residence to enjoy substantial personal and business tax benefits. These lower taxes make the islands an offshore tax haven option for very wealthy U.S. citizens, entrepreneurs and foreign nationals seeking U.S. citizenship —but only if they are willing to make their principal home here and live here most of the year. The VI Industrial Development Commission grants generous tax relief packages including a 90% exemption on corporate federal income taxes for investors who create jobs.

Commonwealth of The Bahamas: Unfortunately, because so many Americans used The Bahamas as an offshore haven in the 20th century, the islands came under heavy pressure from the U.S. government and the IRS because of suspected tax evasion. Since then, The Bahamas has adopted a series of U.S. demanded laws that largely disrupted past cozy arrangements, and seriously diminished the islands role as an offshore haven. These changes were topped off with a TIEA with the U.S. It’s still a nice place to retire or have a second home, but more secure financial havens can be found elsewhere.

Cook Islands: These tiny specs far out in the South Pacific, in the middle of nowhere, are home to a very modern set of offshore financial laws including: ironclad asset protection trusts, IBCs, limited liability partnerships, and a very strict financial privacy law that prevents revealing your personal business. While “independent,” the islands look to New Zealand, their former protector, for continued assistance. But some people don’t like too much distance between themselves and their assets, and these islands are very far out.

Dubai: A relative newcomer to the offshore haven list, this is one of seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates on the Arabian Peninsula. It’s becoming a banking and financial center promoted by the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC). Aside from good supervision and regulation, the DIFC offers an attractive business environment including: zero taxes on income and profits from foreign-owned businesses; a network of double taxation treaties; no restrictions on foreign exchange or capital/profit repatriation; a dollar-denominated environment; enforcement of money laundering laws; ultra-modern office accommodations; state-of- the-art technology, sophisticated infrastructure, data protection security, operational support and business facilities of high standards. If your interests lie in the Middle East or Islamic banking, this is your place.
________________________________________
Robert Bauman is Legal Counsel for The Sovereign Society and editor of The Sovereign Society Offshore A-Letter. A former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland, he is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center (1964) and the School of Foreign Service (1959)...

Dave A: I got to give you credit you came from way-out in left field. That`s a very good summation of the tax haven world. By the way when did you become a Sovereign Society member? That`s for characters like me (hehehehe).

To Senor X: You starting to understand what I`m explaining to you. The biggest players aren`t really gangsters.......It`s those dudes who operate in that beautiful middle-ground between the legal and illegal worlds. Jiggy (LA Crimefile) calls those people "fixers". Dudes Kent Kane Parrott (LA), Hy Larner (Chicago), Sassakawa (Tokyo), Benjamin Herrera (Colombia, The real godfather of both Cali and Medillin), AK (Saudi and worldwide) and for that matter you could add Palazzolo and the people pulling all the levers in Milan(Puparo knows those dudes). How about Walter Mishler and Arnold Rothstein. This list could go on ad infintum.

Not a member, but thanks to you I did some searches for tax havens and found that article.

It is all about the connections, that much becomes clear when youre reading about organized crime, whether Italian, Russian or Dutch.

beemoe...i think you will like some jewish russian oligarch....they are kind of pepole that you are intersed in...no? legale (?)...but very secret.....

Of course I like "The Oligarchs".....No question about it Boris Berezovsky was one of my favorite studies. I don`t really think that the majority of them are "Jewish" that was something those guys got into because it made it easier to get out of Russia, the same thing applies to Russian "pentecostals".

I think you really understand my point that dudes like Berezovsky or Bruce Rappaport are far more deadlier than any gangster. Those dudes hire whole gangs and paramilitaries to do their dirty work. Based on what I know Hy Larner was far more deadlier than anybody in the "Outfit" but very few people know of him.

Those books "Revelations" and "All is Clouded by Desire" are about how Berezovsky, Mogilevitch, Rappaport and Tom Renyi stole $15 billion from Russia back in `98-`99,without firing a shot! That`s power, baby.

Oligarch and Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich is accused of shady links, non proven. I have an article somewhere regarding Russian football club owners with shady pasts, some still continue that business by setting up dodgy player transfers.

For more see my posts in the Russian Mafia

Thanks for that link Dave A: I`m going to shift gears a little bit here. I`m answering your question in a roundabout way X. Almost all the major players own businesses and become businesspeople because if you want to keep your wealth.......you have to "think like a rich person". Meaning street criminals don`t have to think like the wealthy because they rearly make that type of money but serious crimnals do. Their operations become business groups on their own. So if you want to keep and grow you finances you need to think like the rich. The rich have the knowledge about wealth and finance and they have been doing for a lot longer than the criminals. They have the strategies that the criminals are borrowing from. After all wasn`t Meyer Lansky copying the already wealthy?

The rich know how to use dummy and shell corporations, they know how to use "daisy chains and butter trains", they know what politicans and military people to buy, they know what the most secretive tax havens to operate from (how did you think I knew about Campione? A very wealthy person told me about it.) they know how to use the loopholes in the system Reg S and Reg D (backdoor offerings and private placements). All this stuff came from the wealthy.

Take a good look at the "Financial Village" (the first chapter of "Revelations") it`s really about how these people operate and how the criminals and "terrorists" copy them. Loretta Napoleoni is real good at this. Check out her book "Modern Jihad."

JEAN BERNARD LASNAUD
VICTOR ANATOLIYEVICH BOUT
LEONID EFIMOVICH MININ
MONZER AL KASSAR
SARKIS SOGHANALIAN

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/...eakingnews.html

yea -the russians oligarchs took billions of euro from the russian state ...some of them without vilonce...but some of them took over national compenies by killing the compenies bosses....
a lot of them are living today in israel and in london....they have privete jets (very big ) , giant yachts...houses all over the world....and in the last year they invest very hard in india (goa).....

they don't kill theit rivals with guns and bombs...but they make accidents happen..

by the way beemoe- for few months i'm looking for stuff on the "honored society" (ndrangheta) in australia and from the info i read ( and also from cassandro info) it seems they control some important pepole in the australian govrement and in the police, accept their huge control on the australian o.c....most of this conrol comes from power and less from paying pepole........
they pay-but not huge sums of money ...just sums that shows their respect to the man that helped them.

x-man.

Jaye Scholl`s "Easy Money" one of the most interesting articles I`ve read. This article is one of those that got me thinking that "there`s this other world where`s there`s toooooooooo much money" (a Robert Kiyosakism). This article was one the basises of Jefferey Robinson`s "The Sink" and used in several others as well. This was "exhibit A" in the SEC`s reform movement. If your thinking what I`m thinking that the "criminals" have already found new loopholes in the law.

In detail this is / was how "major offshore playas" operate. Yes Senor X:There`s a mafia connection via The Mazzeo`s.


Abstract:

Regulation S is a rule added 6 years ago to the Securities Act of 1933.
The change was put in place by the SEC to allow US companies to raise
funds more easily from foreign investors. But unintentionally, Reg. S
created a shady source of cash for hundreds of questionable companies.
Perhaps worst of all, by allowing companies to skirt federal
disclosure
laws, Reg. S encourages cagey players to make quick profits overseas
at
the expense of millions of unsuspecting investors here in the US.
Under
Reg. S, companies can sell unregistered securities - at any price they
choose - to foreign investors without first registering the deal with
the
SEC. When a Reg. S deal goes down, often the first clue US
shareholders
get is an unexplained drop in a company's share price, and that usually
occurs just after the foreign holders sell their Reg. S shares back
into
the US market. American companies have happily raised billions of
dollars
through Reg. S deals since 1990. In the process they have created a
3-tiered
market, with the tiers generally differentiated by the size of
companies
doing the deals. Most of the problems are in the very bottom of the
lowest
tier.
Copyright Dow Jones & Company Inc Apr 29, 1996

Full Text:

HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF you bought stock in a company for $8 a share only
to discover that the for $4 apiece? And imagine that the company in
question
did not have to inform the Securities and Exchange Commission or its
shareholders
about these foreign shenanigans--ever.

Well, imagine no more. Such dealings take place routinely--and
legally--under
something known as Regulation S, a rule added six years ago to the
Securities
Act of 1933. The change was put in place by the SEC to allow U.S.
companies
to raise funds more easily from foreign investors. But,
unintentionally,
Reg S created a shady source of cash for hundreds of questionable
companies.
It also allowed company insiders to sell their shares without informing
the public, and it gave rise to a trove of opportunities for scamsters.

Perhaps worst of all, by allowing companies to skirt federal disclosure
laws, Reg S encourages cagey players to make quick profits overseas at
the expense of millions of unsuspecting investors here in the U.S. To
begin
with, Reg S deals put more of a company's shares in circulation, and as
a result, the value of each share shrinks. Unfortunately, these
dilutive
effects remain hidden until long after the Reg S deals are done.

"There are lots of unanticipated problems with Reg S, the biggest being
that current shareholders don't know about the dilution that's coming,"
comments J. William Hicks, a securities law professor at Indiana
University
Law School whose book, Resales of Restricted Securities, is the last
word
on the topic.

Under Reg S, companies can sell unregistered securities--at any price
they
choose--to foreign investors without first registering the deal with
the
SEC. The foreign buyers must then hold the securities for at least 40
days,
at which point they can sell the shares back into the U.S. market--and
they usually do so at a handsome profit.

When a Reg S deal goes down, often the first clue U.S. shareholders get
is an unexplained drop in a company's share price, and that usually
occurs
just after the foreign holders sell their Reg S shares back into the
U.S.
market. But the only hard evidence of such a deal is an increase in a
company's
shares outstanding, something that isn't disclosed until a company
files
its quarterly report. Even then, it takes laser-like scrutiny to detect
a Reg S deal in financial documents.

Fans of Reg S point out that the rule cuts the red tape of raising
funds
abroad. And after all, if IBM wants to raise cash in Germany, why
should
it need the SEC's approval? The government's role is to protect
shareholders
in America, not in Europe.

In fact, American companies have happily raised billions of dollars
through
Reg S deals since 1990. In the process they have created a three-tiered
market, with the tiers generally differentiated by the size of
companies
doing the deals. Most of the problems are in the very bottom of the
lowest
tier, a nether world where truly unscrupulous operators regularly
trample
shareholders' rights. "For crooks, the object of the game is to get
freely
trading stock that you can turn into cash as quickly possible," says
Jerry
Isenberg, principal assistant director in the SEC's division of
enforcement.
"Before Reg S, you had to jump through a lot more hoops to do
that--holding
periods, lawyers, transfer agents. With Reg S, you don't. And that is
why
a lot of bad guys have Reg S as an element in their schemes."

In Tier 1, large corporations such as IBM regularly use Reg S to issue
debt abroad. As a Big Blue spokesman put it succinctly, "It's cheaper."
Indeed, on a large debt offer, using Reg S can eliminate printing,
legal
and accounting costs that would otherwise run into millions of dollars.

Lacking the creditworthiness of Tier 1, companies in Tier 2 are more
likely
to issue a combination of equity and debt in the Reg S market. These
Tier
2 companies, whose value in the stock market generally ranges from $100
million to $1 billion, frequently do dual offerings, with some of the
securities
sold in the U.S. and some offshore. Their goal: to tap as many sources
of capital as possible. Tier 2 companies also use the Reg S market when
they want to raise cash quietly to fund a takeover.

DEALS WITH THE DEVIL RAISE CASH QUICKLY

* In Tier 3, there are many cash-starved companies who find themselves
forced to rely on Reg S issues. The offshore arrangements let them
raise
the money they need quickly and quietly, but they almost always have to
sell their shares at a steep discount. What's more, when the foreign
holders
unload into the U.S. market, the company runs the risk of seeing its
share
price get swamped.

Among the scores of development-stage companies that have resorted to
Reg
S deals are Trimedyne, a struggling medical lasers, and Interactive
Network,
a firm that flopped in its bid to sell devices designed to make TVs
interactive.
Trymedine officials decline to discuss their Reg S deals, saying they
didn't
want to tell Barron's anything they hadn't told shareholders. Officials
at Interactive Network said that their Reg S deals worked well when he
company had solid long-term foreign investors, but they said things
fell
apart when the company sold Reg S shares to some quick-buck artists.
Interactive
Network shares, which once rose as high as 11, were available last week
for 10 cents each.

All too often Reg S seems to be helping vampire companies, the ones
that
would be one step closer to the grave if it weren't for regular
infusions
of cash from offshore stock sales. These companies get their cash all
right,
but the blood is subsequently sucked out of their U.S. holders as Reg S
shares are sold back into the U.S. market.

Take Aura Systems, a California company that has been called "King of
Reg
S." In its troubled decade of existence as a public company, Aura
Systems
has been dropped by its former auditors, Deloitte & Touche,
investigated
by the SEC and sued numerous times, most recently in two 1995 cases by
shareholders alleging stock-price manipulation. The company disputes
the
suits' allegations. Having traded as high as 12, Aura shares were
changing
hands last week at about 5.

Aura specializes in making electromagnetic devices that suspend movable
parts to reduce friction. The company's electromagnetic valve actuator,
for example, opens and closes engine valves electromagnetically,
supposedly
"eliminating the entire camshaft assembly." In another use for the
company's
products, people playing video games can don Aura System's Interactor
vest
to let them "feel" the screen's action, whether it be an explosion or
an
earth tremor.

To date, Aura Systems has not made a killing with these or any other of
its products. On the contrary, Aura Systems has reported losses for
years.
Indeed, as of Feb. 28, 1995, the most recent fiscal year for which
there
are results, the company had accumulated $41 million in losses.

For the nine months ending Nov. 30, 1995, Aura recorded revenues of $56
million, but how much of those revenues were hard cash? Not enough to
"fund
its working capital needs," states a preliminary registration statement
filed in February 1996. To raise cash, Aura Systems feeds regularly at
the Reg S trough, according to one of the market's active participants.

One indication of Aura's feeding habits: Between February 1994 and
February
of this year, the company's shares outstanding nearly doubled, from
33.8
million to 61.7 million. Of the 28 million new shares, more than half
were
sold into the Reg S market, market players say. And just two weeks ago,
Aura Systems was said to be back with a Reg S deal to sell several
million
shares for $12 million.

Steven Veen, Aura Systems' chief financial officer, declines to
elaborate.
"We don't want to comment on our financing other than what's in our
disclosures,"
he told Barron's last week.

Reg S can also be abused by people holding restricted stock, including
company officers who receive restricted shares via options or warrants.
All holders of restricted stock are subject to limits on selling the
shares.
Company officers, for instance, must hold their restricted stock for
periods
ranging from six months to two years.

But Reg S provides a legal way for such insiders to sell their shares
early
if, say, the share price is rising rapidly and they are worried it
could
soon fall. The problem, of course, is that because of Reg S, the
average
shareholder knows nothing about these company insiders bailing out.

To qualify for selling restricted shares under Reg S, all a CEO has to
do is get a lawyer's letter attesting that the shares are being sold to
a non-U.S. investor. The lawyer's letter and the CEO's restricted stock
are then delivered to a company's transfer agent. At that point, the
transfer
agent "lifts the legend," meaning he uses a machine to punch holes in
the
restricted stock certificates and then prepares new certificates with a
Reg S mark, or legend, on them. In some cases, the Reg S shares bear no
special markings at all.

The new certificates are delivered to the foreign buyer, who no doubt
prays
the stock price holds up for at least 41 days. But Reg S shares are
often
sold at discounts of as much as 50% to the prevailing U.S. market
price,
so the price would have to collapse before the foreign-investor would
actually
lose money on the deal. If the foreigner is really worried, he can
always
lock in his profits by selling shares short and covering the position
in
40 days when he can sell his Reg S shares in the U.S. (see
chart).(Chart
omitted)

HOW THE COWBOYS ROPE CASH-STARVED COMPANIES

* As sweet as Reg S deals can be, some people can't resist making them
sweeter. Among those pushing the limits are some 300 "Reg S cowboys"
operating
in the U.S., Canada and, more recently, Germany. These cowboys are
broker-dealers
who match Reg S sellers with buyers.

To find sellers, the cowboys hunt for young companies with weak cash
flow.
Then they call up the struggling firms and make a proposition: How
would
you like to raise $10 million fast? The competition is fierce because
cowboys
collect a 7.5% commission on each deal.

"In the past two years, 200 people have called me up with Reg S and
private-placement
deals," says David Nassif, chief financial officer at Cypros
Pharmaceutical,
a Carlsbad, Calif., biotech company with two kidney-disease diagnostic
drugs on the market and two acute-care drugs in Stage 2 of clinical
trials.

Nassif says he has rejected every Reg S offer so far because the shares
could be sold back into the U.S. in a mere 40 days. He doesn't want Reg
S stock flowing back into the States and wreaking havoc on Cypros's
share
price. "We want investors for more than 41 days," he saps. He adds,
"These
investors are flippers. When we ask them if we can send them our 10-K
and
annual report, they say, 'Why?'"

But for cash-starved companies, the siren song of Reg S can prove
irresistible.
Doing the deals is fairly simple. All a company must do before issuing
Reg S stock is get the approval of its board. In fact, board minutes
authorizing
Reg S issues are the only reliable record of the transactions. Transfer
agents require that copies of these minutes be sent to them before
they'll
issue Reg S certificates. But neither the minutes nor the transfer
agents'
records are public documents. So shareholders are, again, left in the
dark.

One of the tricks of the Reg S business is knowing how many shares can
be sold back into the U.S. market without immediately torpedoing the
share
price. "The clever cowboys know how much stock the market can absorb,
and
how long it will take, and that's how they know how much of a discount
the stock needs" to attract foreign buyers, participant in the Reg S
trade.

The limit appears to be 20% of a stock's average daily volume. In
words,
if 10,000 shares of a given company's stock trade in the U.S. on an
average
day, Reg S dealers make sure that no more than 2,000 Reg S shares of
that
company are released back into the U.S. market each day. Just to make
sure
the price doesn't crater, a network of stock promoters often pump up
demand
before the stock returns to the U.S., sometimes by issuing bullish
press
releases about the company. Between the 20% limit and the publicity,
the
target company's share price usually holds up for a while.

Right now, one of the most common abuses of Reg S is said to involve
offshore
companies that allow U.S. citizens to benefit--illegally--from the sale
of Reg S shares back into the U.S. market. Allegations in a case now
being
tried in Orlando, Fla., illustrate how U.S. prosecutors say phony
offshore
entities are being used. The SEC is conducting at least three
investigations
into Reg S abuses, including probes in Florida, Texas and New York,
according
to people familiar with the situation.

The Orlando case, filed in U.S. District Court, Middle District of
Florida,
accuses three individuals of conspiring to inflate the price of Members
Service Corp., a telecommunications, cable, media and energy company
based
in Winter Park, Fla. Before its collapse, Members Service shares were
traded
on Nasdaq and on the Boston Stock Exchange.

The allegations put Reg S in the middle of the conspiracy to defraud
investors,
and that probably explains why SEC lawyers have been deputized as U.S.
attorneys to help federal prosecutors try the intricate case.

The 28-count indictment names Arthur S. Feher Jr., the 47-year-old
former
chairman and CEO of Members, and Philip Sung, a 38-year-old former
South
Florida resident and Canadian stock promoter. Feher pleaded not guilty
at a trial that began two weeks ago, and Sung is fighting extradition
to
Florida.

The indictment against Feher charges that in January 1992 he authorized
Members to issue 200,000 Reg S shares in the name of a 95-year-old
woman,
presumably at a discount to their $4 trading price. The shares were
placed
in the woman's name in a brokerage account at Union Securities in
Vancouver,
B.C. The account was controlled by Feher's associate, Sung.

In March 1992, about 51 days later Feher allegedly told a stockbroker a
Union Securities to transfer the woman's 200,000 shares to other
accounts
there so controlled by his associate, Sung. On or about the same day,
Sung
directed a stockbroker at Union Securities to sell 20,800 of the shares
to "other individuals who sold the stock, directly and indirectly into
the United States market," the government suit says.

IN THE BAHAMAS, SEC SEES SHELLS BY THE SEASHORE

* The suit further charges that around March 5, 1992, Feher authorized
Members to issue an additional 1.2 million shares. this time to seven
shell
companies he controlled in the Bahamas. In late April and early May,
Feher
sent these shares to the same 95-year-old woman's account in Vancouver.
About 60 days later, a co-conspirator of Feher and Sung's allegedly
received
31,500 of those Members shares from the woman's account and began
selling
them back into the U.S. market.

An added twist: While Members' shares were being routed to the
Caribbean
and Vancouver, Feher put out a series of "false and misleading" press
releases,
the indictment charges. Members also filed financial statements with
the
SEC that "substantially" overstated its assets and stockholders'
equity.

The misleading press releases and financial statements sent Members'
stock
price soaring from approximately $4 a share in March 1992, to a high of
$12 a share by June 1992, according to the indictment. It appears this
stock run added nicely to profits reaped by selling Members' Reg S
shares
back into the U.S. Now federal prosecutors are asking that Feher and
Sung
each forfeit $2.7 million.

Among innovations in offshore finance, one of the most outrageous is
the
practice whereby foreigners get Reg S shares by merely signing
short-term,
interest-free promissory notes. In effect, the foreign holders get the
shares for nothing, wait 40 days, sell the shares into the U.S. market,
reap a fat profit, and then use a portion of the proceeds to pay off
the
note. So far, the SEC has expressed doubts about the promissory note
deals,
but the agency has not declared them illegal in and of themselves.

But promissory notes can be used to help circumvent securities law, and
that is amply illustrated by an important Reg S case the commission
settled
this past February. The case involved four Reg S offerings. The four
participants:
Salvatore Mazzeo, the head of a Westfield Financial Corp., a
now-defunct
brokerage firm; Schneck Weltman Hashmall & Mischel, a New York City law
firm; Candie's Inc., a women's footwear company in Purchase, N.Y., and
Response USA, a security company based in Lawrenceville, N.J.

Ultimately, Mazzeo consented to having committed a securities violation
and was suspended from the brokerage business for five months. The
three
others neither admitted nor denied the charges, but they promised not
to
commit future violations.

Longtime Barron's readers may remember Salvatore Mazzeo, and if not
him,
then his infamous father, Fred. Pere Mazzeo was a leading character,
and
his son had a supporting role, in a Barron's article in March 1988
entitled
"Scientists and Stock Pushers." In addition to telling the tale of a
failed
underwriting that enlisted celebrated faculty members at Rockefeller
University,
Barron's noted back then that Fred Mazzeo had "extraordinarily tawdry
business
associates, including, among others, "a member of the Genovese crime
family."
During the 1980s, father and son Mazzeo worked together and apart in a
succession of failed brokerage houses. In the early 1990s, when the SEC
became interested in the son and his Reg S deals, he was running his
own
shop, Westfield.

As part of the Candie's settlement, the SEC published its findings and
showed how the four transactions worked. One example: In May 1993, the
law firm Schneck Weltman and Mazzeo arranged to sell 727,000 shares of
Candie's common stock to four foreign investors. One buyer was a
Liberian
company with the simple address of "P.O. Box 26, Moscow 117049." A
London
attorney represented the purchasers in dealing with Mazzeo.

The purchase price? About $2.75 a share, or a 40% discount to the price
U.S. investors had to pay for the Nasdaq-traded stock. Mazzeo
negotiated
with the foreign investors' attorney to get $200,000 in cash for the
securities.
The remaining $1.8 million due was covered by short-term promissory
notes,
due between 40 and 70 days after the sale.

Schneck Weltman, the law firm, gave the Candie's transfer agent an
opinion
letter stating that the deal qualified under Reg S. The transfer agent
gave the unregistered Candie's stock certificates to Schneck Weltman,
which
then transferred them to Mazzeo's brokerage, Westfield, where they were
deposited in the purchasers' accounts.

Shortly after the 40-day restriction period ended, Mazzeo began selling
the stock into the U.S. market, bringing in $2.8 million, making for a
tidy profit of $800,000.

In another Reg S investigation, this one launched just last year, the
SEC's
New York office issued subpoenas for records involving 17 "stock
promoters,"
and 16 companies. The subpoenas ask for "all documents reflecting,
referring,
or relating to the promotion, purchase or sale of the securities of any
of the issuer(s), made or purported to be made pursuant to Regulation
S."

ISN'T IT HIGH TIME WE AMEND REGULATION S?

* Whether all of the 16 companies issued Reg S stock can't be discerned
from the subpoena. Nor is there any evidence offered that would
indicate
they have done anything wrong. But most are small companies that have
had
their ups and downs. One such outfit is Cami'z, the clothing chain that
changed its name to B.U.M. International, filed for Chapter 11 this
month
and will begin to liquidate its 41 retail outlet stores in May.

Or take Solv-Ex, the Albuquerque mineral extraction company that has
yet
to see a profit but made news in late March when it was reported that a
grand jury was looking at possible ties between it and two convicted
international
stock swindlers, Arnold Kimmes and Thomas Quinn. Despite its lackluster
record, Solv-Ex managed to raise an astounding $61 million in March
selling
unregistered stock to foreign investors through FIBA Nordic Securities
Ltd. in London, according to press reports. Though this would appear to
be a Reg S deal, it cannot be said for sure because no public
disclosure
of the details has been made.

Then there is Epigen, a Wellesley, Mass., biopharmaceutical company
that
was attempting to develop a blood test to monitor breast cancer.
Epigen's
stock was dropped from the American Stock Exchange Emerging Company
Marketplace
trading list in October 1994 after its assets dipped below the required
$2 million minimum.

The SEC may be looking at numerous other companies, as well. One Reg S
player says he has recently had his records on "15 to 20" companies
requested
by the SEC, and none of them are on the list of 16 mentioned in the New
York subpoena.

"A lot of Reg S lawyers are in for a big surprise," predicts this Reg S
player, referring to the key role played by law firms willing to give
opinions
that Reg S deals are legitimate. "The SEC is going to take them down
one
at a time," he adds.

But it's not just the regulators who are going after Reg S abusers. In
Seattle, an investment management firm has accused one of its former
portfolio
managers of accepting a kickback after playing matchmaker between an
investment
fund and a company that issued Reg S shares. In a lawsuit filed in
Washington
State Superior Court, Genesee Service Corp., the investment management
company, is suing Christopher Secreto and his wife, Kristen. Between
1991
and 1995, Secreto's job was to find investments for Genesee's offshore
fund, GFL Ultra Ltd., which is based in the Netherlands Antilles.

Even though Ultra was managed by a Seattle company, the rules allow the
fund to buy Reg S stock if it meets two conditions: It must be located
offshore, and it can have no U.S. investors.

Genesee's suit accuses Secreto of recommending that GFL Ultra invest
$2.4
million in SynAgro Technologies, a Houston fertilizer company that
trades
on the Nasdaq Small-Cap Market. Ultra received both Reg S stock and Reg
S debt from SynAgro. Genesee charges that in return for Ultra's
investment,
SynAgro paid Secreto's company, Mercury Capital, $62,500. Secreto
denies
any wrongdoing.

Genesee may not be a totally innocent victim. In documents filed in a
subsequent
lawsuit, SynAgro claims that Genesee had a U.S. citizen investing in
Ultra,
which would be a clear violation of Reg S. Genesee, through its lawyer,
denies there were any U.S. investors in the GFL Ultra fund.

Last summer, the SEC solicited comments for possible amendments to Reg
S. It's about time. In the six years since Reg S was adopted, the SEC
has
never published guidelines spelling out what's legal and what's not.

Oddly enough, this lack of guidance may have resulted from a
philosophical
split within the SEC itself. The Division of Enforcement sees Reg S as
a regulatory Pandora's Box, while the free-market, deregulation
champions
in the SEC's corporate division credit Reg S with helping the SEC
toward
its goal of "achieving a truly global market system." The
free-marketeers
argue that the economic advantages of Reg S outweigh the problems.

By some narrow measure of Tier 1 corporate financing costs, that may
seem
to be true. But such blindered logic ignores the fact that Reg S lends
encouragement to scoundrels and threatens to undermine investors'
confidence
in the markets.

Until the SEC manages to clean up the abuses in Tier 3 of this market,
investors would do well to ask questions before putting money into any
small companies. Most important, have they been doing any Reg S deals
and
do they plan to? If either answer is yes, tread carefully.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.
Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.


=============================== End of Document
================================

This article is called "There`s No Place Like Home To Clean Money". It brings up a brillant idea (loophole) that the biggest "offshore finance center isn`t Switzerland or Campione or Luxembourg it`s the good ole U.S.A. That`s right us! How to exploit the loophole. The answer is in the "Easy Money" article. A three parter.


Email Print Normal font Large font By John Garnaut
January 23, 2006
Page 1 of 3 | Single page
Advertisement
AdvertisementIT MIGHT surprise aspiring drug runners, terrorism financiers, market manipulators and tax evaders to learn that the easiest places to launder dirty money are the United States, the UK, Switzerland and right here at home.

It's not often said in polite company, and certainly not by our regulators, but Australia and the three great centres of global capital are home to financial disclosure rules more commonly associated with palm-fringed islands.

They also cloak dodgy dealings in a respectability that Vanuatu, Monaco or the British Virgin Islands cannot hope to match.

An October report card by the world's top anti-money laundering body, the Financial Action Task Force, said Australia met just 12 of its 40 criteria. We scored an outright fail on 10.

The report (which went entirely unreported in the mainstream press) says Australians have no obligation to disclose the beneficial owners of trusts, transaction reports by all types of financial and non-cash dealers are inadequate, and "investigators generally do not investigate". The Australian Government estimates $2-3 billion is laundered here each year and yet there have been just three convictions for indictable money laundering offences since 2003.

So if you want to wash your fingerprints off tax-free drug money to buy Stinger missiles in Dubai and a house for your daughter in Paddington, here's how you do it.

The first step is the easiest: getting money out of Australia.

The most common method is a transfer pricing racket. This involves, say, falsely inflating contracts for wheat exports and arranging for the surplus money to accumulate in an offshore bank account, where it can be funnelled to your favourite dictator (or arms dealer). Helpfully, the Tax Office has never fully challenged a transfer pricing fraud in court.

You could also try a pretend offshore "captive insurance" arrangement, which the Tax Office is evidently comfortable with. Or you could stick to a simple wire transfer.

You might then order a limited liability company (LLC) in Delaware through any online incorporation service. In this tiny American state there is no company tax, no requirement to conduct a genuine business and no need to have a physical presence in the country. Indeed, no one even asks your name.

Thedelawarecompany.com explains that tax evasion and money laundering are extremely convenient but not compulsory: "The advantage for non-Americans who do not file a US tax return is that the LLC's profits pass through to the LLC's owner but the income is not taxed by the US.

"Of course, if you feel it is necessary to report the LLC's income in your home country, you are able to do so. However, ownership in a Delaware LLC is completely private and is never disclosed, not even to the state of Delaware. Need more information? Click below."

And if you want to look like you're doing business in Delaware, rather than Sydney or Dubai, many incorporation services will kindly divert your phone calls and mail to wherever you are in the world.

But Delaware companies are only America's most popular money laundering vehicles, not the best. In Nevada and Wyoming, a drug-running terrorist can legally nominate a pretend director and shareholder in their stead. Better still, their companies can issue bearer shares.

Bearer share companies have no registers. Shareholders identify their claim on company assets merely by a physical share certificate carried in their hands (or somebody else's). That certificate need not carry the shareholder's name on it, or even a number.

Many incorporation services will also open a bank account in the company's name without bothering to find out who's behind the company.

That's why the US Treasury pinged these three states in a money laundering report a fortnight ago: "A handful of US states offer company registrations with cloaking features - such as minimal information requirements and oversight - that rival those offered by offshore financial centres."

And that's how the Russian mafia launders $US36 billion ($48 billion) through America each year, according to the FBI.

Once your money is in the US banking system it's very difficult to trace. You can wire it anywhere in the world, like London.

London is the birthplace of one of the law's most creative inventions, the discretionary trust. Trusts separate legal from real ownership, enabling the rich to enjoy the benefits of property without the legal obligations.

London is also home to a thriving population of trust and company service providers who hire stooges as directors, trustees and even beneficiaries in your stead. These businesses operate without any regulations or licensing requirements.

The potential for corruption was recently raised by Transparency International: "Of particular concern to us was the issue of company trust service providers. Whilst many offshore financial centres have introduced legislation to regulate those that form and administer companies and often trusts as well, the UK and other onshore centres have not followed suit."

The UK even allows companies to be directors of other companies - 64,000 of them, in fact. So why not have a company (an artificial legal construct which could have its own bogus directors and shareholders) be the director and shareholder of another company which controls a trust in one of the British Channel Island's nominal tax jurisdictions?

Perhaps the Isle of Sark, a tiny tax-free rock affiliated with Guernsey, where three enterprising citizens are the directors of more than 3000 companies each.

The UK has powers to intervene in its Channel Island "dependencies" but has not done so for two centuries.

You could then hold your anonymous Nevada bearer shares in the Channel Island trust, controlled from London, with the income from those shares channelled to a Swiss private banker.

Once your money is in Switzerland (whose money laundering report card was woeful but not as bad as ours), it requires an accident of Rene Rivkin proportions for regulators to get it out.

Your freshly laundered money would then be available on a Swiss credit or debit card linked to that bank, to be claimed at any ATM around the world.

Your daughter and her partner could be given a card each, permitting them to withdraw the deposit on their Paddington terrace house in a few weeks.

To complete your purchases, the Swiss banker, London trust administrator or Nevada company agent can download your money onto stored value cards (essentially cash carried in a microchip) and mail them to your arms dealer in Dubai.

If, however, you're not a drug runner, terrorism financier, market manipulator or tax evader, you can be thankful the Government has finally drafted serious money-laundering legislation. Let's hope AUSTRAC, about to become the money laundering regulator, is given the wherewithal to cope.

jgarnaut@smh.com.au

Part 2


Email Print Normal font Large font By John Garnaut
January 23, 2006
Page 2 of 3 | Single page

IT MIGHT surprise aspiring drug runners, terrorism financiers, market manipulators and tax evaders to learn that the easiest places to launder dirty money are the United States, the UK, Switzerland and right here at home.

It's not often said in polite company, and certainly not by our regulators, but Australia and the three great centres of global capital are home to financial disclosure rules more commonly associated with palm-fringed islands.

They also cloak dodgy dealings in a respectability that Vanuatu, Monaco or the British Virgin Islands cannot hope to match.

An October report card by the world's top anti-money laundering body, the Financial Action Task Force, said Australia met just 12 of its 40 criteria. We scored an outright fail on 10.

The report (which went entirely unreported in the mainstream press) says Australians have no obligation to disclose the beneficial owners of trusts, transaction reports by all types of financial and non-cash dealers are inadequate, and "investigators generally do not investigate". The Australian Government estimates $2-3 billion is laundered here each year and yet there have been just three convictions for indictable money laundering offences since 2003.

So if you want to wash your fingerprints off tax-free drug money to buy Stinger missiles in Dubai and a house for your daughter in Paddington, here's how you do it.

The first step is the easiest: getting money out of Australia.

The most common method is a transfer pricing racket. This involves, say, falsely inflating contracts for wheat exports and arranging for the surplus money to accumulate in an offshore bank account, where it can be funnelled to your favourite dictator (or arms dealer). Helpfully, the Tax Office has never fully challenged a transfer pricing fraud in court.

You could also try a pretend offshore "captive insurance" arrangement, which the Tax Office is evidently comfortable with. Or you could stick to a simple wire transfer.

You might then order a limited liability company (LLC) in Delaware through any online incorporation service. In this tiny American state there is no company tax, no requirement to conduct a genuine business and no need to have a physical presence in the country. Indeed, no one even asks your name.

Thedelawarecompany.com explains that tax evasion and money laundering are extremely convenient but not compulsory: "The advantage for non-Americans who do not file a US tax return is that the LLC's profits pass through to the LLC's owner but the income is not taxed by the US.

"Of course, if you feel it is necessary to report the LLC's income in your home country, you are able to do so. However, ownership in a Delaware LLC is completely private and is never disclosed, not even to the state of Delaware. Need more information? Click below."

And if you want to look like you're doing business in Delaware, rather than Sydney or Dubai, many incorporation services will kindly divert your phone calls and mail to wherever you are in the world.

But Delaware companies are only America's most popular money laundering vehicles, not the best. In Nevada and Wyoming, a drug-running terrorist can legally nominate a pretend director and shareholder in their stead. Better still, their companies can issue bearer shares.

Bearer share companies have no registers. Shareholders identify their claim on company assets merely by a physical share certificate carried in their hands (or somebody else's). That certificate need not carry the shareholder's name on it, or even a number.

Many incorporation services will also open a bank account in the company's name without bothering to find out who's behind the company.

That's why the US Treasury pinged these three states in a money laundering report a fortnight ago: "A handful of US states offer company registrations with cloaking features - such as minimal information requirements and oversight - that rival those offered by offshore financial centres."

And that's how the Russian mafia launders $US36 billion ($48 billion) through America each year, according to the FBI.

Once your money is in the US banking system it's very difficult to trace. You can wire it anywhere in the world, like London.

London is the birthplace of one of the law's most creative inventions, the discretionary trust. Trusts separate legal from real ownership, enabling the rich to enjoy the benefits of property without the legal obligations.

London is also home to a thriving population of trust and company service providers who hire stooges as directors, trustees and even beneficiaries in your stead. These businesses operate without any regulations or licensing requirements.

The potential for corruption was recently raised by Transparency International: "Of particular concern to us was the issue of company trust service providers. Whilst many offshore financial centres have introduced legislation to regulate those that form and administer companies and often trusts as well, the UK and other onshore centres have not followed suit."

The UK even allows companies to be directors of other companies - 64,000 of them, in fact. So why not have a company (an artificial legal construct which could have its own bogus directors and shareholders) be the director and shareholder of another company which controls a trust in one of the British Channel Island's nominal tax jurisdictions?

Perhaps the Isle of Sark, a tiny tax-free rock affiliated with Guernsey, where three enterprising citizens are the directors of more than 3000 companies each.

The UK has powers to intervene in its Channel Island "dependencies" but has not done so for two centuries.

You could then hold your anonymous Nevada bearer shares in the Channel Island trust, controlled from London, with the income from those shares channelled to a Swiss private banker.

Once your money is in Switzerland (whose money laundering report card was woeful but not as bad as ours), it requires an accident of Rene Rivkin proportions for regulators to get it out.

Your freshly laundered money would then be available on a Swiss credit or debit card linked to that bank, to be claimed at any ATM around the world.

Your daughter and her partner could be given a card each, permitting them to withdraw the deposit on their Paddington terrace house in a few weeks.

To complete your purchases, the Swiss banker, London trust administrator or Nevada company agent can download your money onto stored value cards (essentially cash carried in a microchip) and mail them to your arms dealer in Dubai.

If, however, you're not a drug runner, terrorism financier, market manipulator or tax evader, you can be thankful the Government has finally drafted serious money-laundering legislation. Let's hope AUSTRAC, about to become the money laundering regulator, is given the wherewithal to cope.

jgarnaut@smh.com.au

Part 3 This is funny fellas because we were just talking about Australia. Things that make you go hmmmmmm.

home to clean dirty money
Email Print Normal font Large font By John Garnaut
January 23, 2006
Page 3 of 3
Advertisement

IT MIGHT surprise aspiring drug runners, terrorism financiers, market manipulators and tax evaders to learn that the easiest places to launder dirty money are the United States, the UK, Switzerland and right here at home.

It's not often said in polite company, and certainly not by our regulators, but Australia and the three great centres of global capital are home to financial disclosure rules more commonly associated with palm-fringed islands.

They also cloak dodgy dealings in a respectability that Vanuatu, Monaco or the British Virgin Islands cannot hope to match.

An October report card by the world's top anti-money laundering body, the Financial Action Task Force, said Australia met just 12 of its 40 criteria. We scored an outright fail on 10.

The report (which went entirely unreported in the mainstream press) says Australians have no obligation to disclose the beneficial owners of trusts, transaction reports by all types of financial and non-cash dealers are inadequate, and "investigators generally do not investigate". The Australian Government estimates $2-3 billion is laundered here each year and yet there have been just three convictions for indictable money laundering offences since 2003.

So if you want to wash your fingerprints off tax-free drug money to buy Stinger missiles in Dubai and a house for your daughter in Paddington, here's how you do it.

The first step is the easiest: getting money out of Australia.

The most common method is a transfer pricing racket. This involves, say, falsely inflating contracts for wheat exports and arranging for the surplus money to accumulate in an offshore bank account, where it can be funnelled to your favourite dictator (or arms dealer). Helpfully, the Tax Office has never fully challenged a transfer pricing fraud in court.

You could also try a pretend offshore "captive insurance" arrangement, which the Tax Office is evidently comfortable with. Or you could stick to a simple wire transfer.

You might then order a limited liability company (LLC) in Delaware through any online incorporation service. In this tiny American state there is no company tax, no requirement to conduct a genuine business and no need to have a physical presence in the country. Indeed, no one even asks your name.

Thedelawarecompany.com explains that tax evasion and money laundering are extremely convenient but not compulsory: "The advantage for non-Americans who do not file a US tax return is that the LLC's profits pass through to the LLC's owner but the income is not taxed by the US.

"Of course, if you feel it is necessary to report the LLC's income in your home country, you are able to do so. However, ownership in a Delaware LLC is completely private and is never disclosed, not even to the state of Delaware. Need more information? Click below."

And if you want to look like you're doing business in Delaware, rather than Sydney or Dubai, many incorporation services will kindly divert your phone calls and mail to wherever you are in the world.

But Delaware companies are only America's most popular money laundering vehicles, not the best. In Nevada and Wyoming, a drug-running terrorist can legally nominate a pretend director and shareholder in their stead. Better still, their companies can issue bearer shares.

Bearer share companies have no registers. Shareholders identify their claim on company assets merely by a physical share certificate carried in their hands (or somebody else's). That certificate need not carry the shareholder's name on it, or even a number.

Many incorporation services will also open a bank account in the company's name without bothering to find out who's behind the company.

That's why the US Treasury pinged these three states in a money laundering report a fortnight ago: "A handful of US states offer company registrations with cloaking features - such as minimal information requirements and oversight - that rival those offered by offshore financial centres."

And that's how the Russian mafia launders $US36 billion ($48 billion) through America each year, according to the FBI.

Once your money is in the US banking system it's very difficult to trace. You can wire it anywhere in the world, like London.

London is the birthplace of one of the law's most creative inventions, the discretionary trust. Trusts separate legal from real ownership, enabling the rich to enjoy the benefits of property without the legal obligations.

London is also home to a thriving population of trust and company service providers who hire stooges as directors, trustees and even beneficiaries in your stead. These businesses operate without any regulations or licensing requirements.

The potential for corruption was recently raised by Transparency International: "Of particular concern to us was the issue of company trust service providers. Whilst many offshore financial centres have introduced legislation to regulate those that form and administer companies and often trusts as well, the UK and other onshore centres have not followed suit."

The UK even allows companies to be directors of other companies - 64,000 of them, in fact. So why not have a company (an artificial legal construct which could have its own bogus directors and shareholders) be the director and shareholder of another company which controls a trust in one of the British Channel Island's nominal tax jurisdictions?

Perhaps the Isle of Sark, a tiny tax-free rock affiliated with Guernsey, where three enterprising citizens are the directors of more than 3000 companies each.

The UK has powers to intervene in its Channel Island "dependencies" but has not done so for two centuries.

You could then hold your anonymous Nevada bearer shares in the Channel Island trust, controlled from London, with the income from those shares channelled to a Swiss private banker.

Once your money is in Switzerland (whose money laundering report card was woeful but not as bad as ours), it requires an accident of Rene Rivkin proportions for regulators to get it out.

Your freshly laundered money would then be available on a Swiss credit or debit card linked to that bank, to be claimed at any ATM around the world.

Your daughter and her partner could be given a card each, permitting them to withdraw the deposit on their Paddington terrace house in a few weeks.

To complete your purchases, the Swiss banker, London trust administrator or Nevada company agent can download your money onto stored value cards (essentially cash carried in a microchip) and mail them to your arms dealer in Dubai.

If, however, you're not a drug runner, terrorism financier, market manipulator or tax evader, you can be thankful the Government has finally drafted serious money-laundering legislation. Let's hope AUSTRAC, about to become the money laundering regulator, is given the wherewithal to cope.

jgarnaut@smh.com.au



SPONSORED LINKS

Speaking of Australia: What do any of you know about a bank called the "Nugan-Hand"?

Ciao Beemoe happy to see you are still around


Nugan hand bank, one of the guys committed suicide


what you wanted to know about them? and what do you know?


respects

beemoe- the russian mafia luanders money also for other mafias...so i don't think all these billions are just their money.....


what do you know on the Nugan hand bank...it sounds very very intersting....

puparo- good to see your posts again!!! i think that you have a lot of things to post in this topic , no? :D

i'm very intersted in the ndrangheta money laundering opretions around the world...they are the most intersting thing....


x-man.

beemoe,

you know about secret mafia summits about money laundering that took place in europe? involving russian and italian mafia?

To X:No I`m not aware of "the secret summits" but it sounds tasty. I wonder in how much detail these summits went? I recently moved to Palo Alto (Stanford University). I`m doing research on a book about our discussion. Glad to hear from you Pup.

So X: Where did you hear about this summit? Where can i get more info? Who was there?

Concerning that 24 billion dollar figure from a previous post, I would say that may be true that they work with other organized crime groups. On the flip-side the Russian O.C. Groups also own or control many businesses. So that figure may be true. To be honest with you ......you can actually make more money "legally" than "illegally" because many more people will use your services. You have to realize criminals turn to crime because they don`t have the business or investment skills to make the big bucks. We live in a society that teaches people to be wage-slaves.

Something to make you think! How can somebody make 450 million and only pay 7 million in taxes........legally? things that make you go hmmmmmmm. like i said you can steal with a gun of with a pen. I want details on this one.


--- Info Dept <infodept2006@ gmail.com> wrote:

> To: <infodept@yahoogroup s.com>
> From: "Info Dept" <infodept2006@ gmail.com>
> Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 18:35:16 -0000
> Subject: [id] Holland gives Cayman a run for its
> money
>
> Holland gives Cayman a run for its money
> Monday, February 19, 2007
>
> The members of The Rolling Stones are using Dutch
> tax loopholes on royalties
> to invest their money rather than the Cayman
> Islands.
>
> According to some financial experts, the Cayman
> Islands and other offshore
> jurisdictions could be under threat from some
> unexpected places, especially
> if rich musicians have their way.
>
> Last year, members of the rock band, The Rolling
> Stones, turned to a
> reclusive Dutch accountant, Johannes Favie, whose
> company, Promogroup, has
> already helped them minimise their tax bills for
> more than 30 years.
>
> According to details disclosed in documents
> maintained by the
> Handelsregister, the trade registry of the
> Netherlands, more recently
> Promogroup helped the aging musicians set up a pair
> of private Dutch
> foundations that will allow them to transfer assets
> tax-free to heirs when
> they die.
>
> Over the last 20 years, according to Dutch
> documents, the musicians have
> paid just $7.2 million in taxes on earnings of $450
> million that they have
> channeled through Amsterdam - a tax rate of about
> 1.5 percent, well below
> the British rate of 40 percent.
>
> Reports suggest that while offshore tax havens, like
> the Cayman Islands and
> other Caribbean islands, still attract money, they
> are largely patronised by
> hedge funds and private equity firms.
>
> For earnings derived from intellectual property such
> as royalties, Holland
> has become a tax shelter of choice because the Dutch
> system does not tax
> royalties.
>
> This interesting loophole has already been exploited
> by corporations to
> reduce and even eliminate the royalty taxes on
> patents and other forms of
> intellectual property.
>
> According to one investment banker working with
> entertainers in New York who
> spoke with the New York Times, jurisdictions like
> the Cayman Islands
> consider only profits, not royalties.
>
> "The Caribbean are thinking about trading profits,
> not royalties, so the
> smaller European countries like Holland have had to
> be creative tax-wise,"
> said David Pullman.
>
> "They are going for the high-end stuff, and don't
> want to be seen as shady
> like some Caribbean haven."
>
> Many of the world's multinational corporations, like
> Coca-Cola, Nike, Ikea
> and Gucci, have set up holding companies in Holland
> recently to take
> advantage of tax shelters that are nearly identical
> to the ones The Rolling
> Stones use.
>
> Copyright © 2003 - 2007 Cayman Net Ltd All Rights
> Reserved
>
http://www.caymanne tnews.com/ cgi-script/ csarticles/ articles/ 000118/011815. ht

beemoe-

i guess those summits take place until this day in europe most expensive hotels...
these guys need to talk from time to time.... italians,russians and colombians also ....one summit took place with ndrangheta pepole and russian mobsters -it was about morabito famous 70 billion rubels laundering.....

so i asked if you know more about some summits...but as i taught it is very secret...

beemoe-

you read about presly1000 post in canadian underworld topic?

about Cosimo Commisso family stock fraud?

another good example for how mafia gets into state aconomy ...

No I haven`t read about it but it doesn`t surprise me. What`s really interesting is all the "nonconnected" people who do the same thing but never get caught and make way more money. Perfect example Nick Leeson and john Jett who stole hundreds of millions. I`m going to enter Lance Spicer`s book "Invisible Money" a good / small book on laundering.