CHART OF HAMAS-AFFILIATES IN EUROPE BY ELNET

ELNET is the European leadership network . https://elnetwork.eu

TERRORIST FINANCING IN LEBANON UNDER SIEGE

Global media covering the war between Hezbollah and Israel is focusing mainly on the military aspects of the conflict, while those of us in the world of AML/CFT compliance are seeing little or no coverage of the financial side of the situation. Given that one of the participants is a Specially Designated Global Terrorist Organization (SDGT), we are required to have all the information available at our disposal, to discharge our responsibilities, which has become difficult, in what has become more or less a major gap in information from Lebanon. I assume that reporting these facts is not something that the Government of Lebanon wants to become widely known; their prized banking sector, already in dire straits, could implode, losing whatever luster it still has left.

I accurately predicted, back in 2016, that the next Lebanon War involving the 2006 adversaries would directly impact the country's valuable financial sector. The reports which have emerged paint a bleak picture:

(1) Israel has attacked the branches of the principal (US sanctioned) Lebanese bank that directly services Hezbollah, effectively stopping salary payments to rank-and-file street level terrorists.

(2) Many of the owners of the principal Lebanese banks that indirectly provided financial support to Hezbollah have fled the country, fearing that they would be themselves targeted by Israel, and/or be pressured to assist a Hezbollah in desperate need of cash, now that Al-Qard al-Hasan (AQAH), is not operating. Remember that HAMAS looted the Gaza banks when israel invaded that Territory.

(3) There are reports that Israel has warned Lebanon that any aircraft suspected of engaging in bulk cash smuggling operations, and flying into Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport from Iran, will not be permitted to land, and will be attacked.

(4) There is a complete and total lack of information regarding which Beirut banks still remain open, due to the attacks launched by Israel into the capital's downtown area. Whether Hezbollah has physically co-opted any financial institutions is unknown, but prudent risk management requires that we assume the worst; take all funds transfer instructions from Lebanon as suspect, and possibly made under duress.

When more relevant information becomes available, we shall update our readers forthwith.

INDICTMENTS OF CORRUPT ANTIGUAN LEADERS IN REVIVAL OF AIR PEACE MONEY LAUNDERING CASE IN THE UNITED STATES APPEAR TO BE IMMINENT AFTER SUPERSEDING INDICTMENT FILED IN ATLANTA

PM Gaston Browne

While legal observers wait to see which former, or even current, senior government officials in Saint Kitts, and in Saint Lucia, end up being indicted in the United States for their role in the fraud, money laundering and corruption scandal involving Citizenship by Investment passport sales, it looks like other East Caribbean leaders may very well end up in the dock in an American courtroom first. Remember the 2019 Money laundering case against AIR PEACE CEO ALLEN ONYEMA, who was charged with laundering tens of millions of dollars into the US, employing a bogus airliner Letter of Credit purchasing scheme? There have been major new developments in Atlanta in that $20m money laundering and bank fraud case.

The US Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia has just filed a Superseding indictment against Onyema and one other defendant, on greatly expanded charges, and all indications are that there will be defendants named in another criminal matter, due to Onyema's alleged close relationship to Antigua Prime Minister Gaston Browne and his Cabinet, a number of who are allegedly also implicated in major financial crimes. The role of Onyema in the rebirth of the troubled regional airline LIAT has potential implications not only Antigua's leaders, but certain other bad actors in positions of government in a number of the other East Caribbean states, who might also be named.

We wonder how many Caribbean leaders are having trouble sleeping this week?

CHINESE CENSORS BLOCKED PUBLICATION OF "THE LAUNDRY MAN" BUT YOU CAN STILL FIND A WAY TO READ IT, GENTLEMEN

When my autobiography "The Laundry Man" was first published in the UK, there were efforts made to make it available around the globe, so that compliance officers could take a unique look deep inside the dark and dangerous world of the career money launderer. As you may know, it is widely available in several European languages, through local publishers, but the Peoples' Republic of China's censors refused to allow it to be printed there in Simplified Chinese.

I am bringing this up in 2024, because there is now widespread interest in my story inside China, most likely due to my continuing coverage of the CBI/CIP scandals in the East Caribbean, and the MSR Media RICO lawsuit, which have focused attention on CARIBBEAN GALAXY GROUP and HENG SHENG DEVELOPMENT, two Chinese companies alleged to have been involved in a multi-billion dollar fraud in the Caribbean.

Not a problem; the Chinese language edition has long been available in electronic format, notwithstanding PRC efforts to keep it out of Mainland China and of course, there is always the English-language version. Those of you in Hong Kong and Chongqing, please take note.

CRUCIAL EVIDENCE OF FRAUD AND MONEY LAUNDERING IN SAINT LUCIA'S CIP PROGRAM SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC DISCLOSURE NEXT WEEK

Readers who have been following the unfolding developments in the Saint Lucia Citizenship by Investment (CIP) passport sales scandal, can take advantage of advance warning that crucial damaging evidence of fraud and money laundering in that program is scheduled to be disclosed next week on DBS Saint Lucia Television, during Lissa Joseph's upcoming weekly interview program..That evidence is also scheduled to be delivered to the European Union and the United States Treasury. Damning incriminating information, implicating CIU head McClaude Emmanuel, Deputy PM Ernest Hilaire, and Prime Minister Philip Pierre, is to be presented at her interview program. A senior government minister has contributed and provided significant information about the PM, DPM Hilaire and CIU leader Emmanuel. We note that CIU insiders also provided information about the misconduct of these named senior SLC government leaders.

 A substantial amount of this important information will corroborate the fact that McClaude, Hilaire and even Prime Minister Pierre, had full knowledge of, and participated in, the fraudulent conduct wherein illegally-discounted citizenships were offered, sold, processed and issued, complete with passports.

PM Pierre openly admitted that he will continue to support both Caribbean Galaxy and Bemax, and stated that he intends to protect the actions of Deputy PM Hilaire, who leads the CIU, and allows the agency to process and approve the illegal applications. He has full knowledge of the situation. The Prime Minister is saying that so long at the Government gets government fees, he will ignore the fact that Galaxy is receiving passport sales funds outside the country, effectively breaking the requirements of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOU) that he signed. So long as the Government gets its $20,000 fee, he ignores the fact that Galaxy sells under the legal price of $200,000, as specified in the Memorandum of Agreement, with the other Caribbean nations. The senior minister who has supplied substantial information, and who has confirmed that the PM tacitly supports the illegal passport sales operation,  has stated that he is shocked by his conduct; the Cabinet is reportedly seeking to learn his identity.

 The Prime Minister has a sworn fiduciary duty to his constituents. His refusal to protect the integrity of the banking system will be fully exposed next week. A senior minister has confirmed that the general policy of the Pierre Administration is to get cash quickly, and that it doesn't matter if the CIP program, crashes later. The release of this evidence will create a shakeup in the country's financial system next weekend, including in the Cabinet, and at the Bank of Saint Lucia,  eventually crashing the CIP and exposing the role of the bank in the Chinese money laundering scandal. BOSL's correspondent bank, TD Bank, was recently sanctioned and heavily fined by regulators

A final note: today on Spin News, Rick Wayne, Saint Lucia's most prominent journalist,  warned that he already had access to key information that will have a devastating effect, when released next week. 

WILL NEW EUROPEAN BORDER POLICE NOW SNARE CHINESE MONEY LAUNDERERS HOLDING ST. KITTS & ST. LUCIA CBI PASSPORTS, TOTALLY BY ACCIDENT?

Several EU members states have hurriedly instituted internal border checks at their national frontiers this year, with their adjacent Schengen Zone neighbors, due primarily to domestic political pressure.They are seeking to control illegal immigration, the arrival of Islamic terrorists, transnational organized crime, increased risks due to wars in the Ukraine and the Middle East, and other emerging threats to domestic stability. Temporary measures are authorized, for national security reasons, as exceptions to the Schengen Agreement. Germany and seven other Schengen signatories are currently operating border controls.

Given that a significant number of arrests have been made, in the United States and elsewhere, of Chinese money launderers, financial criminals, and suspected intelligence agents and industrial spies, all holding Citizenship by Investment (CBI/CIP) passports issued by East Caribbean states, especially Saint Kitts & Nevis, and Saint Lucia, sold at illegal discounts by two Chinese companies, you must assume that a number of these career criminals have used these identity documents to enter the EU, visa-free, and are currently working inside Europe.

When they cross national borders within the Schengen Zone, they will now find themselves subject to border checks, Remember, many of them are not fluent in English, which will raise suspicions among the border police. What about that load of dirty cash or suspicious financial instruments concealed in their automobile? If they are barred from entry, border guards noting that they have just been refused admission next door, and are being returned, may choose to detain them and their transport. You can venture a guess about what will eventually happen.

Whether the Schengen Agreement is itself in jeopardy in the Europe has been a matter of debate in recent months. Should it be abolished, Money laundering through the smuggling of bulk cash or financial instruments will become more difficult, as well as dangerous, as I can testify to from personal experience during the pre-Schengen period, but that's a discussion to be had if and only if Europe decides to turn turn the clock back, for national security reasons. Right now, I am looking to see just how many Chinese money launderers are caught in the act, at some obscure border, where they least expected it to happen.

THE EUROPEAN UNION CONSIDERS TERMINATING VISA-FREE SCHENGEN ACCESS FOR ALL FIVE EAST CARIBBEAN CBI/CIP STATES, AFTER SEEING REPEATED CHINA MONEY LAUNDERING SCANDALS IN 2024

Regulators in the United States may be pointedly ignoring the money laundering, fraud and corruption scandals publicly exposed by the filing of the MSR Media RICO case in Federal Court in Florida, but across the Pond, in the European Union, they are not only paying close attention, but they are actively pondering whether to terminate the visa-free access to the Schengen Zone currently enjoyed by St. Kitts, Antigua, Dominica, St. Lucia and Grenada, all of which offer Citizenship by Investment programs. 

We have observed a significant expansion of the EU's monitoring of the unfolding CBI/CIP scandal, which originated in St. Kitts and St. Lucia, and has now further spread to Dominica and the remaining EC states, involving the illegally-discounted sale of passports by two Chinese companies, the CARIBBEAN GALAXY GROUP and HENG SHENG DEVELOPMENT, and the diversion of billions of dollars from CBI sales to Mainland China, funds which by law were required to be delivered to the treasuries of the countries sponsoring the passport sales program. An additional scandal, involving an Eastern European criminal enterprise known as BEMAX, linked to Saint Lucia, has caused further concern bordering on alarm.  

Readers who are following the EU's present court action, seeking to cancel the CBI program of the sole remaining Member state that has such a program, Malta, know that the European Commission position is that applicants for passport sales programs must have a direct connection to their adopted jurisdiction, and they cannot represent a national security threat to the EU. The thousands of sales of Chinese nationals, who neither speak English, nor ever settle or even visit their new Caribbean home. Add to the problem the number of Chinese CBI passport holders found to have been engaged in global criminal activity, it is not difficult to understand the growing EU concerns, and the likely response. Those concerns have been confirmed by multiple reliable sources in Europe.

The complete lack of any significant corrective action by either Saint Kitts or Saint Lucia governments, to respond to an out-of-control situation through reform, which is contributing to the problem, may very well have hastened an EU decision to end Schengen access to those EC passport-selling states, such as the UK did last year for Dominica. Many observers believe that there will be a decision by the European Union sooner, rather than later; we will be watching.

WILL MALTA'S TERRORIST FINANCING OF HAMAS THROUGH BITCOIN NOW BE EXPOSED, AND WILL THERE BE ARRESTS IN VALLETTA?

If you are a regular reader of my articles, you may recall my 2021 article,MALTA'S MONEY LAUNDERING PILATUS BANK WAS SENDING BITCOIN TO HAMAS IN THE MIDDLE EAST, in which I discussed an organized terrorist financing operation, after Hamas publicly solicited Bitcoin, after traditional avenues for funding were blocked. Although there has been little information released by the Israel Defense Forces, we know it has seized a huge amount of Hamas' financial records.

The question becomes whether sufficient details regarding the reportedly massive amounts of cyber currency transferred from Malta to Hamas will become public knowledge after the Gaza War ends, and whether Maltese prosecutors have the political will to charge the bad actors involved? While we have regrettably accepted that the directors of Pilatus Bank will never be charged with money laundering, is their terrorist financing activity so damn egregious that Malta's current Attorney General (or the next one) has no choice but to indict? This will provide a golden opportunity for the EU to see whether the Republic of Malta actually follows the Rule of Law, or is merely a criminal organization, masquerading as a Member state of the EU.

Here is the original 2021 article mentioned above:

The Attorney General: The current Malta Attorney General is Dr Victoria Buttigieg B.A.,

HOW QATAR FINANCED HAMAS, WITH THE ABLE ASSISTANCE OF AMERICAN BANKS

As a compliance officer who has been dedicated to countering the financing of terrorism since before 9/11, it turns my stomach, every time I see a photograph of a Palestinian in Gaza brandishing a new US One Hundred Dollar Note.

First, because I know that it was the Palestinians in Gaza who voted Hamas into power a known (and OFAC-designated) brutal terrorist organization nearly twenty years ago, hoping that it would be less corrupt than the Palestinian Authority. Not only did they get something even worse than the PA, they now have a completely devastated territory, which will take decades to rebuild. Who will pay for that?

Second, I know that the currency of the realm in the Territories, since they are not a state and don't issue their own, is the New Israeli Shekel (NIS), so why on earth did the State of Qatar choose to pay them aid money in USD? Qatari authorities knew that the Gazan would have to change the greenbacks into currency that they could use on the street, and Hamas, which had the money service business monopoly would exact an obscenely high fee to change the hundred dollar bills into Shekels. Thus Hamas was able to divert funds to build those hundreds of miles of tunnels, buy arms and ammunition, and all the other tools and implements of war. Thank you, State of Qatar, for knowingly financing the worst terrorist organization on the planet. it would easily have purchased Israeli currency on the open market for distribution. Does that make the Emir a war criminal?

Finally, the greedy American banks that supplied all those greenbacks also have their share of blame. Should we publish the names of the large US banks that sent multi-million dollar shipments of currency, when they knew that Qatar was funding Gaza "relief" with Dollars?

That's why those photographs make me angry.

LAWSUIT AGAINST ATTORNEY GENERAL ASSERTS MONTREAL MANAGEMENT HAS A DE FACTO MONOPOLY ON CBI CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS, DUE TO ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF PRIME MINISTER ROOSEVELT SKERRIT

A civil suit filed on September 24, 2024 in the High Court of Justice of the Commonwealth of Dominica, alleges that the country's Prime Minister, ROOSEVELT SKERRIT, has corruptly and illegally placed MONTREAL MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS in a favorable position where it is the only approved contractor and developer of Citizenship by Investment (CBI) projects in Dominica, that it has illegally diverted funds that should have been placed into the Government's Consolidated Fund, into its private accounts, and that Montreal Management committed a number of other acts which are illegal under the laws, regulations and procedures of Dominica.

Entitled Burney Ryan, Claimant v. The Attorney General of Dominica, Respondent,* and entered as a Constitutional Claim, the prayer for Relief requests what amounts to a request for a Declaratory Judgment, where the Court makes a judicial determination and finding that what Prime Minister Skerrit did, in awarding Montreal Management, owned by ANTHONY HAIDEN, which amounts to sole exclusive rights as the only authorized developer of CBI projects in Dominica, is a violation of the statutory and Constitutional law of Dominica.

Ryan's allegations regarding the conduct and actions of  Roosevelt Skerrit are scathing; he accused the PM of blatant Conflict of Interest, in his dealing with MMC and Haiden, specifically:

"a. The Prime Minister has overseen the payment of over EC$32,000 per month as

rent for a palatial mansion allegedly owned by Anthony Haiden and widely believed

to be funded with CBI money as the official residence of the Prime Minister.

b. The Prime Minister is building a palatial mansion for himself, his second multi-

million-dollar home, with funds that have not and cannot be explained while

calls for public accountability and transparency regarding same have been largely

ignored and gone unanswered.

c. The Prime Minister claimed he received a gift of land while serving as Prime

Minister. This transfer of land was the subject of allegations of undervaluing for the

purpose of underpayment of land transfer taxes. The land was later sold for over

EC$700,000.00 to Anthony Haiden and/or his affiliate company Mercury 

Properties." (Claim at P.5)

The action is replete with multiple quotations, from public statements made by Skerrit, which are reported to be either deceptive, untrue, or promise transparency and financial disclosures that never materialized. Skerrit has, according to the filong, never satisfactorily advised his constituents exactly where Haiden and MMC are keeping the funds it collected, and allegedly illegally retained for their own use. Many of the allegations are supported by quotations taken from media interviews, newspaper articles and other sources that appear for the purposes of confirmation.

The Claim concludes:

                                                                (Claim at P.33)

Opposition Leader Linton, in a recent interview on DBSTV in Saint Lucia, charged that of the approximately ten billion EC dollars that the CBI program generated in recent years, at least seven billion never was deposited into the Consolidated Fund, as required by law, and is missing. Linton also stated that he has consulted with Philippe Martinez, of MSR Media, on the prospect of Dominicans bringing a Class Action lawsuit against the financial institutions that allowed and permitted MMC to divert funds that should have gone to Dominica, to recover damages equal to that which has been lost.

Whether this is only the first effort to use the courts in Domnica to rein in what us clearly official corruption of the highest order we cannot say, but it is definitely a step in the right direction. Dominica's CBI program has been plagued with corrupt activity for two decades, ever since the current Skerrit administration came into power. There were multiple reasons for the United Kingdom's Foreign Office removing visa-free access for Dominica CBI passport holders, and for the Bank of America blocking further deposits of CBI application payments through its correspondent accounts, but corruption was a major one. The program cannot survive without massive reform; we shall see if this litigation encourages it to proceed.

______________________________

*Case No.: DOMHCV2024-0192.