GIVEN THAT CHINA PROHIBITS DUAL CITIZENSHIP, SHOULD COMPLIANCE OFFICERS CONSIDER CARIBBEAN CBI PASSPORTS HELD BY CHINESE NATIONALS VOID AB INITIO FOR IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES?

Chismosa by ALEX CEPPI

The Nationality Law of the Peoples' Republic of China (https://lnkd.in/en7tr_MJ ) clearly states, at Article 3: The People's Republic of China does not recognize dual nationality for any Chinese national." Given that the Citizenship by Investment (CBI & CIP) programs of SAINT KITTS & NEVIS, SAINT LUCIA and GRENADA have issued tens of thousands of economic passports to Chinese nationals, the matter of the validity of those identity documents, for compliance purposes at account opening, or for any other transactional purpose, continues to be of concern. Is this a disqualifying factor?

We bring this up, because it is a known fact that the due diligence firm used by the firm CARIBBEAN GALAXY REAL ESTATE LIMITED to approve Chinese applicants for Caribbean CBI passports was owned by a senior officer employed by Galaxy, and is suspected for failing to conduct any effective inquiry whatsoever, in addition to being a clear conflict of interest. Does the fact that the Chinese holder of a CBI economic passport violated the laws of China, by using it as identification, and failing to properly renounce his Chinese nationality, make these individuals an unacceptable high risk, as part of a risk-based AML compliance program, when taking these two issues together?

Furthermore, what is the legal status of these CBI passports, held by Chinese nationals, for law enforcement purposes? Should they be declined when presented for visa applications, for visa-free use at international ports of entry, for work or study applications, or for any other purpose? They have been used to gain entry into the United States, and the holders then went on to commit financial crimes. Should they no longer be considered valid?

Until and unless these issue are resolved, compliance officers charged with administering their AML/CFT programs are well advised to consider rejecting, as identification, any and all CBI passports presented abroad by Chinese nationals, lest a court of competent jurisdiction subsequently decree that such passports are voidable, or invalid, as a prudent risk management decision.

MALTA'S PRIME MINISTER ENDS PUBLIC FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE FOR HIS CABINET AND THEIR SPOUSES

Witness 2 by ALEX CEPPI

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Malta, ROBERT ABELA, has unilaterally terminated the traditional annual individual financial asset declaration reporting, of Ministers and their wives, in the Maltese Cabinet, which were previously submitted to the Speaker of the country's Parliament, and therefore publicly accessible.

The Standards Commissioner, JOSEPH AZZOPARDI, had inquired of the Prime Minister, regarding the failure of the Cabinet to submit Declarations for 2024 and 2025 in January, and was subsequently informed that a single statement, to the effect that all Members of Parliament were in compliance, would be submitted. In essence, this means that there is no public reporting by sitting Cabinet Ministers. It also results in a complete lack of disclosure, by the spouses of the Ministers, of their income, financial investments and bank accounts. Given Malta's reputation amongst the Members of the European Union as its most corrupt government (the prior PM, JOSEPH MUSCAT, actually was named the most corrupt EU leader), compliance officers should govern themselves accordingly, regarding Source of Funds and Source of Wealth of Maltese Ministers, and their immediate families, all of whom should be regarded as Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) in any risk-based compliance program.

IS THERE A HIDDEN REASON WHY ANTIGUA'S PM GASTON BROWNE HAS CALLED A SNAP ELECTION?

If you are following unfolding events in Venezuela of late, you know that the Caribbean's most notorious money launderer, the Colombian ALEX NAIN SAAB MORAN, been in the news, due to several stories about his detention, under austere conditions by the country's premier intelligence service, and his reported imminent extradition to face the music, again, in the United States. Old Caribbean hands are aware of Saab's prior relationship with Antigua's dodgy Prime Minister, GASTON BROWNE, who appointed him Economic Envoy, know about the two offshore banks Saab owned in Antigua, and his extensive dealings with the former insolvent GLOBAL BANK OF COMMERCE. If Saab, who has a history of being an artful negotiator, finds himself in a Miami Federal courtroom, and looking at Life Imprisonment Without the Possibility of Parole, (as the U.S. has abolished it), most observers believe he will throw PM Browne, and a number of his senior officials under the proverbial bus, if push comes to shove. Would that be one of the reasons why Browne is now being so hasty in seeking a Snap Election, the other being he fears that even more restrictions are in store for Antigua, courtesy U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Is Browne nervously trying to insure that he remains in office, and seemingly immune from imminent indictment by the US Attorney in the Southern District of Florida, as a sitting national leader, due to a well-placed fear of what Alex Saab might choose to deliver, regarding evidence of money laundering, fraud and corruption, on a grand scale? The clock is ticking.

HOW CONSUMERS CAN REDUCE RISK IN THE ACQUISITION OF ECONOMIC CITIZENSHIPS & PASSPORTS

Elementary by ALEX CEPPI

As a wise businessman in Miami once said, " an Educated Consumer is the Best Customer." More often than not, we see that High Net Worth Individuals (HNI) often fail to retain the services of a competent attorney, experienced in the investment migration, or economic citizenship, field, when shopping for a second passport. These are individuals who would not ever fail to secure legal counsel, in real estate transaction, or the acquisition of a going business, but for some reason, they neglect this important step on reducing risk with such a major purchase. Who is reviewing the contact for purchase, if there's no lawyer? I do recommend that they find a lawyer who knows his way around the economic passport industry, for these important reasons: (1) Due Diligence on your passport sales agent: have you chosen a company, or individual, with a record of assisting customers, not only pre-closing, but in the future if and as necessary, and who will steer you away from problem jurisdictions. (2) Letter of Opinion from a local lawyer admitted to practice in that passport's jurisdiction, so you are aware of the terms of revocation, or cancellation, and under what conditions, so there no surprises down the road. (3) Responding to any possible documentary requests of the agency that approves and issues the citizenship and passport. You may not be familiar with obtaining documents properly authenticated. (4) Reacting to any post-closing issues that may require litigation: What if your passport is cancelled, or some other issues arise? You need counsel on a continuing basis, in my humble opinion. In short, having competent legal counsel ( and NOT your business lawyer) who knows the subject, may save you from some real problems in the future.

TODAY IS ALSO NATIONAL GOLD STAR SPOUSE DAY IN THE UNITED STATES, WHEN WE HONOR THOSE WHO CARRY ON AFTER THEIR FALLEN HEROES

If you are old enough to have lost friends in wartime, you know that their young spouses are left behind, who must carry on to raise their families, under sometimes difficult circumstances. Today happens to be national Gold Star Spouse Day in America, where we honor those men and women, and draw attention to their sacrifice. This is especially relevant today, after we have seen American aircrews shot down over Iran rescued and returned safe. Let us today remember the spouses of our fallen military, whose husbands and wives bear the burden of loss.

SAINT LUCIA PARTNERS UP WITH CONTROVERSIAL OFFSHORE BANK; BIG MISTAKE?

The announcement, that the Government of Saint Lucia has accepted a sponsorship from Nevis-based HAMILTON RESERVE BANK, which has become embroiled in nasty litigation with an American bank client, and which has a number of serious consumer complaints** against it on the Internet, will not endear this economic passport-issuing Eastern Caribbean state to the American banking community, given its risk-adverse nature.

Hamilton, which reportedly requires a large minimum initial deposit to open an account, has allegedly failed to disburse deposits of clients upon demand, and was the subject of major litigation*, filed on behalf of an US-based company that claims it did not receive a request to disburse twenty seven million US Dollars from its account. Whether Hamilton is insolvent, as the case meets the traditional test of being unable to meet its obligations as they come due, remains an open question. Similar complaints by other bank clients can be viewed on whst appear to be consumer websites. Under the circumstances, compliance officers at international banks may have concerns regarding whether a relationship now exists, between Hamilton Reserve Bank, and Saint Lucia's rogue Citizenship by Investment (CIP) program, which has been accused of involvement in fraud, corruption and money laundering, and the diversion of an estimated USD$1.3bn, by Chinese-controlled CARIBBEAN GALAXY REAL ESTATE LIMITED. Saint Lucia's CIU, the agency that operates the CIP program, has correspondent banking relationships with American financial institutions, which could now be accessed by Hamilton. Alternatively, economic citizenship deposits for Saint Lucia could be routed though Hamilton. Considering that American banks are required to maintain a risk-based AML/CFT compliance program, issues with Country Risk could be the subject of concern. We shall be watching for any indication that these concerns are well taken.

_______________________________________________________________

*

https://rijock.blogspot.com/2026/02/american-owned-company-having-lost-50m.html?m=

**

WILL NEPAL MEET ITS AML CHALLENGES, AND SUCCEED IN BEING REMOVED FROM THE FATF GREY LIST IN 2027?

If you have been following recent political developments in the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, you know that the country has gone through rioting, and an election of late, while its remittance-assisted economy continues to labor under the consequences of its second placement on the Financial Action Task Force Grey List. Unsolved problems with widespread money laundering in its casino, real estate, gold trade, and non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) sectors, where industries require comprehensive AML training to convince the FATF that effective compliance is in place, have not yet been conducted, primarily due to severe budgetary constraints.

Nepal needs to focus on AML/CFT programs that will demonstrate to the regulator it has upgraded both compliance in the private sector, to the level of Banking Best Practices, and adequate oversight from governmental agencies which have heretofore been underfunded and ineffective, in order to persuade the FATF that there has been significant reform, across the board. We hope and trust this will occur, now that there is a sufficient degree of political stability. 2027 will be here sooner than you think, and whether Nepal can show sufficient progress at this time, so as to justify FATF action, depends upon the government's resolve and action.

LOOK AT THE FACTS: NEARLY EVERY MAJOR CHINESE WHITE COLLAR CRIMINAL ARRESTED IN THE UNITED STATES DURING THE PAST TWO YEARS ENTERED WITH A SAINT KITTS & NEVIS CBI PASSPORT

Sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment; fled to China.

If you have been reading my articles diligently, you know that, by and large, most of the Chinese nationals arrested for major white collar crime in the United States since 2023 were found to own a Citizenship by Investment (CBI) economic passport issued by SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS. This is an established fact, and if you are a compliance officer, you correctly act accordingly, by classifying SKN passports as high-risk, requiring that an enhanced due diligence investigation be conducted, before you accept individuals holding those identity documents as bank clients, full stop, because you may have a career criminal before you, not a legitimate customer.

I know very well that I am going to receive a lot of pushback for this statement from all the passport sales consultancies in Dubai, who will point out what they claim is Saint Kitts' effective due diligence program, which in truth and in fact is a joke being played upon the financial community. One only needs to read the articles about about how CARIBBEAN GALAXY REAL ESTATE LIMITED, which is Chinese-owned and controlled, sold tens of thousands of passports to Chinese nationals, with ZERO due diligence, because they has their own captive compliance company, owned by one of their senior officers. You will still be hearing the so-called professional opinions from the investment migration sector, especially those at Holborn. (which our UK readers know very well has had it's own share of complaints from consumers; read the articles) Compliance officers should regard those lengthy diatribes, supposedly attesting to the legitimacy of CBI programs, as little less than pure propaganda and spin from individuals who have a conflict of interest by passing judgment on the products that they sell to consumers. My intended audience, as always, are American and European compliance officers, who I trust will take my advice seriously, given their demonstrated interest in reading all those horror stories about Chinese fraudsters, money launderers and those engaged in industrial espionage for the Peoples' Republic of China.

In essence, I advise you to redline ALL Saint Kitts & Nevis passports presented to you, unless you can confirm that the holder is a native-born Kittitian, engaged in legitimate commerce. Reject all the SKN CBI out of hand, in my humble opinion, based upon decades of watching those passports being abused by financial criminals.

WHAT IS THE BEST TIME TO LAUNDER THE PROCEEDS OF CRIME? RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF A SHOOTING WAR; PAY ATTENTION, PLEASE

Remember the World War Two film, KELLY'S HEROES, starring Clint Eastwood and Donald Sutherland? It was about a group of American soldiers who steal a cache of gold from a bank, conveniently located behind the enemy lines in France in 1944. That movie reminds us of the law enforcement maxim, regarding the increased chances of success if a crime takes place amidst a background of chaos and confusion. Professional money launderers, a group of which at one point in my life I numbered myself among, instinctively know that when bankers and regulators are distracted by war or rumours of war, oncoming hurricanes or cyclones, or other national or regional catastrophes or events, their attention to detail fades, in the fact of the emerging threat.

Therefore, compliance officers at international banks must now increase their vigilance, and maintain a high degree of alertness, looking constantly for transactions which might mask the movement of criminal proceeds. While during period of danger or chaos, those transfers might be excused or ignored, due to current events, attention rightly focused elsewhere, or thought to be merely anomalies, they must be ferreted out, in real time, lest angry regulators later exact their justice, in a painful, and public manner.

In other words, expect money launderers to take full advantage of the situation; do not let them fool you; stay sharp, and catch them if you can.

HOSSEIN HATEFI ARDAKANI, IRGC WEAPONS TECHNOLOGY FACILITATOR

 

MIAMI'S MOST WANTED MONEY LAUNDERER, RAUL GORRIN BELISARIO, IS BEING HELD BY SEBIN IN A NOTORIOUS VENEZUELAN PRISON

tes ago • Edited • Visible to anyone on or off LinkedIn

RAUL GORRIN, the OFAC-sanctioned Venezuelan lawyer and television station owner, who is on the ICE MOST WANTED list, and who tops the fugitive list for money laundering here in Miami, is being detained by SEBIN, Venezuela's principal domestic intelligence agency, in a notorious underground prison in Caracas. Will he end up being sent to the United States in a secret deal, by the country's present leaders, who are trying to save themselves?

The circumstances of his detention by the Venezuelan National Intelligence Service are unclear, and we are attempting to obtain further details. The latest Miami case pending against him is U.S. vs. GORRIN, Case No.: 24-20468-CR-ALTMAN (SDFL). The former Swiss banker MATTHIAS KRULL is one of the individuals named in that indictment.

SAINT LUCIA'S GOVERNMENT, EXCEPTIONALLY LATE WITH ITS 2024 CITIZENSHIP BY INVESTMENT (CIP) REPORT, AUTHORIZES TWO NEW PROGRAMS, BUT OFFERS ZERO DETAILS

While SAINT LUCIA'S Prime Minister, PHILIP J. PIERRE, has ostentatiously flaunted in Parliament what he claims is the 2024 Citizenship by Investment (CIP) Annual Report, which was due more than six months ago by law, he has continued to withhold it from release. Insiders claim that he fears a backlash from Saint Lucians, when they learn of the extent to which it shows mainly sales to Chinese passport purchasers, by Chinese-controlled CARIBBEAN GALAXY REAL ESTATE LIMITED, which has been stained by major scandals involved underselling fraud, money laundering and corruption, in both Saint Lucia as well as in Saint Kitts & Nevis.

To add insult to the injury suffered by Saint Lucians, the government quietly released a notice, at a place not generally seen by the public, the Gazette, of its intent to open two new programs. Curiously, no details were offered, save the names of the projects, and there has been no further information released to the public.They therefore have no idea of the scope of these projects, and how many passports will be offered.

This tactic, which smacks of government intent to conceal the project from the public, is but additional evidence of a concerted effort to deprive Saint Lucians of information they need to exercise proper oversight over a CIP program that operates in secret, and has allowed Caribbean Galaxy to illegally divert an alleged USD$1.3bn in sales proceeds to China. Unless further details are forthcoming, Saint Lucians, who are supposed to be the beneficiaries of CIP projects, will remain in the dark, and probably again be the victims of the corrupt actions of the CIU, the agency which operates the CIP program.

 

The man who is illegally withholding the 2024 Report from St. Lucia

TODAY IS NATIONAL VIETNAM WAR VETERANS DAY 2026

Early mornings are precious to Vietnam veterans, even 55 years after they came home from a war they did not choose to serve in, for every dawn in Vietnam, during the conflict, if you were out in the field, you counted yourself as lucky to have survived another night, for night was when the enemy generally attacked.

Here's to all those Vietnam veterans who are still among us, haven't died from all the Agent Orange cancers, nor taken their own lives due to PTSD, and live to testify to the folly of endless foreign wars conducted by politicians who insure that their own sons never serve in them. Nobody lives forever, but we are definitely still here, America.

CHINESE FUGITIVE USES SAINT KITTS CBI PASSPORT TO PURCHASE £81m IN HIGH-END LONDON REAL ESTATE WITH IMPUNITY

SU JIANGBO, wanted in China for allegedly running an illegal casino gambling operation, used his SAINT KITTS & NEVIS CITIZENSHIP BY INVESTMENT passport to purchase 85 newly-built luxury properties worth £81m of London real estate. Su used his SKN CBI passport to incorporate a dozen UK companies to take title to the expensive realty, which included a penthouse worth the equivalent of $13m, and $24m of properties at Trytpych Bankside. Law firms listed as being involved in representing the UK corporate purchasers have been identified by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) as Zhon Lun Law Firm, Riseam Sharples, and Ackroyd Legal LLP .

The Crown Prosecution Service has frozen the properties, pursuant to Unexplained Wealth Orders and Interim Freezing Orders.The arrest warrant from China includes 38 other individuals; Su is not in British custody, and is believed to be somewhere in Southeast Asia, possibly Cambodia, at this time. Efforts by media to contact him for comment after the UK properties were frozen were unsuccessful. Given the sordid history of the use of Citizenship By Investment passports issued by the five Caribbean CBI and CIP states, especially Saint Kitts and Saint Lucia, the failure of compliance officers at UK banks to immediately block transactions, until an enhanced due diligence investigation are conducted, to confirm Source of Funds and Source of Wealth, should be considered professional negligence, if not willful blindness. Frankly, I would redline all transactions, where Saint Kitts passports are used for identity purposes, until the client is cleared by an opinion of outside legal counsel. Was nobody in the UK paying attention to the fraud, money laundering and fraud revealed in the MSR Media cases?

Sample SKN passport

DISTRICT JUDGE: YOU HAVE A "FUNDAMENTAL DUTY" TO CONFIRM YOUR AI RESEARCH, OR THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES.

Buried towards the end of the latest court ruling in the $2m judgment for Defamation, entered against MY PILLOW owner, MIKE LINDELL, is a scathing attack on Lindell's attorneys, who used AI for research, and failed to check what the program gave them as legal authority, when they cited it to the Court. The trial Judge pointed out the serious factual errors, regarding the court decision they cited. See the portion attached hereto.

The judge ruled that they had a FUNDAMENTAL DUTY to check all the material that artificial intelligence they proffered to the Court, and it appears that their negligence will possibly result in sanctions where they hold their law licenses.

Compliance officers, when you use AI to conduct due diligence, ALWAYS check the results independently through a known, trusted resource. Failing that,, you could approve or disapprove a new client, based upon fictitious "information," which might come back and bite you, and your bank, later. Check your AI results, please, every time.