WHEN MONEY LAUNDERERS GET IMMUNITY, THE BUSINESS WORLD OFTEN GETS BURNED

Remember the article I wrote a while back, about a Russian organized crime member, whose case was sealed by a Federal Judge, solely because he had assisted an American intelligence agency, in its attempt to buy missiles ? The individual, having no negative information publicly available on his misdeeds, went on to defraud investors out of millions in Fort Lauderdale. That is why I oppose sweetheart deals for cooperating individuals who are career criminals, because they will continue to offend, and have the advantage because the public does not know about their sins.

Today's example has his picture in the newspaper recently. Formerly a prominent lawyer in a Latin American country, he is now an affluent businessman in the US, buying up,and building, commercial enterprises. Trouble is, he's a former money launderer who moved large sums of illicit capital through an American bank. Neither he, nor anyone at the bank were ever charged with a crime; the bank drew a huge civil penalty, which is how most money laundering offenses seem to be treated these days.

We can only assume that he rendered full cooperation to US law enforcement and regulatory authorities, and received immunity against prosecution. That means no criminal indictment, and no relevant information publicly accessible to individuals who might be contemplating business relationships with the lawyer. They are in the dark about his true nature.

There's more; when a South American banker was framed, by no other than convicted Ponzi schemer Allen Stanford (now serving 150 years in a Federal Prison), it was the lawyer who offered to "fix" his case in court, for the payment of a very large sum. Would you ever do business with a person of this caliber ?

When persons of questionable character quietly receive a free pass for their criminal conduct, that information, which might embarrass the government agencies involved if disclosed, is not available for due diligence purposes, and, being in the dark about that's individual's background and character, legitimate businessmen may make a bad choice, to do business with that criminal, and suffer the consequences.