WE NAME THE MINOR GAZA TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS BELIEVED TO BE HOLDING ISRAELI HOSTAGES

This is in response to readers who asked us to name the minor Palestinian terrorists organizations in Gaza that Israeli intelligence services which we referred to in our recent article Compliance Officers facing Zero Tolerance for Permitting Terrorist Financing into the Middle East need to Know who are their Additional Adversaries . If you are periodically checking social media entries of your high-risk bank clients, and happen to see any of these organizational symbols or flags, which could indicate that your customer is affiliated with any of these entities, or is delivering financial support to them abroad,  immediately upgrading your inquiry to enhanced due diligence, and forthwith report your findings to your director of compliance and/or outside bank counsel. 

We remain puzzled why there is essentially little publicly-available information about these terrorist organizations, other than the PFLP. Familiarize yourself with their names, and keep the images handy for future reference. This is not intended to be anything other than the disclosure of the entity names and their symbols; conduct detailed research on any group that you believe might be involved with your banks clients, even indirectly. America's intelligence community most certainly know the names of all the leaders of these organizations, but chooses to classify them and not to share them with the financial sector, so we have no way of knowing who they are. No wonder the war on money laundering is not going well.

1. THE POPULAR FRONT FOR THE LIBERATION OF PALESTINE.

                                                                                   

2. THE DEMOCRATIC FRONT FOR LIBERATION OF PALESTINE.

                                                                        

3. AL-AQSA MARTYR'S BRIGADE

                                                                           

4. PALESTINE MUJAHIDEEN MOVEMENT

                                                                        

4A. MUJAHIDEEN BRIGADES -Armed Wing of PMM: 

FLAGS OF VARIOUS GAZA TERRORIST GROUPS:

                                                            

                   
 

                                                                                   

COMPLIANCE OFFICERS FACING ZERO TOLERANCE FOR PERMITTING TERRORIST FINANCING INTO THE MIDDLE EAST NEED TO KNOW WHO THEIR ADDITIONAL ADVERSARIES ARE

Given what appears to be a renewed zero tolerance policies for terrorist financing into the Middle East, given American law enforcement agencies' increased focus on Palestinian terrorist organizations, compliance officers at banks in states where there have been remittances to and trade or charitable relationships with, the countries of the Middle East, are at a severe information disadvantage about who their targets should be, regarding the more obscure entities that exist, especially in Gaza and the West Bank. Why is there a dearth of publicly-available data about these smaller players, and their leaders?

As the press has repeatedly advised, not only are their other know terrorist organizations operating within Gaza, besides HAMAS and PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD, but there are at least two other, more minor entities, and these entities are certainly targets, as they are said to be each holding Israeli and foreign hostages captured on October 7. Israeli media has accused Hamas of actually selling and trading hostages with these additional terrorist groups in Gaza. This means that American compliance officers must consider them to be already targeted and be under investigation by our law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

So why is there no public disclosure of the identities of these terrorist organizations, and of the names of their leaders? This puts compliance departments at a major disadvantage, as they do not know what or who to look for, when it comes to terrorist financiers. I understand the hesitation of US law enforcement agencies to disclose what it regards as sensitive information, and to not give them any publicity, but classifying or withholding this critical information will allow these smaller terrorist groups to obtain funding from their supporters abroad, especially from the United States. 

Therefore, we call for the release of not only the various names that these terrorist organizations operate under,and their fronts, but the identities of their leaders, and any other details that might allow compliance officers to spot terrorist financiers in the act of remitting funds. Make this information available please, so that compliance officers can protect their banks, and reduce the risk that they are unwittingly approving the funding of terrorist entities in Gaza. If necessary, declassify a sufficient amount of data so that we have the tools to do our job.  

EXTRAORDINARY DELAYS IN JUDICIARY HANDING DOWN DECISIONS? BLAME CORRUPTION, NOT WORKLOAD

The news, appearing this week in Barbados' government-controlled media, that the country's Supreme Court may be taking action against judges who wait months, if not years, to hand down rulings in cases that have already gone to trial or final hearing, is intended to confuse Bajans about the true cause of judicial delay. The fact that thousands of pending cases are in a Twilight Zone, where no written rulings have been entered by sitting trial or appellate judges, notwithstanding that the trial or oral argument in an appeal have long ago occurred, is NOT a reflection on major workload of cases; it's all about corruption, dear reader. There is no overload of cases assigned; it's just disinformation, intended to confuse laymen who are not familiar with true activities within the court system.

In truth and in fact, the corrupt power structure in one-party Barbados uses the intentionally dilatory court docket to punish Opposition party members and vocal supporters, individuals who have expressed dissatisfaction with the present government's insensitivity to the needs of its poorer citizens, those who have pointed out widespread attorney fraud and misconduct, and others who are perceived as threats to the continued reelection of certain senior government officials. Delaying a court decision, indefinitely, is a tool of corrupt leaders who wish to tamp down dissent, in any form, which is a Human Rights violation by definition, according to agencies of the United Nations.

It's not limited to Barbados, unfortunately; look at the MEHUL CHOKSI extradition case in neighboring Antigua, where a billion-dollar fraudster fugitive from India has been able, with government collusion, to evade justice at home for years. Also, one needs only look at the courts in the Republic of Malta, where an antiquated Production of Evidence court procedure is employed by the corrupt Labour Party leaders to delay justice ad infinitum, as it suits those in public office anxious to protect their own from justice. Look for such judicial misconduct in any autocratic state pretending to be a democracy; That's how they rein in their opponents.

This means individuals will often serve out their entire sentence of incarceration, before the appeals court hands down a possible decision of reversal in their case; civil plaintiffs with a valid cause of action often, after a successful trial of their claim, wait years for a written ruling, whilst the defendant, favored by the government in power, cheats justice, free to transfer his assets, and evade justice. Some may call these politically-sensitive cases, but I call them what they really are, indicia of corruption, on a grand scale. No wonder many foreign investors steer clear of Barbados, and countries like it; in the event of a dispute with locals, they know that there will be no justice for them in the courts.  

HAVE YOU READ ALL TWENTY OF THE MONEY LAUNDERING TRADECRAFT ARTICLES?

 

I understand that some readers may have missed some of the articles on money laundering techniques and strategies. In the event that you are not as regular reader of my blog, here is a list of all of the Tradecraft 101 articles published this year to date; there are more in preparation. The may all be found at https://rijock.blogspot.com

I can provide real-life examples of these techniques, from my own experience, to enhance the understanding of these methods. Contact me if you are interested in a virtual or live seminar. miamicompliance@gmail.com

 1. MONEY LAUNDERING THROUGH INTERNATIONAL PRODUCT DIVERSION.

2. MONEY LAUNDERING THROUGH LIFE SETTLEMENTS.

3. ADVANCED TRADE-BASED MONEY LAUNDERING.

4. THE LAUNDRYMAN'S VERSION OF HAWALA.

5.  MONEY LAUNDERING THROUGH FINE ARTS AND ANTIQUES.

6. MONEY LAUNDERING THROUGH CASH-INTENSIVE BUSINESSES.

7. MONEY LAUNDERING THROUGH THE MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY.

8. INVESTING OFFSHORE ILLICIT WEALTH ONSHORE.

9. MONEY LAUNDERING THROUGH REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS.

10. MONEY LAUNDERING AND SANCTIONS EVASION THROUGH THE USE OF CITIZENSHIP BY INVESTMENT (CBI) PASSPORTS.

11. MONEY LAUNDERING USING SHELL AND SHELF COMPANIES.

12. MONEY LAUNDERING THROUGH CORRESPONDENT BANKING.

13. HOW MONEY LAUNDERERS EMPLOY ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY TO OUTWIT COMPLIANCE OFFICERS.

14.MONEY LAUNDERING THROUGH LOTTERIES AND OTHER CASH PRIZE EVENTS.

15. MONEY LAUNDERING THROUGH THE HOARDING AND SALE OF PRECIOUS METALS AND VALUABLE STAMPS AND COINS.

16. MONEY LAUNDERING THROUGH THE USE OF DIPLOMATIC PASSPORTS BY NON-DIPLOMATS.

17.WHAT GOES UP AND DOESN'T NECESSARILY COME DOWN IN MONEY LAUNDERING OPERATIONS.

18. THE USE OF PSYOPS IN MONEY LAUNDERING TO CONFUSE COMPLIANCE OFFICERS INVOLVED IN TRANSACTION MONITORING.

19. HOW MONEY LAUNDERERS DEAL WITH IDENTITY VERIFICATION ISSUES.

20. WHEN MONEY LAUNDERERS GIVE YOU UNINTENTIONAL EASTER EGGS FOR YOUR ENHANCED DUE DILIGENCE INVESTIGATION.

COMPLIANCE IN 2024; WHERE EXPERIENCE IS EXTRAORDINARILY IMPORTANT AS A TRAINING TOOL

Compliance officers at international banks are presently working during a period marked by increased risks posed by the double-barreled threat of Russia sanctions due to Ukraine, and a new terrorist financing focus due to the Israel/Hamas war, and this is not the time for newly-minted frontline staff to get on-the-job experience. Banks need seasoned compliance directors to guide their staff during this high-risk period, individuals who will deliver practical training programs, to equip their people to deal with these emerging threats, while still exposing them to the money laundering tradecraft that they need to know to identify advanced and unusual techniques employed by laundrymen.

Since you can't give your staff twenty years of hands-on compliance experience, adequate training, supervised by people who have been there since 9/11, and can pass on their decades of actual tactical exposure, has become mandatory. Neither academics nor former regulatory officers can give your staff the benefit of the perspective of experienced compliance officers, who should be conducting your training sessions, using not only the needed content, but illustrating the information with their own actual examples from cases they handled.

Any compliance directors whose 2024 training budgets are not sufficient to bring in outside talent should draft their most experienced frontline staff to conduct that training. I humbly suggest that they may wish to employ the twenty Money Laundering Tradecraft articles that I have published on my blog this year, to give their people a broad-based background in the techniques that they are most likely to encounter in their daily workload, If you are not aware of those articles, email me at miamicompliance@gmail.com  and I will supply you with a detailed list of the topics I have covered. Use your best people to teach your new ones the tricks of our trade, ladies and gentlemen. These are difficult times for any compliance department; you need to meet these challenges head on; use your most experienced people to do that.  

WILL THE FACT THAT HAMAS AND HEZBOLLAH FAVORED TRON, A CRYPTOCURRENCY NETWORK (AND A BVI COMPANY), FOCUS FURTHER ATTENTION ON THE BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS?

 

The focus of terrorist financing attention upon TRON, a platform for crypto transfers associated with  HAMAS and HEZBOLLAH, may again focus regulatory attention upon the British Virgin Islands (BVI) as  a completely opaque jurisdiction where the identity of Beneficial Ownership continues to be hidden from compliance officer access.Reports that Israeli law enforcement has concluded that Hamas has favored Tron over the use of BITCOIN, confirmed through an increase in wallet seizures, appear to have dominated financial crime news today, appearing in a number of reports. Crypto transfers to Hamas from Malta have been the subject of several of our previous articles on terrorist financing.

Whether this linking of the routine abuse of BVI  entities to financial crime, by terrorist financiers, results in designation of British Virgin Islands corporations as high-risk vehicles that require enhanced due diligence ab initio of all related aspects of a transaction we cannot say, but BVI companies have been the subject of much compliance negative attention of late. Given the fact that one simply cannot verify anything that smacks of authoritative beneficial ownership data, compliance officers operating a risk-based compliance program are justified in being concerned.

 I consider the fact that a bank client, or even a counterparty, is employing a BVI company for any purpose a Red Flag that requires further inquiry, which generally means enhanced due diligence, which of course means additional delays for necessary relevant investigation in depth. This is usually not regarded as good news by frontline bank staff engaged in operations, and they often seek to apply pressure on compliance departments to quickly complete their EDD tasks, which usually require responses  from third parties. If there was official data on BVI company beneficial ownership, it would greatly facilitate due diligence, but then dodgy clients,  tax evaders, terrorist financiers, international sanctions evaders, corrupt PEPs, and financial criminals we lump together under the  label of The usual Suspects, would not be spending their money on BVI corporations.

IMHO as a compliance officer, there's usually a hidden reason someone wants to purchase a BVI company, and it's often not a legitimate business one. 

BARBADOS LENDERS NOTE: DEFECTIVE TITLE, HELD BY "OWNERS" OF REAL ESTATE MAKE PAYMENTS ON MORTGAGES THAT ARE LEGALLY UNSECURED

Having been a real estate attorney at a Miami law firm in my misspent youth, I know that, for financial institutions engaged in lending large sums of money to bank clients who then execute purchase money mortgages, insuring that they have good and marketable title to the real property that they are purchasing is by far the most important element of each transaction. Otherwise, the loans are unsecured, meaning that, in the event of default of the borrower, the bank's counsel fully intends to foreclose upon that collateral. That is how loans in default are generally handled, in order to reduce the bank's risk of loss, and hopefully recover sufficient funds to cover the loan amount.

However, and unfortunately, as we have previously warned our readers, much of the real estate sales during the past 50 years, conducted by attorneys practising law in Barbados, have occurred as the result of the forgery of wills, unlawful and unauthorized diversion of realty owned by deceased individuals and in probate, bogus warranty deeds, the alteration of land records, and other illegal acts. Add to the legal nightmare the sad fact that there is NO company known to be writing title insurance, to underwrite this bank exposure, and you have a perfect storm of risk. This means that all those outstanding mortgages are potentially worthless, as they do not secure the promissory notes executed by all the borrowers, including foreign entities in the resort and hospitality industry who have purchased oceanfront property for hotel development. 

A court of competent jurisdiction, after adducing the evidence that I have previously reviewed, and which is clear and convincing, could at any time in the future, declare the mortgages to be null and void, and of no force and effect, and void ab initio, as the underlying deeds do not transfer good title. This is a real estate attorney's worst nightmare.

In the event that there is any doubt about the fact that such mortgages exist, we are providing a hyperlink to a list of some of the properties located in Barbados, where such bogus instruments have been filed in public records. These are located in KINGSLAND ESTATES, and we shall be detailing the massive fraud involved in the theft of this land in future articles on this blog. This story alone should dissuade any foreign entity from even considering the purchase of real property in Barbados, for one can never be sure that land purchased there can be conveyed from a seller who has good title.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GlR4AnfQrs2I8IvaGlEkSy3CMzFrW14E/view?usp=sharing

This is the hyperlink, not the URL above:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GlR4AnfQrs2I8IvaGlEkSy3CMzFrW14E/view?usp=sharing

 

IS POTENTIAL FOR MONEY LAUNDERING INVESTIGATION REAL REASON WEALTHY CHINESE ARE AVOIDING SINGAPORE OF LATE?

Reports from Singapore appear to confirm that affluent Mainland Chinese are now avoiding having their financial professionals open single-family offices there, ever since a massive series of arrests and seizures in the equivalent of a multi-billion dollar money laundering case involving alleged Chinese organized crime figures. Singapore had been the destination of choice for wealthy Chinese seeking to place their funds there, employing family offices to invest their capital.

The question has come up: are the Chinese who are now avoiding Singapore's financial structure doing so because they have found more suitable jurisdictions elsewhere, or do they fear being targeted in a money laundering investigation, due to issues with Sources of Funds or Source of Wealth? We understand that, in order to attract Chinese capital, a number of AML "shortcuts" occurred, to obtain this lucrative business. Whether there will be any publicly-disclosed fallout from what might be considered compliance malpractice we cannot say, but we are closely monitoring the case, to determine if there will be accountability, or whether such negative press will be suppressed, in such a tightly-controlled media environment.

Where Chinese money that might be of dodgy origen is going now is not known but, we are actively looking for any signs from offshore centers in the Asia-Pacific region of an increase in traffic, which might give us the answer; stay tuned. 

WITH TWO WARS IN PROGRESS, DECEMBER IS THE TIME TO PLAN YOUR 2024 AML/CFT TRAINING PROGRAM FOR FRONTLINE COMPLIANCE STAFF

The future, specifically 2024, will be here shortly; amid the ongoing sanctions evasion issues involving Russia, you now have increased terrorist financing exposure, due to the armed conflict initiated by HAMAS., which has definitely resulted in increased law enforcement and regulatory attention in North America. In short, December is the time you need to map out how you are going to increase your AML/CFT training during Spring '24, not only to have an expended, and effective program to potentially mitigate any fines and civil penalties that might be levied upon your bank, but to increase your chances of interdicting sanctions evasion and terrorist financing in real-time, to avoid same.

1. Russian and Iranian Sanction Evasion identification is sure to get increased attention in 2024, and you owe it to your frontline staff to present a remedial program, as and if necessary, reminding them of the wide variety of ways that imaginative money launderers, now wearing sanctions evader hats, are moving dual-purpose technology, and artfully cleaning and transmitting payments for goods and services that they have provided countries in the developing world.

2. You need to detail the obscure and esoteric money laundering methods that laundrymen have been employing to provide financial support to specially designated terrorist organizations, especially in the Middle East. North American compliance officers should expect greatly increased law enforcement scrutiny of payments to Lebanon, Turkey and other Middle Eastern jurisdictions. You training should focus upon both tradecraft and high-risk countries in the region.

Advanced training in these subjects is the only way to insure that your staff can recognize threats in progress. Plan out your Spring training regimen, and document each and every step you are taking to prepare them, to reduce the risk that they will miss, or ignore, hidden dangers, and if they do, that the consequences will be reduced to manageable levels.  

ARE LARGE COMMISSIONS PAID TO SALESMEN THE REASON ST. KITTS CAN'T MAKE REFUNDS TO CANCELLED CBI APPLICANTS

"The Government of St Kitts and Nevis continues to show its support for the CBI programme. The 2023 regulations saw increased incentives offered to stakeholders. One such example is the commissions to international marketing agents (IMA). Under the new CBI regulations, the commissions payable by the government on successful SGF CBI applications were increased from USD15,000 to USD20,000. Applications to become an IMA must be submitted under these new CBI regulations. This can be done directly or with the assistance of a local law firm."

For those readers who were wondering why the St. Kitts Citizenship by investment (CBI) passport sales agency still after one year, has been engaged in double-talk with applicants from Russia, the Ukraine and Belarus, who have never received their promised refunds after their participation was cancelled, the reason appears above, which is a verbatim quote. The authorities, having paid out $USD 20,000 in commissions ( and not in East Caribbean currency) to brokers for every application, don't have the money to make good on their promise to refund the money.

Remember, SKN uses the CBI fees to paid its bloated and overpaid government staff, most of whom contribute little to the domestic economy. In the cases of the withheld application fees not being properly returned to the applicants, obviously even those funds, which are intended for national economic development, were also used up to pay government officials. They must be working on such a small margin that, when there was a proper call to make refunds, after terminating certain applicants, they cannot repay them. The one year delay, with a call for still more notarized forms which was an obvious delaying tactic. 

Notwithstanding the CYA press releases coming from official sources, detailing how the repayment process was ongoing, our survey found that none of the Eastern European applicants have received their funds. Simply put, the government has become addicted to those CBI payments, and once spent, they have no other sources of cash flow to deal with any untoward events, although the refund policy was an SKN decision. Perhaps now, readers who are considering the purchase of CBI passports should consider carefully the considerable potential pitfalls and dangers that the programs present to an investor. Caveat Emptor,  to be sure.

WATCH FOR LARGE TRANSFERS OF US DOLLARS TO ARGENTINA IN LIGHT OF POTENTIAL DOLLARIZATION OF ITS ECONOMY

The new President-elect of Argentina, Javier Milei, has indicated that one of his ideas about stabilizing his country's perennially distressed economy is to with from the problematic Argentina peso to the US Dollar, a currency move that other nations in Latin America have undertaken, with successful results. The problem is, Argentia is a bit short on US Dollar reserves. Dollarization may or may not happen, but it does raise the issue of whether  money launderers might be also to rishly profits from such a government policy.

Money launderers, who are always alert for new, shall we say "opportunities' to clean the proceeds of narcotics trafficking, also monitor political and economic news in Latin America, looking for what we call targets of opportunity. They know that when Members of the European Union joined the Eurozone, currency exchanges afforded enterprising laundrymen unique possibilities to convert criminal profits, free from meaningful AML. There were just too many people for government agencies to check, and public policy did not favor widespread inquiries. Dirty money was cleaned, or integrated into legitimate investments to the degree that it was not subject to being exposed. Laundrymen are students of financial history; now you know why.

Therefore, compliance officers at international banks should advise their frontline staff to be alert for any large USD transfer into Argentina, especially if they are coming from an offshore financial center,  briefly transiting the US or EU, and then moving on to Buenos Aires. If I was still a money launderer, I would  have my have my eye on Argentina this month. You are advised to do the same.  

WHEN GOVERNMENT USES AN OVERBROAD COMPUTER MISUSE STATUTE TO CENSOR SOCIAL MEDIA

"Malicious communications

14.

Where a person uses a computer to send a message, letter, electronic communication or article of any description that

(a)

is indecent or obscene;

(b)

is or constitutes a threat; or

(c)

is menacing in character,

and he intends to cause or is reckless as to whether he causes annoyance, inconvenience, distress or anxiety to the recipient or to any other person to whom he intends it or its contents to be communicated, he is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of $10 000 or to imprisonment for a term of 12 months or to both."

What you are reading above is taken verbatim from the Computer Misuse Act of 2023,  a new statute enacted in Barbados, ostensibly to control child pornography. Unfortunately, it has had the effect of placing social media in the country under complete government control meaning censorship in a nation that is supposed to have Freedom of the Press, handed down from English Common Law.

The human rights situation in Barbados is severely affected by the fact that the fine, potentially levied upon anyone who chooses to detail their political opposition to the sitting government on social media, risks a fine that is the equivalent of five thousand US Dollars, an amount that most Bajans simply cannot afford to pay, exposing them to even more Draconian measures designed to stifle political dissent and discussion. This law, ostensibly designed to prevent unauthorized computer intrusion and child pornography, censors any inhibits any public dialogue on the issues, and controls Freedom of Speech.   

So long as such a broad-based law exists in Barbados, no meaningful Opposition party or movement can ever be effective or even operate on a level where it can compete in the political arena, thus insuring continued de facto one-party rule for the indefinite future. That is how democracy dies.

WHY IS THE WORLD'S FINANCIAL MEDIA IGNORING THE MONEY LAUNDERING COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST MAJOR FRENCH BANKS FOR SUPPORTING COMPANIES THAT ENGAGE IN AMAZON DEFORESTATION?

When I have lectured in Buenos Aires on financial crime, the flights back to Miami always took place in the evening, most likely because that schedule allowed the passengers to arrive in Miami at dawn. One time, however, the the weather conditions that affect Argentina in July and August not only delayed our departure, it caused us to depart during the day. I saw with my own eyes the massive deforestation of the world's largest oxygen-generating rainforest. it was an eye opener.

Now, when a team of NGOs filed a claim against many of France's largest financial institutions, Western media, with only a pitiful amount of exceptions, totally ignored the story. These banks, whom I have named and shamed below, all are accused of allegedly financing meat slaughterhouse companies that are engaged in widespread deforestation of the Amazon, including "intrusion into indigenous lands and protected forests." Why the media is not reporting on this as an important news item I simply cannot understand. Is it because these banks place lucrative advertising in the world's major newspapers, especially the online editions? If so, that is a form of self-censorship that defeats the notion of a free and responsible press.

Here are the banks named by a coalition of NGOs:

BNP PARIBAS

CREDIT AGRICOLE

BPCE

AXA

Here is a portion of the material that I found was recently published, although it appears that the story has been completely absent from the world's principal newspapers:

• A coalition of NGOs has filed a criminal complaint against several French banks for allegedly financing meat companies driving deforestation in Brazil.
• Between 2013 and 2021, the four French banks involved invested a total of nearly $70 million in bonds issued by leading meat companies in Brazil generating about $11.7 million in profits.
• This is the first time that French banks have received a criminal complaint for money laundering, receiving stolen goods related to funding deforestation and profiteering from it.
• An analysis of JBS and Marfrig slaughterhouses in Pará and Mato Grosso found that more than 50% and 40% of suppliers, respectively, showed evidence of irregularities, including deforestation and intrusion into Indigenous lands and protected forests.

On Nov. 8, an NGO coalition filed a complaint with the French National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) against French banks BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, BPCE and AXA, calling for a criminal investigation for money laundering and concealment, based on the banks’ financing of leading Brazilian meat companies JBS and Marfrig.

Deforestation is illegal in Brazil and France, and according to a recent European Union directive relating to money laundering, any benefit obtained from an environmental crime, such as money or commodities, may represent the proceeds of crime.

Clearing forests for cattle ranching is the leading driver of deforestation in Brazil and South America, and the coalition argued that the meat companies had not taken sufficient steps to prevent cattle from illegally deforested areas coming into their supply chains. By providing financing and making a profit from it, the banks also potentially would be criminally liable.

MONEY LAUNDERERS CONTINUE TO PLOW NEW ROADS IN SEARCH OF OPPORTUNITIES TO CLEAN NARCO-PROFITS

Money launderers are always in search of new business, industries and even professions, when looking to create unusual opportunities to clean drug profits quietly. This week, a major American sneaker and athletic gear retailer in Charlotte was charged in a case that reportedly saw thirty two million dollars in narcotics profits turned into grey-market sales of high-end sneakers to a Chinese money laundering organization tasked with laundering narco-profits. The principal of the American company routinely accepted large cash payments, in excess of $10,000m while illegally funneling consumer products abroad, in violation of his agreements with manufacturers of athletic equipment.

Compliance officers need to understand that money laundering is a dynamic intellectual exercise conducted by the laundrymen, to constantly explore new potential avenues in legitimate industries and businesses not previously exploited for criminal purposes. They know that most low-risk businesses, which are not known for engaging, wittingly or unwittingly, in money laundering operations, are rarely suspected by compliance, and therefore ripe for access. As I am fond of repeatedly mentioning, money launderers stay up nights and weekends to contrive new techniques, involving industries that they are not known to have used in the past, to confuse not only law enforcement agencies, but bank compliance departments as well. 

I know this because I was a participant in that dirty profession for a decade, during which time it schemed and brainstormed my way through literally dozens of scenarios, in my quest to find bulletproof methods and techniques of money laundering. I often twisted and modified known techniques, and tried to apply them to new business types, all in an effort to create a system that compliance officer would never recognize as money laundering operations. Think about that when you see a possible suspicious transaction in a low-risk industry, before you abruptly dismiss it as a single anomaly. it may be evidence of a minor error or mistake that a money launderer let pass in an otherwise perfect operation. Look for it. 

MINOR DEFENDANT IN FORMER BVI PREMIER ANDREW FAHIE'S MONEY LAUNDERING AND DRUG TRAFFICKING CASE SENTENCED TO 57 MONTHS

KADEEM MAYNARD, a lesser codefendant of cashiered British Virgin Islands Premier ANDREW FAHIE, was sentenced this week to just under five years in Federal Prison, after changing his plea to guilty, in a case that has shaken up the small British Overseas Territory, known for selling opaque companies around the world to purchasers interested in concealing their beneficial ownership of a corporate entity from law enforcement, the taxman, or both. Maynard, who pled to only a single count of Conspiracy to Import Cocaine, evaded more serious charges under and agreement that requires him to assist American law enforcement. He admitted, during a statement that was recorded, prior involvement as a career criminal in the drug trade.

The principal defendant, Fahie, faces multiple counts after he agreed to protect undercover Federal agents posing as drug smugglers, who said they were moving narcotics into the US through BVI territorial waters. Maynard's mother, OLEANVINE PICKERING MAYNARD, the BVI Ports Director, has also entered a plea of guilty, and will be sentenced in January, when Fahie goes to trial; He faces what is in essence a life sentence, should he be convicted on multiple money laundering, drug trafficking and RICO-related charges.

Initially, Fahie hinted that he had first-hand information incriminating other senior Caribbean officials, a statement that reportedly had serious impact in the region, where local leaders have cooperated with narcotics traffickers in the past, and some have been indicted in the United States for conspiring to facilitate northbound drug shipments, and to launder the proceeds of narco-crime in local financial institutions. it was generally thought, among court observers, that Fahie would end up cooperating, to mitigate his exposure, but he remains insisting he will go to trial. We shall continue to monitor this case, and will advise on all developments, as they occur.

BRITISH ARMY VETERAN ALLEGES HIS COUNTRY'S MOST POWERFUL LAW FIRM STOLE FROM HIM AND GOVERNMENT ENGAGED IN A COVERUP

 

Jerry Merviviel Nurse, a veteran of the British Army, who served in some of the world's most remote and dangerous trouble spots, came home to Barbados after a decade of military service, only to find that his country's most powerful law firm, CARRINGTON AND SEALY, whose members typically go on to serve on their nation's Supreme Court, and in senior position in government, had allegedly diverted, and outright taken, real estate left to him by deceased relatives. When he attempted to access the local court system, he found that the deck was stacked against him. Although he finally did succeed, senior government officials reportedly closely linked to the prestigious law firm took steps to insure that he never took either possession or title to his inheritance. 

His efforts to seek justice at the Barbados Bar Association, through its Disciplinary Committee, were likewise stymied, at the hands of lawyers linked to the Carrington law firm, He later found that documents in the probate proceedings listed the administration of his extended family's estate named a Carrington lawyer who was not even practising law at that time as counsel of record, and other clear evidence of alleged professional misconduct. The Disciplinary Committee not only failed to address serious issues of professional negligence (malpractise), but grand larceny, with him as the obvious victim. There has been no justice in his case. I have reviewed the documents available in support of these allegations, and it is clear and convincing evidence of massive fraud and misrepresentation of material facts.

Lest readers think that this is an extraordinary and unusual set of facts, there are dozens of Barbadians who have similar stories, relating to us that the same lawyers who were entrusted with administering estates of their deceased family members appropriated valuable, in many cases oceanfront, real estate, for their own use and benefit, and neither the courts, nor government, nor the Barbados Bar Association, would assist them in obtaining justice. Jerry Nurse, who is continuing to speak on behalf of himself, and other victims in Barbados who are similarly situated, says he will not be silenced, even after a thinly disguised attempt to place him in mortal danger through false imprisonment in a local prison, on spurious charges. He advises that justice will be served, both in his case, and others like it.

    

ALERT FOR FRAUDSTERS FROM INDIA OPERATING UNACCREDITED MEDICAL SCHOOLS IN GUYANA AND BARBADOS, OFFERING WORTHLESS "DEGREES"

Be advised that there are a number of fraudsters, operating from India, who reportedly trick applicants into advancing USD$100,000 to enroll in bogus and unaccredited medical schools, located in Guyana and Barbados, but whose  MD degrees are worthless, and not accepted in India or elsewhere. The promoters, whom the students from India claim are using passports with aliases, deceive the applicants' parents into believing that the schools are located in the United States, so that they advance a substantial payment. Former students allege that the degrees awarded are not recognized  as proper medical preparation by the authorities in India, and that they were deceived and defrauded. The applicants could not qualify to enter medical schools in India, due to low test scores, and they were lured to the Caribbean with the promise of a medical education acceptable in India. The glossy websites promise much, but do not deliver; They are NOT accredited by CAAM-HP or ECFMG. 

 The Barbados school came under suspicion earlier this year, when one of the Indian students committed suicide. Medical students who later become aware of the unaccredited nature of the "schools" are summarily dismissed and banished from the campus. Given the non-accredited nature of the schools, which had to have prior governmental approval and licenses to open and operate, an investigation into the circumstances surrounding their appearance is warranted. Were bribes paid to government officials to secure permission to open these schools? 

Compliance officers should check their client lists for these entities:

BRIDGETOWN INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY, Barbados

VICTORIA UNIVERSITY OF MEDICINE, Barbados

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF INTEGRATED SCIENCE, Barbados

LINCOLN AMERICAN UNIVERSITY, Guyana

ISM FOCAL POINT PVT LTD, India

RUS EDUCATION PVT LTD, India

 

THE NAME GAME; CBI PASSPORT HOLDERS IN THE EAST CARIBBEAN CAN CHANGE THEIR NAMES AND IDENTITIES MULTIPLE TIMES TO EVADE EUROPEAN LAW ENFORCEMENT AND COMPLIANCE

                     

Buried in the extensive recent coverage (by the OCCRP) of the fact that the five East Caribbean states have issued over 88,000 Citizenship by Investment (CBI/CIP) passports to applicants over the past several years, many of whom have not been publicly disclosed, is one extremely important detail: according to the EU Home Affairs Commissioner, Ylva Johansson, the holders of these valuable identity documents, which afford visa-free entry into the EU and UK, are allowed by the EC states to change their names and identities multiple times, at will.

Compliance officers, who rely upon their ability to identify prospective bank clients at account opening by checking their names against sanctions lists, and lists of high-risk individuals, are unable to properly identify transnational financial criminals, terrorist financiers, known sanctions evaders, and convicted felons if their names and biographical information have been altered, or otherwise changed into completely new identities, complete with bogus (but carefully constructed) social media postings that will fool even the most diligent inquiry.

 Even facial recognition methods, which often serve as an alternative methods of identification of clients at onboarding, can be defeated through techniques which we deem too sensitive to discuss openly, but which we have seen examples of, in certain CBI passports issued by the five CBI East Caribbean states and by the Republic of Malta, the sole remaining EU jurisdiction that sells passports to whomever has the cash to pay for them. 

It is impossible to overstate the probable impact that government-sanctioned alteration of identities has upon the ability of not only compliance officers at banks in EU Member states, but also customs and immigration agencies that screen arriving passengers for individuals from jurisdictions that are State Sponsors of Terrorism, sanctioned for violations of WMD and ballistic missile technology, human trafficking, and other crimes. We also must remember that members of hostile foreign intelligence agencies are also clients of such programs, and their ability to commit espionage is made infinitely easier by their ability to pose as low-risk nationals from visa-free jurisdictions.

 As a practical matter, individuals with "clean" aliases and identities, artfully facilitated by the CBI jurisdictions, have been successfully penetrating EU and UK financial institutions with impunity for some time, which may have been partially responsible for the recent action by the United Kingdom to remove the Commonwealth of Dominica from its list of former possessions (and Commonwealth of Nations Members) with visa-free privileges. Compliance officers must now decide whether to impose Enhanced Due Diligence procedures on the holders of all countries known to issued CIB passports, as a matter of course, irrespective of the delays such a policy will cause at client onboarding. Frankly, we trust that they make this decision, as otherwise, holders of these passports, who cannot be properly identified, will continue to abuse the financial institutions of the European Union and the United Kingdom.  

    

PROPOSED REFORM OF BAR ENFORCEMENT RULES IN BARBADOS STILL PROVIDES ONLY HALF-MEASURES

                      

Barbados' proposed Revised Legal Profession Bill, basic details of which have been released to the media, and have been the subject of comments by Bar Association President Kaye Williams. Whilst some of the changes, such as not making Annual Practising Certificates a foregone conclusion in the future, and compelling accurate accounting rules, are welcome, the new rules do  not appear to have any enforcement teeth.  Currently, when unethical, and often either insolvent or greedy, lawyers steal the proceeds of real estate sales from their clients, the Bar Association has traditionally failed abysmally at forcing their members to disburse clients funds. It also has a long history of ignoring blatant instances of probate theft and fraud. 

Most importantly, the stated position of the Bar Association, as stated by its president, to the effect that it is up to the courts to see that funds taken by its members be remitted to the victims. Apparently, other than disbarment, no other remedy is being included n these revised rules. This is totally unacceptable, for literally dozens of lawyers in barbados have stolen money from clients, been disbarred or suspended, and never paid their clients anything; This has to change, for Barbados to institute effective attorney reform.

Let us suggest that the Bar Association's President, Ms. Williams, find a way to enforce attorney professional ethics in a meaningful manner. In plain English, should a member of the bar fail to pay a client, and end up suspended or disbarred, but still in possession of client funds, the Association should file a civil suit, in the name of the victim, and fast-track the case through the court system, to a final judgment, and levy (execute) upon that judgment, which will be at that time be a lien upon the former lawyer's assets, including real estate. Imagine how swiftly a disbarred lawyer will come up with the money, when his or her home is in jeopardy. The lawyer may also have additional real estate that can be sold to pay the judgment.

We call upon President Williams to put some real teeth in the Legal Profession Bill. Clean up that den of vipers that is the Barbados legal profession, before publicity over public displeasure over lawyer misconduct poisons Barbados as a destination for foreign investment.

VICTIMS OF RAMPANT PROBATE AND REAL ESTATE FRAUD AMONGST LAWYERS IN BARBADOS POINT FINGERS AT SENIOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AS FACILITATORS OF RACKETEERING OPERATION

                       

We have been examining the claims, made by a large number of Barbados citizens, alleging that a large number of the country's senior attorneys have been, and currently are, engaged in an organized scheme to prepare and record fraudulent deeds to real property, to divert valuable assets held by deceased relatives from their rightful heirs in probate proceedings. Some of these claims have surfaced in a civil suit brought in the United States, and we are advised that additional lawsuit are planned and will be brought forthwith. Major law firms in Barbados, such as CARRINGTON AND SEALY, were allegedly involved in what the claimants describe as racketeering, in complex illegal operations that resulted in clients of those law firms, and the lawyers themselves, ending up in title to valuable oceanfront properties, through organized fraud and deception. There are other firms, and we will be naming and shaming them in future articles, after these other suits are filed.

The lawyers who are said to have been involved allegedly had help from not only corrupt members of the High Court judiciary, all the way up to members of the Supreme Court, but senior government officials who facilitated their illicit actions. The Country's Attorney General, Solicitor General, Chief Marshall, Director of Public Prosecutions, and Supreme Court Registrar all reportedly and allegedly conspired in concert to defeat any efforts by the victims to achieve justice through the courts or government agencies and offices.

The net result is that no title insurance company will insure that any of the real estate titles in Barbados qualify as good and marketable; any foreign resort developer takes a major risk in purchasing waterfront or otherwise desirable tracts, for they could lose all right, title and interest in the future, by acquiring the properties through warranty deeds that are void ab initio, not merely voidable at law. Any foreign corporate buyer cannot insure against such risks, and stands to lose its entire investment, including all improvements made thereon, which could be millions of US Dollars, Pounds or Euros. Until and unless these valid claims are settled, meaning most likely through court-ordered conveyance of these properties to their rightful owners, foreign investment in Barbados, especially as it relates to tourism, is to be completely avoided by any investor using a risk-based due diligence program. Caveat Barbados.      

IN THE AFTERMATH OF WIDESPREAD CAPTAGON USE BY HAMAS IN ITS TERRORIST ATTACK ON ISRAEL, WILL SYRIA AND LEBANON'S DRUG FACTORIES BE TARGETED?

If you were wondering how the Hamas terrorists, some of whom were NOT Palestinian Arabs, could torture, murder and perpetrate war crimes against unarmed Israeli citizens on October 7th, whatever inhibitions they had were minimized by their use of Captagon, an illegal stimulant that is the Middle East's answer to cocaine, albeit much cheaper to produce and distribute. Found in the possessions of a number of Hamas terrorists killed in battle with the Israel Defence Force were Captagon tablets.

From a recent UNODC report:

"The production of “captagon” tablets, i.e., amphetamine tablets mixed with caffeine, in the Near and Middle East is possibly more important in Asia than the manufacture of amphetamine in South and South-East Asia. Indications received from other countries in the region, as well as media reports, suggest the existence of clandestine laboratories manufacturing “captagon” tablets, in particular in the Syrian Arab Republic and Lebanon, partly for domestic consumption and partly for the more lucrative markets of Saudi Arabia and a number of other Gulf States. In addition, another two countries in the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia – in descending order, Jordan and the Islamic Republic of Iran – have been identified by other countries in those subregions as possible countries of origin of amphetamine shipments." 

I can find no evidence that there is any ongoing operation, by any law enforcement agency anywhere, to rein in this clear and present danger. Both the Syrian and the Lebanese manufacturing hubs should be immediately targeted, the illicit factories destroyed or shut down, and the managers extradited, so that they can be charged with trafficking. We cannot wait until Captagon ends up in the hands of European crime families, and in the mouths of consumers in the European Union. Wake up, EUROPOL.

FIRST "TIPPING OFF" CONVICTION OF UK SOLICITOR FOR ALERTING MALTA-BASED EXPAT AS A TARGET OF MONEY LAUNDERING INVESTIGATION

 

If you read the UK news about the first ever "Tipping Off" conviction of a solicitor for letting a client know that he was under law enforcement investigation for money laundering, you know that this is a giant step forward towards holding british lawyers accountable for facilitating money laundering, within the United Kingdom, which is a major problem that to date have been without a proper solution. The fact that many lawyers have been acting with impunity, regarding financial crime, and improperly hiding behind attorney-client privilege, is one of the reasons a major AML firm in cardiff recently said six per cent of all funds flowing into the UK represent laundered criminal proceeds. You may feel that figure is excessive; what if it's accurate.

We note that the client is an expat, living, of course, in Malta. Where else could he openly ply overt illicit activity. He has been linked to arms trafficking into Africa, as well as Grey-market mineral harvesting, and is associated with a number of unsavoury characters whose criminal exploits appear on the Internet, so the lawyer, who is also the Money Laundering Reporting Officer, or MLRO, cannot say he was not aware of his client's choice of business associates. Or is he guilty of Willful Blindness, perhaps? He did assist his client to move four million Pounds into a UK real estate investment.

While we are at it, perhaps UK investigators looking at lawyers who kiss and tell might wish to see just how many British law firms who advertise "offshore" have expat British clients who reside in the Republic of Malta. We wonder how many have quickly changed their travel plans for a London Holiday, when advised not to come home under any circumstances. Is Tipping Off a growing professional activity?

MURDER OF MONEY LAUNDERING ATTORNEY WHO STOLE FROM DRUG TRAFFICKERS COVERED UP BY AUTHORITIES AS ACCIDENT

                                                         

The late Allison Lovell and her deceased children

Lawyers who launder the proceeds of narcotics traffickers rightly fear being killed by their clients, should anything happen to the money they are handling. Even if it is not their fault, they are generally held strictly liable, should anything untoward occur with the millions of drug profits they move through the global financial system. I know this from personal experience as a decade of being a professional money launderer during the so-called Miami Vice era, when lucrative cocaine profits were cleaned by a small army of lawyers, accountants and financial professionals in the United States.

There are many examples of this hard and fast rule about laundrymen losing money. Regular readers of this blog are familiar with the violent death of  Caribbean attorney WILLIAM HERBERT, the Foreign Minister of St. Kitts & Nevis, when IRA money he was moving was seized by MI-6 in the UK. I was once advised, at a chance conference meeting with a DEA agent, that WILLIAM NORIEGA, a prominent Miami attorney found floating in Biscayne Bay,who specialized in representing South American clients, allegedly met his end for that reason, a fact unknown to even his closest lawyer friends. I once worked with Mr. Noriega, and never suspected him of criminal conduct. The prospect of death is a daily companion when you move dirty cash for drug traffickers, irrespective of the reason why something goes wrong with the funds entrusted to you. Caveat avocat.

It has been a year since Barbados attorney ALLISON  LOVELL died in a fiery explosion and fire, occurring in the middle of the night at her home, and which took her life as well as that of her husband, and two small children. Law enforcement authorities there were quick to categorize the grisly incident as an accident, although in truth and in fact it appears to have occurred due to a professional assassination, perpetrated on behalf of a colombian drug cartel, on behalf of whom she was allegedly laundering narcoprofits, which seemed to have never made it to Panamanian banks, as promised.

Whether Ms. Lovell, whose law license was, at the time of her death, under an eighteen month suspension in Barbados for stealing six figures from a client, was a professional money launderer or just dabbling in the dark act, we cannot say, but she was playing in deep waters in which there is zero margin for error. She may have been able to divert client money to her personal use with impunity, which many Bajan lawyers do each day in a system that allows such unethical and illegal activity, but when it comes to drug kingpins, such greed usually results in a swift and brutal ending to their existence. What is tragic is that her avarice, or negligence, resulted in the deaths of her two small children, as well as her husband.   

  

As one of the drug traffickers advised the Texas lawyer in the violent film The Counselor, stay out of the criminal business, for it often does not end well. In that movie, which included multiple deaths of just about every major character, including the beheading of the lawyer's fiance'
, you see that money laundering carries risks that a normal professional wisely avoids. Ask Ms. Lovells' grieving parents if you are still not convinced it's not worth it.

FRONTLINE COMPLIANCE OFFICERS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR NEW SOURCES FUNDING HAMAS, DUE TO EITHER IGNORANCE OR DESIGN

Austin, Texas

The explosion of so-called "Pro-Palestinian" protest, some of which is thinly-disguised antisemitism by obvious pro-Hamas elements, either with or without covert support from agents working for Russia, China and/or Iran, means that compliance can expect some of these individuals, or NGOs, to seek to send funds that constitute terrorist financing of Hamas. They may be what are known as "useful idiots," contributors acting in good faith, who are unaware that they are  financing a global terrorist organization, or they may be intentionally supporting that SDGT. Either way, they are terrorist financiers, at a time when one can expect strict law enforcement and regulatory action from American agencies, due to the fact that our governments is supporting Israel as  part of its national counter-terrorism policy.

Therefore, frontline compliance officers must be on alert for any suspicious activity, including unusual and new remittances to Middle eastern NGOs and charitable organizations, or international trade payments that appear to be new contracts, as well as large payments for university attendance which never has appeared before. Do not underestimate these new Hamas supporters. It is their new appearance on the scene which may give them away. Do you have any bank clients who, since October 7, are sending major wire transfers to the Middle East, especially Turkey, where Hamas has a substantial physical presence?

New York City

Remember, terrorist financiers are constantly seeking new opportunities to fund their organization, whether that be through ignorance or neglect of remitters who believe they are providing support for victims, or in concert with new supporters, who match their legal First Amendment rhetoric with unlawful actions; Watch for it.

WILL CAYMAN AIRWAYS NEW NONSTOP SERVICE TO BARBADOS FACILITATE MONEY LAUNDERING BY BAJAN LAWYERS?

Compliance officers must always be mindful of the Law of Unintended Consequences, when an innocent legitimate undertaking or event spawns a golden opportunity for money launderers and/or financial criminals. We have noticed the fanfare surrounding the initiation of nonstop airline service between Barbados and Grand Cayman, announced recently by Cayman Airways. touted as a needed connection between the British West Caribbean and the larger East Caribbean English-speaking republics, designed to facilitate tourism, it will have the net result of making international money laundering  eminently more convenient, in our humble opinion.

If you have been reading our recent articles* about the lawsuit alleging widespread probate and real estate fraud by a group of Barbados lawyers, acting in concert to deprive heirs of their valuable oceanfront land, only to steal it and sell it off to foreign resort operators, you know that these attorney-criminals often end up with a pile of US Dollars, and have been known to deposit them in banks in Grand Cayman, correctly fearing eventual discovery of their untoward and illicit acts of fraud. This new nonstop airline service by Cayman Airways will only make placement of the proceeds of their crime easier, as the Cayman Island regulations not only permit travelers to arrive with cash, but the jurisdiction is a  de facto dual currency economy; the USD is accepted universally there.

Given the paucity of business activity between Barbados and Grand Cayman, save the infrequent tourist seeking a direct airline connection between the two points, to save transferring through an intermediary point, there's really no commercial reason for the new scheduled nonstop service.  Is this really a nod to all those Bajan lawyers hiding their criminal proceeds abroad in a convenient jurisdiction, where there are few questions asked about Source of Funds and Source of Income from foreign attorneys? We cannot say, but the matter bears watching. 

________________________________________

* Alex Mitchell el al vs. Mia Amor Mottley et al, Miami-Dade County Circuit Court.

RACKETEERING SUIT AGAINST 98 ALLEGEDLY CORRUPT BARBADOS ATTORNEYS BRINGS BACK DARK MEMORIES FROM BAJAN VICTIMS: PART ONE

Alex Mitchell et al vs Mia Amor Mottley et al, the civil racketeering lawsuit filed in the United States against ninety eight of Barbados' most experienced lawyers, which alleges that they are willing participants in an organised campaign to deprive their island nation's citizens of their valuable real estate inheritance, through systemic probate and real estate fraud, has caused each of the victims to recall how unethical lawyers, charged with the administration of estates of family members, fleeced them of their historical patrimony and heritage.   

Each of victims' families have a story to tell, one of how a trusted attorney, engaged to handle the estate of a beloved relative recently deceased, feathered his or her nest financially by diverting one or more of the family's real estate properties, which should have been distributed to the heirs, to their personal use and control. Some of corrupt lawyers forged wills to achieve such dark ends, others merely omitted properties from estate inventories, and filed bogus warranty deeds in favour of themselves, or nominees they chose, all for the purpose of stealing valuable, often waterfront, land.

It gets worse; some government officials, working with corrupt judges, engineered court approval of miscarriage of justice on a grand scale, preventing those few victims who were aware enough to seek justice through the court system from achieving it. Court cases were fixed to deny relief to those victims who accessed the Barbados courts. Those who spoke up were subject to threats and intimidation, to silence them; some were actually charged with bogus criminal offences, and even jailed, which in Barbados can be a death sentence, as they were intentionally housed with violent criminals. The local bar association, run by the very same attorney-criminals who were stealing every property that they could, intentionally ignored or delayed most victim objections or complaints filed with it. 

As the direct and proximate result of this wholesale injustice, there were both direct and indirect casualties; when your family's most precious asset is taken away from you, hopelessness, serious illness, and an early death often resulted, though it was usually blamed upon anything other than injustice on an institutional scale. Bajans died in poverty and obscurity, while corrupt lawyers, feasting upon the proceeds of their crimes, bought lavish residences, transferred their lucre to accounts in the Cayman islands or the United States, and thereafter enjoyed a upscale life.

We have been reviewing the stories of some of the victims, and we intend to tell some of the more outrageous ones here, on this blog, so that our readers can understand the enormity of a systemic fraud, committed by greedy lawyers, and enabled by the courts and government officials, how it has impacted the lives of innocent individuals, often with minimal education, who had their bright future abruptly taken  away from them, and those who came after them. Only by bringing these accounts into the sunshine can we hope that meaningful reform will ever come to Barbados.