MIAMI MONEY LAUNDERER MOVING BULK CASH MURDERED AFTER AUTO CHASE; MONEY TAKEN, HER CORPSE WAS BURNED

For those who think that money laundering is a safe, white collar crime, think again, as laundrymen can end up as victims of violent crime, due to the dangers of bulk cash smuggling, which can make them a tempting target. If this individual pictured, Miguel Aguasvivas Lazardo, originally from the Dominican Republic, doesn't look like the typical professional who engages in money laundering, it's because he's a barber shop owner who ran a bulk cash smuggling operation, moving the proceeds of Colombian drug sales, south through Florida into Miami, where it was converted to cryptocurrency, for his Cartel clients.

He recently entered a plea in U.S. District Court to Money Laundering Conspiracy, but that's not why the case is noteworthy. His wife, who was driving her vehicle, bringing bulk drug cash south, was chased down, shot and killed, and her car set afire with her corpse inside. Being a money launderer has, as you can see, involves certain occupational risks, which may not be foreseeable to those who wish to engage in it, and which should be considered by those who think it is a relatively safe activity.

I am reminded of the time, stepping down after making a money laundering technique presentation at a Miami conference, when a DEA agent asked me if I had known a certain civil lawyer, recently deceased. I replied that we had, back in the early 1970s, worked at the same large downtown Miami law firm. Apparently, the agent said, he had not drowned in a boating accident, as the public had been lead to believe, but murdered by his client after a money laundering operation gone bad. I had no clue that he had ever been a laundryman. As you can see, this business has its share of danger. he was found, floating face down, in Biscayne Bay; think about that for a moment.

This was not the first time that someone in law enforcement has told me about how a money launderer met an early end, nor would it be the last time.

WHAT WILL THE EFFECT OF UPCOMING EUROPEAN ACTIONS TO CONTROL VISITORS HAVE ON THE CITIZENSHIP BY INVESTMENT INDUSTRY?

Europe is fast moving towards asserting more control of who enters the Continent from abroad, apparently following in the footsteps of the United States. The United Kingdom has already instituted the UK Electronic Travel Authorisation, ETA system, which requires online application and approval in advance of UK travel.

Regarding the Member States of the European Union, EES, the Entry/Exit System, will track foreign arrivals and link them to departures, to get a handle on who precisely has left the EU, and who is still within its borders. It is anticipated that the much-delayed European Travel Information and Authorization System, ETIAS, will finally be implemented in late 2026. That will directly block the approval of unqualified visitors.

The net effect will be to precheck and thereby vett all potential foreign travelers to Europe. We are, however currently not aware of the level of inquiry which will be instituted, how data entered will be confirmed, and whether the programs will be able to catch undisclosed incriminating personal information in real-time.

Will deceptive information pass muster? Will the failure to disclose critical information that is disqualifying be exposed? There are so many questions presently unanswered, but we are also asking what effect these programs will have on travelers holding Citizenship by Investment (CBI/CIP) passports from other than their country of birth, especially if it happens to be high risk, a designated State Sponsor of Terrorism, or if they are identified as white collar criminals, sanctions evaders, fraudsters, terrorist financiers, or suspected of other types of criminal activity, who happened to have acquired a CBI passport, notwithstanding their dodgy background, from a notable corrupt jurisdiction.

And the question is also whether affluent individuals who have secured CBI passports strictly for visa-free entry into Europe, which are frankly a large percentage of the second passport purchasers, will now be far more selective and careful as to which country's passport they choose to buy. will the industry undergo reform as the direct consequence of ETA and ETIAS? We cannot say this early on, but the net result could be that many of these programs will be forced to clean themselves up, or lose future business. Is CBI reform to be an unintended consequence of ETIAS, we wonder?

WE LEFT OUT THE MOST PROLIFIC MONEY LAUNDERER IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE FROM THE ROGUES GALLERY OF GASTON BROWNE PEPS NAMED IN THE DECLARATION; ALEX SAAB MORAN

The GASTON BROWNE CORRUPTION DISCOVERY APPLICATION has the Antigua money laundering activities of ALEX SAAB MORAN, the Colombian laundryman who worked directly for the MADURO regime in Venezuela, and who only escaped conviction and sentencing in the United States because he was exchanged for American businessmen who were held hostage there. Saab, who had money laundering offshore banks in both Antigua and Dominica, and who was an "Economic Envoy" for Browne, is prominently discussed in the declaration, was a close criminal associate of Gaston Browne. We have previously published his Antiguan CBI passport; he also held a diplomatic passport from Antigua.

SAINT KITTS GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL WARNED SENIOR LEADERS IN 2022 THAT THE ILLEGALLY-DISCOUNTED PASSPORT SALES AMOUNT TO A GOVERNMENTAL FRAUD ON A MASSIVE SCALE, BUT WAS IGNORED BY THE PRIME MINISTER

MARK BRANTLEY, who is now the Premier of Nevis, but who back in 2022 was the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Saint Kitts & Nevis, made a public statement to the press at that time, wherein he made what amounted to a full confession that his government was engaged in a conspiracy to commit fraud. Brantley, then part of the government, stated that he directly told then-PM Harris and other officials about the problem, but Harris refused to act. Brantley stated that the SKN government knew what they were doing was a fraud, and continued nevertheless.

Readers should also refer to the prior article on the subject;

IF THE GOVERNMENT CONSPIRES WITH YOU TO COMMIT FRAUD ON A GRAND SCALE, IS THAT AN AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE UNDER THE LAWS OF SAINT KITTS & NEVIS

IF THE GOVERNMENT CONSPIRES WITH YOU TO COMMIT FRAUD ON A GRAND SCALE, IS THAT AN AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE UNDER THE LAWS OF SAINT KITTS & NEVIS?

I must admit that it has been a while since I have consulted Halsbury's Laws of England on any research topic, and I am certainly neither qualified nor interested in rendering an opinion on the conduct of RIF TRUST and LATITUDE CONSULTANCY, whom the evidence appears to confirm were engaged in the widespread sale of illegally-discounted Citizenship by Investment (CBI) passports, but there is an issue of law which I feel that I must raise in this case.

Of the thirty-one established Affirmative Defenses in English Common Law, The conduct of the SKN Government, whose former Prime Minister TIMOTHY HARRIS and current Attorney General GARTH WILKIN not only permitted, but reportedly even encouraged, the illicit sales, which constitute a criminal act by statute, I find that RATIFICATION, which is the act of giving consent to, or sanctioning the prior acts of a defendant, such that a plaintiff cannot complaint about the act later, to be relevant based upon the facts and the evidence presented. Could the government be estopped from charging these two companies, based upon that principle?

Defrocked ex-Prime Minister Timothy Harris

    Former SKN Foreign Minister, and now the present Premier of Nevis, MARK BRANTLEY, publicly called out both PM Harris and AG Wilkin in 2022, for a national conspiracy to commit fraud, asserting that they had intentionally closed their eyes to the problem. They never took any action in response to his statement.

Inasmuch as there are media reports of threatened litigation, on both sides, as an objective and longtime observer of the Caribbean CBI industry, and to be fair and impartial on reporting the news, I am obligated to raise this issue. I cordially invite attorneys admitted to the practise of law in the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis to weigh in with an Opinion of Counsel. Are any claims against these two consultancies, or any other CBI vendors similarly situated, barred at Common Law?

Current Attorney General Garth Wilkin

HERE IS THE DISTRICT COURT ORDER GRANTING §782 DISCOVERY AGAINST ANTIGUA PRIME MINISTER GASTON BROWNE

Here is US District Judge JESSE FURMAN's ORDER granting the plaintiff the right to subpoena GASTON BROWNE's financial records.

POLITICALLY EXPOSED PERSONS (PEPS) FOUND IN THE GASTON BROWNE ANTIGUA CORRUPTION INVESTIGATION DECLARATION IN SUPPORT OF §782 DISCOVERY APPLICATION IN U.S. DISTRICT COURT

A number of readers indicated that they wanted to know the identities of the individuals named in the Declaration for the Discovery Application that, because of their connections to Antigua's Prime Minister, GASTON BROWNE, are considered to be Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) for compliance purposes, according to the generally accepted industry definition. Where relevant and known, I have further identified them by their family relationship, occupation or profession. They are all named in the Discovery request, filed in both SDNY and SDFL courts, in what has been captioned by the Applicant as IN RE: GASTON BROWNE CORRUPTION DISCOVERY APPLICATION.

1. RASONA DAVIS-CRUMP - Antigua Ministry of Finance.
2. DARWIN TELEMAQUE - CEO, Antigua Port Authority.
3.BRIAN STUART-YOUNG -Banker, Global Bank of Commerce,Caribbean Union Bank.
4. DAVID DORSETT, Esq, - personal attorney for GASTON BROWNE.
5. ALLEN ONEYANA - CEO Air Peace, LIAT 2020. ( under US Indictment).
6. GASTON ANDRON BROWNE III - son of Prime Minister.
7.MARIA VANESSA BIRD-BROWNE -wife of Prime Minister; member of Parliament and Minister of Housing.
8. MARY CLARE HURST - Director, Cove Head Development Limited; politician.
9.AUSTIN SMITH - Director, Cove Head Development Limited
10. XIAO JIANHUA - Chinese billionaire now serving 13 years in prison for corruption.

We shall continue to report on the developments in this case, as they unfold. Given that the Court in SDNY granted the Application, the evidence ultimately produced could be potentially as revealing for corruption, fraud and money laundering in Antigua as the §782 proceeding in the MSR Media case was for Saint Kitts & Nevis, and other states in the East Caribbean; Stay tuned.

WILL THE OTHER FOUR EAST CARIBBEAN CBI AND CIP STATES NOW BLACKLIST MARKETING AGENTS SANCTIONED BY SAINT KITTS & NEVIS?

We saw the official notice, issued yesterday, of the blacklisting by the Government of Saint Kitts & Nevis, of RIF TRUST and LATITUDE CONSULTANCY for the illegal sale of discounted SKN citizenships. The question on the lips of observers of the CBI scene is: How long will it be before the CIUs in Antigua & Barbuda, Saint Lucia, Dominica and Grenada follow suit, under orders of their respective Attorneys General?

Given the reputational damage that the industry's Caribbean sector as a whole has suffered from the illegal discounting scandal, it is doubtful that they have any choice in the matter. How can any of the other CBI programs allow either company to sell their citizenships to investors, when both have, it certainly appears, committed repeated criminal acts, under the laws of Saint Kitts? Think Risk Management and loss of trust.

To make things worse for the offending companies, the leaders of both have issued blanket denials, which directly fly in the face of the evidence the SKN government relied upon in cancelling a number of discounted passports that they sold to the public, claiming that they were "Special Discounts," and concealing the fact that they were priced at far less than the legal minimums.

Finally, we see that the companies' spokesmen claims that they were denied Due Process to respond to the allegations, because the Government failed to give them the full listed time before publishing the blacklisting order, strains credibility. Why these marketing agents unnecessarily delayed in responding to the charges we cannot say, but if I was facing potential criminal charges, I might want to reply timely to an official request for information.

Whether criminal charges are eventually filed against individuals at either company we cannot say, but perhaps the Director of Public Prosecutions in Saint Kitts might want to consider whether Deterring other bad actors in the industry, a necessary element in reaching such a decision, has become the major factor in reigning in foreign marketing agents who are clearly out of control, when it comes to obeying the CBI laws and regulations of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

SAINT KITTS ISSUES ORDER BLACKLISTING RIF TRUST AND LATITUDE FOR ILLEGAL CBI TRANSACTIONS

                                                (Taken from today's SKN Government press Release)

"After careful consideration, exercising powers under Sections 8 and 10 of the Citizenship Act to issue deprivation orders in March 2025, the Ministry issued the Saint Christopher and Nevis Citizenship (Deprivation of Citizenship) Order, 2025 on the basis of false representation and willful concealment of material facts, and in the interest of the public good.

In tandem with these efforts, the CIU has permanently blacklisted 2 International Marketing Agents – Latitude Consultancy and RIF Trust – for their role in marketing the CBI Programme at investment amounts below the statutory minimum and misleading clients, clear violations of the laws governing the programme. Clients of both companies confirmed receiving false assurances of ‘special discounts’. Both entities are now prohibited from all CBI-related activities and cannot present themselves as agents or affiliates of the Programme"

FILING IN U.S. DISTRICT COURT IN MIAMI EXPOSES MASSIVE CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS AGAINST ANTIGUA'S PRIME MINISTER, GASTON BROWNE

While the Caribbean has been focused this year on the rampant CBI and CIP corruption in Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia and Grenada, a filing in a civil action in Federal District Court in Miami, seeking Discovery pursuant to §1782, has reportedly detailed massive corruption on the part of Antigua's Prime Minister, GASTON BROWNE, in a huge number of matters, including CIP and the undue influence of the People's Republic of China in the region, with specific information that should be closely examined by compliance officers at financial institutions in the United States, especially those maintaining correspondent banking accounts with Caribbean banks.

There is an extraordinary amount of what is alleged to be incriminating information against PM Browne in the more than thirty page "Declaration of James T. Hayes, Jr., in Support of Application under 28 USC §1782 to Take Discovery in this District for use in Foreign Proceedings," and it is recommended that compliance officers at all US banks having a present or prior correspondent relationship with any Antiguan financial institution review the complete text of the Declaration, but this information we believe should be shared with our readers at this time.

 Mr. Hayes is a retired official of Federal law enforcement, with decades of field experience, as Special Agent at Border Patrol, Section Chief, and Director at ICE. His sworn statement is based upon an extensive investigation of multiple sources with first-hand information. The underlying case involves allegations of criminal activity in the disputed and allegedly fraudulent sale of a multi-million dollar yacht in an Antiguan proceeding. All figures listed are in US Dollars.

1. Gaston Browne is estimated to hold $700m in assets under his control, mainly through third parties, nominees and frontmen*. 

2. The properties include, but are not limited to: A commercial mall in Broward County, Florida, purchase for $673,000 in cash; the Yacht INTERLUDE II, valued at $250,000; land in JOLLY HARBOUR, Antigua, bought for more than $600,000.

3. Five corporations he controls: National Empowerment Company; Cove Head Development Limited; Cove Head Communications Ltd.; H. Harris Enterprise Company Limited; H. Harris Enterprise.

4. An inside source claims he received €3m from ODEBRECHT in that bribery scandal, involving an Antiguan offshore bank.

5. Owns a large interest in WEST INDIES OIL COMPANY, through Fancy Bridge Limited, with other Antiguan insiders.

6. An illicit relationship with GLOBAL BANK OF COMMERCE, involving the Colombian money launderer ALEX SAAB MORAN, charged with laundering criminal proceeds for Venezuelan government officials and PEPs, through offshore banks in Antigua.

7. Personally profiting from the Antigua Citizenship by Investment (CIP) program, where money launderers, tax evaders, crypto fraudsters, terrorists, sanctions evaders and international criminals have obtained passports through his efforts ( e.g. Mehul Choksi).

8. His facilitation of the creation of China's Special Economic Zone in Antigua, for personal profit.        (this will be the subject of a separate article)

For more details, interested compliance officers are advised to consult PACER to obtain the Declaration, as well as to monitor the unfolding §1782 Discovery proceeding in the Southern District, see In Re: GASTON BROWNE CORRUPTION DISCOVERY APPLICATION, Case No.: 1:25-mc-21129 (SDFL). 

______________________________________________

*NOTE: We will be detailing, and identifying, the involvement of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) linked to Browne in the above-mentioned matters, in a subsequent article. 

RELATED CASE:  In Re: Gaston Browne Corruption Discovery Application, Case No: 1:2025-mc-00098 (SDNY) [Memorandum and Order entered March 17, 2025, granting the Application].

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/new-york/nysdce/1:2025mc00098/638374/14/

(SDFL DOCKET)

FINANCIAL CRIME & COMPLIANCE: AN INSIDER'S PERSPECTIVE

 

 Make sure to attend it on April 6   . https://www.linkedin.com/events/financialcrime-compliance-aform7313253802957004800/theater/