PUSHBACK ON MONEY LAUNDERING THROUGH ANGUILLA IGNORES THE TERRORIST FINANCING FUNNELED THROUGH ITS FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

No sooner did I start my investigative series on current corruption in Anguilla than those individuals who don't want the truth to come out start trying to shoot the messenger. I certainly don't deny that I laundered the proceeds of narcotics crime in that British Overseas Territory, with the able assistance of the late Billy Herbert, a Kittitian attorney who had an office in the Valley, Anguilla's capital.

Now I am hearing claims that Dr. Herbert was not engaged in financial crime; in truth and in fact one of his primary clients was the Irish Republican Army ( IRA), which collected "donations" from Americans in New England, and laundered those funds through Anguilla, which were ultimately used to illegally purchase firearms and explosives, for terrorist use in Northern Ireland. That is textbook terrorist financing; we know that some of those illicit, but now cleaned, funds were seized by an agency of the British government whilst in transit, and that their loss was blamed by the IRA on Herbert. His death was no maritime mishap, according to American law enforcement.

All those in Anguilla who are so busy disputing the facts should consider that activities I am discussing include a subject far more serious than simple drug money laundering in Anguilla during that period, but extend to terrorist financing as well.