DIPLOMAT FROM ANTIGUA SACKED FOR ACCEPTING ILLEGAL USD$450,000 REFERRAL FEE IN SALE OF RUSSIAN SUPERYACHT ALPHA NERO

The yacht ALPHA NERO

In the government of Antigua & Barbuda's Prime Minister GASTON BROWNE, you really have to go over the top with your corrupt actions, to be called on the carpet for it, and JOHANN HESSE, a consultant who holds a diplomatic passport naming him ambassador to the AFRICAN UNION, did just that. Hesse, through his business partner, accepted as USD$450,000 "introduction fee", in connection with the suspicious (if not outright illegal) Antigua Government sale of the Russian Superyacht ALPHA NERO. Hesse was sacked by PM Browne for this conflict of interest violation, and breach of his duties. It has been speculated that the illicit payment would have been accepted, had Browne been personally cut into the deal, and received a portion thereof.

Like many of the Antiguans appointed to be diplomats, complete with diplomatic passports that allow the holder to evade customs and immigration controls when entering other countries, the position is totally bogus, and doesn't meet the requirements of the United Nations' Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Antigua is neither a Member, nor even an Observer State, at the African Union, which is a group of African countries in a loose international organization, with no international status, duties or power. Hesse uses his diplomatic passport to facilitate his completely private business affairs. He is no more a bona fide diplomat than I am.

We recently published a list of all the Antiguan"diplomats," and American and British compliance officers would do well to insure that none of them are bank clients, lest their bank be exposed to potential money laundering liability, or other possible criminal exposure, by assuming their client or customer does not have funds from his private business flowing through his accounts.

WE TAKE A DEEP DIVE INTO THE PEPS OF ANTIGUA WHO USE DIPLOMATIC PASSPORTS FOR MONEY LAUNDERING, FRAUD AND CORRUPTION ON BEHALF OF GASTON BROWNE AND HIS LABOR PARTY