IRAN EVADING SANCTIONS BY USING SYRIANS WITH ANTIGUA CBI PASSPORTS OPERATING IN THE EAST CARIBBEAN STATES

Antigua CBI passport for Syrian national

The Islamic Republic of Iran, which is scrambling to create new covert financial pipelines to defeat and evade US sanctions, is apparently building one in Antigua & Barbuda, with the able assistance of Syrian agents. What you see above is a Citizenship by Investment (CBI/CIP) passport, issued by Antigua, to a Syrian national. According to our sources, Mohamad Ayad Ghazal, the passport holder,  used forged documents in support of his CBI application in Antigua. Also, the passport was among those listed as "stolen" by Antiguan authorities, but shows up as a government-issued document.

Mohamaf Ayad Ghazal is the Director of Operations for Syria's national railway system, though he is operating from, and a resident of, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Obviously, he has a part-time residence in the primary jurisdiction used to accomplish the forwarding of goods, where end users ostensibly in the UAE, ship the goods inwaes ultimately to Iran, thus making an end run around sanctions, is no accident. He's no railway executive, but an operative in Iran's global sanctions evasion scheme.

See

UAE Residency Card

Reliable sources in Antigua have reported that a number of Syrian nationals have obtained Antigua CBI passports; they have been observed conducting business, of an unknown nature, in Antigua.
This has happened before. See Antigua denies Claims that passports are being sold to Cartibbran Refugees, www.caribbean360com , September 25, 2015 .

Additionally, several Iranian nationals have recently filed CBI applications; it is not known whether  passports have already been issued to them. Most East Caribbean states have blacklisted Iran and other high-risk jurisdictions from their CBI programs. The fact that Antigua, whose program only allows expats living outside the sanctioned jurisdiction, violates its own policies, in issuing a CBI passport to Ghazal. This individual is a PEP, politically Exposed Person; he works for the Iranian government, which makes him a sanctioned individual by definition. It appears that Antigua's CIP program performs little or no compliance on applicants.

Antigua PM Gaston Browne and mentor Castro

Why is Antigua allowing itself to become a center for Iranian sanctions evasion activity ? Perhaps you might want to ask the country's leader, Prime Minister Gaston Browne, a left-of-center candidate with ties to the Governments of both Cuba and Venezuela. We wonder whether he understands that short-term financial gains, due to the additional CBI passport income, and international trade transactions being conducted by the new "Syrian" Antiguans, will not be worth the exposure to sanctions violations or terrorist financing charges by the United States, especially Antigua's banks.

ARRESTS IN SPAIN IN €4m PDVSA MONEY LAUNDERING INVESTIGATION

Media in Spain is reporting that four arrests have been made in an investigation involving the laundering of funds stolen from Venezuela's national oil agency, PDVSA. While there is a secrecy order in place, the former Spanish Ambassador to Venezuela, Raul Morado, has been implicated. Morado was not arrested, allegedly due to his advanced age, but his son,  Alejo Morado, was taken into custody. Morado's home and offices were reportedly raided.

While no details have been made publicly available, there are allegations that false invoices, for work that was never performed, were used to move the funds, which were laundered through Panama and other unspecified Latin American countries. 

RADDULAN SAHIRON, LEADER OF ABU SAYYAF GROUP; REWARD $1m

COURT REBUFFS TRUMP'S EFFORTS TO BLOCK DISCLOSURE OF HIS TAX RETURNS

The 41-page opinion, in which a District Court Judge denied Trump's attempt to block his accounting firm from disclosing his tax returns here.

DEUTSCHE BANK COMPLIANCE STAFF WAS TOLD NOT TO FILE SARS ON TRUMP AND KUSHNER

You may want to read the New York Times article, "Deutsche Bank Staff saw Suspicious Activity in Trump and Kushner Accounts," which alleges that senior management failed follow compliance advice to file SARs. See the article here.

Donald Trump has subsequently denied that the information about Trump borrowing from Deutsche Bank was accurate, but the Times'  Financial Editor, David Enrich, said that the paper stands by its story.

IRAN RESUMES ITS OIL-FOR-GOLD SANCTIONS EVASION SCHEME

The successful billion dollar oil-for-gold sanctions evasion program that Reza Zarrab, Alireza Monfared and Babak Zanjani operated, acquiring Turkish gold, and using the offshore financial center in Malaysia's Labuan, working through a global network of brokers, induding oil tankers with their locator beacons turned off, no longer exists, but do not worry. Iran has created a new covert network to sell its sanctioned oil.

The new network is being operated through a prominent European precious metals dealer, operating in an EU country friendly to Iran for business purposes. The sanctions evader is acting principally as a broker, sending gold payments for third parties to Iran, who orchestrates the anonymous oil shipments. the legitimacy of the precious metals dealer masks the company's venture into the dark side of sanctions evasion.

It is not known whether US law enforcement agencies are aware of the operation, but even if they are, they might have trouble convincing the jurisdiction where it is located to assist in closing it down. Some alternative means of interdicting and suppressing the illicit program may be in order, such as a local civil suit, or by bringing criminal charges against the owners in Federal Court in the US, as the currency being employed is the US Dollar, to shut it down.

ABDERRAOUF JDEY - WANTED FOR THREATS AGAINST US - $5m REWARD

ACCUSED MONEY LAUNDERER IN PDVSA MIAMI CASE PLEADS NOT GUILTY

Gustavo Hernández Frieri, a Colombian national and Miami resident, identified by the US Government as the driving force behind a massive $1.2bn money laundering scheme, has chosen at this time to fight the charges; he has entered a plea of not guilty. The indictment alleges that large sums of Venezuelan government funds were embezzled, and businessmen close to the government were bribed. There are a number of co-defendants not yet in Federal custody.

Hernández allegedly placed $12m in bribes through a bogus mutual fund, in a money laundering scheme, for which he was well compensated. The recipient of the bribes is a former PDVSA official. He was extradited from Italy, and later released to Home Confinement (house arrest). He is referred to in court filings as a "professional money launderer;" he had an office in Panama City, Republic of Panama, which is now shuttered.

DISREGARD MASSIVE DISGUISED IRANIAN DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN

We have noticed that there are a large number of articles on the Internet, some coming from websites located in the EU, that are critical of American actions against Iran. Whether it is the OFAC sanctions imposed upon the IRGC, the movement of a US carrier group to the Persian Gulf, or the sanctions against Iran's metals indistry, all the articles openly claim that Iran's "reformers" are now damaged in their efforts, and weakened, which is a bad thing, according to the authors. The arguments appear credible, but do not rely upon ANY source not known to you to be trustworthy. There's too much Internet garbage out there.

We have seen that this tactic, which is a clever technique employed by the authoritarian government, to enlist the support of other nations, against American efforts. As a compliance officer, you must now distrust any and all content regarding Iran, unless you personally know the source. Don't look for the truth in any unknown site giving you information about Iran, any of its companies, or individuals, for the purveyors of disinformation are polluting the Internet with bogus content about Iran. 

ABDULLAH AL-RIMI, USS COLE BOMBING SUSPECT WANTED BY US

PERSONAL BANKER AT WELLS FARGO PLEADS GUILTY TO ASSISTING THE SINALOA CARTEL MOVE CRIMINAL PROCEEDS

Luis Fernando Figueroa, a personal banker for Wells Fargo, has entered a plea of guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering. He faces a maximum penalty of twenty years in Federal Prison.

The defendant participated in a complex scheme through which "smurfs*" moved criminal proceeds, in bulk cash, in small amounts, into bank accounts in the US, including Wells Fargo. Known as "funnel" accounts, the money eventually ended up being wired to Mexico-based shell accounts, and which later passed the funds into the hands of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Figueroa admitted that he knowingly opened accounts at Wells Fargo for the funnel accounts, with the knowledge that they would be an integral part of a money laundering scheme. The defendant himself, according to the US Government, made multiple wire transfers from the funnel accounts.

Readers who wish more details should access United States vs. Figueroa et al, Case No.: 17CR-2203-WQH (SD CA).
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* The Smurfs (bulk cash couriers) reportedly picked up drug profits all across the US, in private residences or public places, such as parking lots and retail stores, concealed within shoe boxes, shopping bags and duffel bags.

PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD TERRORIST WORKING UNDERCOVER IN NEW YORK CONVICTED IN DISTRICT COURT

Ali Kourani, also known as Jacob Lewis, an undercover terrorist operative for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, who assisted in the planning of terrorist attacks, sought to procure weapons for PIJ and Hezbollah, and gathered intelligence about potential targets in the US for Hezbollah, was convicted on eight counts by a jury in New York this week. The New York media has labeled him a "sleeper agent."

Kourani, who received terrorist weapons training in Lebanon as a teenager, and later as an adult, emigrated to the United States, received two university degrees, and became an American citizen. His mission was to help procure weapons, and to gather information about attack targets for future Hezbollah terrorist attacks, many of whom are located in New York City. He also traveled to China, to visit a company engaged in manufacturing bomb-making chemicals. One of his degrees is in biomedical engineering.

The defendant was convicted of several terrorism counts, including Providing Material Support to a Designated Foreign terrorist organization, and IEEPA charges. He faces a potential life sentence on September 27, 2019, which is his sentencing date.

IS THIS THE LEADER OF ORGANIZED CRIME IN BRITISH COLUMBIA ?

KWOK CHUNG TAM is the alleged kingpin of a Chinese organized crime cartel operating a narcotics trafficking ring in British Columbia, a transnational organized crime syndicate that sells heroin and fentanyl in Canada. It is the laundering of narcotic profits in BC that has drawn the attention of Canada's press.

Kwok has, thus far, avoided conviction for any serious crimes in Canada, but he remains a major target of law enforcement. His attorneys have a history of harassing Canadian media when they write about his alleged criminal activities.

This is a counterfeit passport seized by Canadian law enforcement. KWOK has never been a citizen of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

FINCEN RENEWS GEOGRAPHIC TARGETING ORDER

 

 

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AHMAD IBRAHAM AL-MUGHASSIL : LEADER OF MILITARY WING OF SAUDI HEZBOLLAH