UNDER EU PRESSURE, MALTA TO IMPOSE €10,000 CASH TRANSACTION LIMIT ON PURCHASES

If you live in one of the countries in the European Union, you most likely have limits on how much cash you can hand over when making large purchases. Malta, which has not had such restrictions, recently announced that it intends to impose a €10,000 limit on cash transactions. This means that luxury automobiles, yachts, art & antiques and previous metals can no longer be bought in all-cash deals.

Apparently, MONEYVAL concerns about money laundering through Malta was recognized by local government officials. Unfortunately, the restriction reportedly only applies to retail and consumer transactions, not the cash deposited in Malta's Individual Investor Program, the country's controversial and dodgy Citizenship by Investment program.

REPLACE OBSOLETE DATABASES OF HIGH-RISK INDIVIDUALS WITH FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY FOR CUSTOMER IDENTIFICATION

Readers who wish to read my article can find it on LinkedIn at:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/replace-obsolete-databases-high-risk-individuals-facial-rijock/

TAN WEE BENG: SHIPPING GOODS TO NORTH KOREA FROM SINGAPORE. IEEPA & MONEY LAUNDERING VIOLATIONS

FRANCE ADOPTS FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY FOR SECURE IDENTIFICATION, WHILE U.S. LAGS BEHIND DUE TO MISPLACED CONCERNS

France has commenced its nationwide facial recognition identification program; the platform, known as ALICEM (certified online authentication on mobile), will utilize facial recognition technology to create legal digital identities for French nationals.

While France moves forward, many jurisdictions in the United States are restricting,  or even banning, the use of facial recognition technology for identification, especially for law enforcement use, citing inaccuracy, lack of security of information, and privacy concerns. While many US law enforcement agencies effectively use facial recognition software to identify unknown persons of interest, there is a widespread public perception that body camera use by police will result in mis- identification of innocent individuals.

Alicem, which is a joint project of the Ministry of the Interior, and the National Security Title Agency (ANTS) has responded to those objections:

(1) Accuracy is reportedly assured by requiring that users submit a video that captures their expressions and movements at different angles, which are then compared to photographs of the user previously stored in existing biometric passports. This is intended to respond to complaints about effectiveness and errors, as the video delivers sufficient variations in facial expressions to deliver accuracy in results.

(2) The security issue has been resolved, according to government officials, by causing the biometric data to disappear from the user's telephone, and preventing third parties from access to the data.

(3) The privacy issue, which the the principal concern of human rights organizations,  does not exist, according to France, because the data will not be integrated into civilian identity databases, as it has been in certain Asian countries, which conduct  active surveillance upon its citizens.

While it is expected that there will be court challenges to the Alicem program, the ability of criminals and terrorists to create a bona fide identity, through the combination of modern technology and rampant corruption abroad, has mandated facial recognition technology as the only truly effective method of personal identification. There is a strong public policy favoring the use of effective ID programs, and facial recognition platforms appear to be the only solution.

 

APPEALS COURT ORDERS TRUMP'S ACCOUNTANTS TO TURN OVER HIS TAX RETURNS TO CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE

The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has affirmed the District Court decision, ordering Mazars, Donald Trump's accounting firm, to turn over his personal and business tax returns to the Committee on oversight and Reform of the US House of Representatives.

The president had contended that the investigation into his financial affairs served no legitimate legislative purpose, but the District Court held that Congress had authority to issue a subpoena for the files. readers who wish to review the 134-page Opinion may access the complete text here.

AMERICAN BUSINESSMEN LINKED TO THE PRESIDENT'S ATTORNEY CHARGED WITH FEDERAL CAMPAIGN VIOLATIONS

Four individuals were indicted, in US District Court in New York, with campaign law violations in the Ukraine corruption scandal;  two of them as linked to the President's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani.

Named in the indictment are:
LEV PARNAS
IGOR FRUMAN
DAVID CORREIA
ANDREY KUKUSHKIN

Readers who wish to review the 21-page Indictment may access the complete text here.

NIKOLAY KOZACHEK, RUSSIAN GRU CAPTAIN-LIEUTENANT, WANTED FOR 2016 US ELECTION HACKING, MONEY LAUNDERING

TRUMP TOLD HIS SECRETARY OF STATE TO TELL DOJ TO DROP CHARGES AGAINST REZA ZARRAB

Major media outlets are reporting that in 2017 President Trump asked then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to lean on the Department of Justice to drop criminal charges on the Iranian oil-for-gas kingpin, Reza Zarrab. The Secretary refused, as he knew that seeking to interfere with an ongoing Federal criminal case is illegal. Obviously, someone else wasn't paying attention in college.   

We know that Zarrab was a client of Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, after he and former Attorney General Michael Mukasey visited Turkish President Recip Erdowan, where a possible transfer of Zarrab to Turkish custody was discussed. Zarrab lived most of his adult life in Turkey, and was a dual national. He allegedly traded Iranian crude oil for gold.

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE COURT HOLDS FBI VIOLATED CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF US CITIZENS

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) has released an unclassified (partially redacted) version of an October 2018 Opinion of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, where the FISA Court found that the FBI's warrantless  searches of databases violated the Fourth Amendment rights of US citizens. Apparently only evidence of crimes, or foreign intelligence data, are permissible, in connection with the warrantless communication surveillance program.

Given that we so rarely see FISA Court decisions and opinions, readers are urged to review the 138-page document here.

READ OPEN LETTER FROM 300 NATIONAL SECURITY OFFICIALS REGARDING WHISTLEBLOWER

Here are the first two pages of the six page document, which contains over three hundred signatures in support of the Whistleblower who filed a complaint in the Trump Ukraine corruption scandal.

SERGEY KLINOV, EXPORTED CONTROLLED DUAL-USE TECHNOLOGY FOR RUSSIAN MILITARY AND INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES

ANTIGUA POWERBROKERS REQUEST TERMS TO PURCHASE SCOTIABANK BRANCH THERE, BUT THE BANK DECLINES DUE TO TRUST ISSUES

Reports from Antigua regarding the unsuccessful efforts by that country's leaders to acquire the local branch of Scotiabank are extremely disturbing, for they describe a corrupt scheme to buy the facility, with its  substantial deposits, on a basis which could lead to massive fraud and corruption, causing the eventual insolvency of the bank, and a default in payment to Scotiabank of the purchase price. 

Here is what we know so far; you are cautioned that not all the information has been confirmed, though the sources are well-established, with a long record of accuracy:

(1) Antigua's government leaders pleaded poverty to Scotiabank officials, alleging that local businessmen and indigenous bank owners did not have the purchase price; they reportedly asked for term payments, over several years, even though they had sufficient cash for a purchase.

(2) When an insider stated an intention to take the detail of terms, and the professed inability of the buyers to pay in full at this time, that person was threatened with criminal prosecution, an obvious political charge. Reports of millions of dollars, in the possession of senior government officials, and their political allies, obtained through corrupt and illegal acts, demonstrate that the buyers merely want access to the deposits, and do not intend to pay for the bank from their own pockets.

(2) Scotiabank officials declined any contract that involved terms, most likely because Antigua has a long and sordid history of deliberate bank failures, due to government loan repayment defaults, government breaches of financial and constitutional obligations, and a local judicial system that protects the government, at the expense of private sector creditors. There is a long list of failed Antiguan banks, and Scotiabank is taking that into consideration, among other factors.

(3) Payment for the bank on a long-term basis could lead to the new ownership simply borrowing the money for the payments from the bank they bought, and then intentionally failing to repay it when due, leading to the insolvency of yet another Antiguan bank. Bank fraud, on a massive scale, appears to be  the goal of the purchasers, who have not been specifically identified by the government.

It is expected that Scotiabank will simply refund all deposits to its Antigua clients, and close the facility, due to the aforementioned trust issues.

BANNED FOR LIFE, ALASKAN STOCKBROKER THUMBS HIS NOSE AT FINRA AND S.E.C. FROM OFFSHORE, SELLING UNREGISTERED SECURITIES TO AMERICANS

His name is Gary James Lundgren; after a half dozen regulatory actions were filed against him, FINRA banned him from selling securities for life. His response; working from a safe haven in the Republic of Panama, he sells unregistered securities posing as "bonds" to American investors, using Panamanian corporation with the same name as his defunct State of Washington broker-dealer, INTERPACIFIC INVESTORS.

He flaunts his protected status, operating his secure Panama City office, protected by multiple bodyguards, in case any of his victims decide to take matters into their own hands. he originally fled the United States after Sexual Predator and environmental law violations were filed against him in the State of Washington, where he operated his brokerage from outside the Continental United States.  We have covered his career as a fraudster extensively on this blog; please type his name in the Search Box to review those stories.

What he calls "bonds," allegedly paid from the proceeds of sales and rentals of his properties, meet the classic test of what constitutes a security under Federal law. He offers them to Americans, apparently safe from arrest, operating from Central America's most notorious tax haven.

Lundgren's website selling unregistered securities

While the Securities & Exchange Commission and FINRA may not be able to obtain personal jurisdiction over Lundgren, it is high time that these agencies find a way to bring this fraudster to justice, in a Federal Courtroom in the United States.

 

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS TRUMP'S ACCOUNTANT TO TURN OVER HIS TAX RETURNS TO NY DISTRICT ATTTORNEY

The US District Court Judge assigned to the case where Trump sued to prevent the New York District Attorney from acquiring eight years of his tax returns, in the hush money investigation, has ruled that the documents must be turned over. The Court further noted that the argument of Trump's private attorneys, that he was immune from criminal investigation of any kind, while in office, was fatally flawed, and not supported by law. Read the 75-page Opinion here.

CANADIAN BANKS ARE PULLING OUT OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

In the aftermath of the very public controversy over the attempts of Antiguan business and political interests to forcefully acquire the local branch of the Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank), rather than see it sold to the Trinidad-based Republic Bank, it has been widely reported that all Canadian banks operating in Antigua are in the process of closing down their local facilities, and withdrawing all service.

While the specific reason for pulling out of Antigua has not been identified, most seasoned observers of the local banking scene agree that at least one these issues is the most likely candidate:

(1) The failure of financial institutions in Antigua to institute effective Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing compliance programs, sufficient to meet banking best practices standards in the United States & Canada.

(2) The risks posed by the dodgy foreign purchasers of Citizenship by Investment (CBI/CIP) and diplomatic passports, whose fees and costs are flowing through local banks.

(3) Ongoing De-Risking operations, which have reduced and eliminated the delivery of correspondent banking services for Antigua, from North American and European banks.

(4) What has been described as a "Culture of Corruption," where unresolved and uncharged cases of official corruption, at the ministerial level and above,are ignored by local prosecutors and law enforcement.

(5) A flawed court system that allows indefinite delays, facilitated by the local judiciary, to deny justice, and to violate the Rule of Law.

Compliance officers at international banks should take note of these actions of Canadian banks, when assessing Country Risk for Antigua and Barbuda.