Authorities in the United States have more information about library card holders than the owners of registered companies, according to a bipartisan group of U.S. senators behind a bill that would overhaul the country’s dated anti-money-laundering laws.

The senators, members of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, are seeking to enact The Illicit Cash Act, which would empower regulators to force shell companies to disclose their true ownership for the first time.

The draft bill was introduced on June 10. Key proponent, Senator Doug Jones, a Democrat from Alabama, said that as a former U.S. Attorney he was “all too familiar with criminals hiding behind shell corporations to enable their illegal behavior.”

“Our anti-money laundering laws have not kept pace with the increasingly sophisticated means by which criminals and terrorist organizations use our financial system to move their money around the world,” he said in a joint press release. Lack of transparency….ICIJ.org/Investigation

by Andrzej Krauze

Organized Crime – What Does It Mean To Women?
Women And Children Worldwide Suffer Most From Corruption! Lets Fight Together Against Transnational Organized Crime – TOC, Corruption And Money Laundering.

Anti Money Laundering and Counter-Financing of Terrorism – AML/CFT

What Can Women-Networks Do About?

• Talk and inform about Transnational Organized Crime – TOC, Mafia,
  corruption and money laundering
• Offer advice on how to present these subjects
• Appreciate whistle-blowers, the police, journalists and experts on money laundering, and propose them for awards
• Crime enablers: Reveal the web of patronage, cover-up and disguising
• Find lady scientists who research in this field and discuss with them possibilities to resolve these problems
• Form working groups for individual subjects, invite lady experts.
• Solidarity and networking with women, educate children in this sense
• Support antimafia organizations, travel-and-study groups. Don’t buy drugs and fake products
• Send readers’ letters to the press and members of parliament. Ask questions
• Demand freedom of information laws and transparency
• If necessary file a criminal complaint
• Inform TV/radio/video/film and vote in elections
• Find others who are interested: authoresses, bloggers, social media groups, lady-directors, films, artists

What else can we do?

Cartoon: @lizadonnelly / Liza Donnelly

Organisierte Kriminalität – Was geht das Frauen an?
Was bedeutet Crime Enabling? Wie verschleiert man ein Verbrechen ? Was ist ein Heimlichkeitsdelikt oder eine Vertuschungsgemeinschaft? Was können Frauen-Netzwerke tun?

The fight against money laundering in Canada will require tougher measures that shine a light on the perpetrators who now operate in the shadows, says a new report from the C.D.

Howe Institute. In “Why We Fail to Catch Money Launderers 99.9 percent of the Time,” author Kevin Comeau supports the creation of a publicly accessible registry of beneficial ownership, and mandatory declarations of beneficial ownership with meaningful sanctions for false declarations.

Canada’s anti-money-laundering protections (particularly as they pertain to real estate) are among the weakest of those of the western liberal democracies, he writes, so Canada likely receives a significant amount of international dirty money. “While it is impossible to estimate the exact amount of money laundering, a realistic estimate of the magnitude of dirty money laundered in Canada each year likely lies in range of $100- $130 billion,” says Comeau.

Unfortunately, neither the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance in its November 2018 report on money laundering, nor the December 2018 amendments to the Canada Business Corporations Act, included either of the two tougher measures.

Working from first principles, Comeau explains why those two measures are instrumental to combatting money laundering. He identifies three unique advantages money launderers enjoy over those tasked with investigating and prosecuting their crimes — the effective invisibility of the crime of money laundering, the anonymity of its perpetrators, and the legal obstacles to following their dirty money — from which he derives the objectives and legislative initiatives needed to reduce those advantages.

“Anonymity and invisibility could be reduced by implementing a publicly accessible registry of beneficial ownership of companies, trusts and real estate. Structured properly, a public registry would offer a two-way flow of information – communication of beneficial ownership information to the world and communication of foreign-based information to Canadian authorities – which would bring more bad guys into the light of day, “ he explains.

Comeau says that privacy concerns are critically important. That’s why he recommends that a public registry should divide filed information into publicly accessible and strictly confidential compartments. Basic information needed to connect perpetrators of crimes to their registered nominees would be publicly accessible. Sensitive information, such as passport numbers and full residential addresses, would be protected as strictly confidential and accessible only by the registrar to verify filed information and by law enforcement agencies on a need-to-know basis.

He also notes that the public registry would only require disclosure of beneficial ownership. It does not involve any disclosure of financial information or business operations, thereby minimizing intrusion on privacy.

“Obstacles to following the dirty money could be reduced by creating a new criminal offence: a false declaration of beneficial ownership, whether made on a public registry or submitted by a customer to a Reporting Entity. Not only would such an offence bring more integrity to the beneficial-ownership information being disclosed; it would also provide a solid base from which law enforcement agencies could conduct investigations of suspicious transactions,” explains Comeau.

Implementation of these two recommendations should fundamentally improve Canada’s ability to combat money laundering and reduce the harm it inflicts upon Canadians and other global citizens. Perhaps then Canada will no longer fail to catch money launderers 99.9 percent of the time…Full Report

Money Launderette
Bart

New ranking reveals corporate tax havens behind breakdown of global corporate tax system; toll of UK’s tax war exposed.
Researchers call for new tax rules to “tax corporations where employees work, not where ledgers hide”

Decades of tax wars among the world’s richest countries are unravelling the century-old global corporate tax system, new research finds. Forty per cent of today’s cross-border direct investments reported by the IMF – $18 trillion in value – are being booked in just 10 countries that offer corporate tax rates of 3 per cent or less.

The Corporate Tax Haven Index, published today by the Tax Justice Network, has identified the UK and a handful of OECD countries as the jurisdictions most responsible for the breakdown of the global corporate tax system – with the UK bearing the lion’s share of responsibility through its controlled network of satellite jurisdictions. These countries have aggressively undermined the ability of governments across the world to meaningfully tax multinational corporations. An estimated $500 billion in corporate tax is dodged each year globally by multinational corporations1 – enough to pay the UN’s under-funded humanitarian aid budget 20 times over every year…..Taxjustice.net

Euro Babble

Argentina’s ex-President Kirchner faces first corruption trialCristina Kirchner, who recently announced a surprise vice-presidential bid, faces multiple corruption charges

Natalie Alcoba reports: Buenos Aires – All eyes in Argentina will be on a courtroom in Buenos Aires on Tuesday as the first corruption trial begins against former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who remains one of the most polarising figures in the country.

Days after announcing that she will run as a vice-presidential candidate in the upcoming election, Kirchner will stare down allegations that she headed up an illicit association that awarded 51 public works projects at inflated prices to a friend and businessman, Lazaro Baez, in her home province of Santa Cruz.

It is the first of 11 court cases against Kirchner, which include allegations of bribery and coverup….Aljazeera.com

by Dragan

Caught and Led to Astonishing Discoveries.

Shehryar Hasan reports:  After an undercover investigation, Cyprus R. Vance, the district attorney of Manhattan, has indicted money launderers and dark web drug dealers who reportedly sold and shipped drugs to 43 states in the U.S. and laundered $2.3 million using bitcoins.

Chester Anderton, Jarrette Codd and Roland MacCarty were indicted for dealing in Xanax tablets and other controlled substances like fentanyl-laced heroin, methamphetamine, ketamine, alprazolam, steroids, and pill presses on the dark web. They reportedly sold these drugs to 43 states. Apart from that, they also laundered $2.3 million using bitcoins.

The seizure of approximately 420,000 to 620,000 alprazolam tablets, 500 glassines of fenanyl-laced heroin, and other quantities of metamphetamine, ketamine, gamma hydroxybutyric acid, and other substances also marks the biggest seizure of pills in the history of New Jersey. The district attorney stated: Not only is this the first time state prosecutors in New York have taken down a dark web storefront, this take down represents the largest pill seizure in New Jersey’s history….Blockpublisher.com

Criminals use Bitcoin to Launder Dirty Money

GUE/NGL award for Journalists, Whistleblowers and Defenders of the Right to Information, in Honour of Daphne Caruana Galizia

Commenting on the award, Daphne Caruana Galizia’s son,
Matthew, says:

“As corruption and crime continue to erode freedom and undermine security, our societies increasingly fall back on individuals who take personal risks to raise the alarm on wrongdoing.”

“Whistleblowers need protection and deserve recognition.”

The winners where announced at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday 16th April 2019….

Watch here video intervention starts minute 37

guengl.eu
guengl-panamapapers.eu

What Can Women-Networks Do To Fight
Transnational Organized Crime-TOC

PACE urges international action against money-laundering ‘laundromats’

PACE has expressed its deep concern at the extent of money laundering in Council of Europe member States, notably the recent examples known as the “Global Laundromat”, the “Azerbaijani Laundromat” and the “Troika Laundromat”, and has urged improved national mechanisms and international co-operation to combat it.

In a resolution based on a report by Mart van de Ven (Netherlands, ALDE), the Assembly said these “laundromats” involved large sums of money from wealthy businessmen, organised criminals and high officials. They exploited various weaknesses across multiple jurisdictions, including shell companies, often based in the United Kingdom or its Overseas Territories, and poorly regulated banks, notably in the Baltics.

The Global Laundromat involved corrupt Moldovan judges, the parliamentarians said, while the Troika Laundromat involved people close to the heart of state power and the Azerbaijani Laundromat contributed to corruptive activities within the Parliamentary Assembly itself. None has been adequately investigated by national authorities.

The Assembly makes a series of recommendations to member States, to the European Union and to the Committee of Ministers intended to reinforce the international fight against money laundering, organised crime and corruption.

The fight against ML and FT is about how to protect the rule of law, human rights and democracy against dangerous, destructive forces. Forces that have already damaged European democracy.

Pls. see the speech from rapporteur Mart van de Ven (Netherlands, ALDE) presenting his report to the Council of Europe…occrp.org/en/troikalaundromat

Watch the Video Report:

https://vodmanager.coe.int/coe/webcast/coe/2019-04-11-2/en/4

Artist Fernando Lllera
https://www.w-t-w.org/en/fernando-llera/

Rudolf Elmer
‘‘I feel really destroyed. I went through a financial, social, professional death.’’

It was in 2011 when Rudolf Elmer stood in front of the press with two CDs in his hand, allegedly containing the names of over 2,000 offshore banking clients. That the disks were, in fact, empty did not prevent the publicity scoop, he recalls in our interview. “What went through my mind is I’m sending a message out to the world. And the message was my story.’’

Tamara Davison reports:

Rudolf Elmer is one of many whistleblowers that have attempted to take on some of the world’s largest institutions and expose illegal handlings. But speaking out came at a high personal cost, culminating in months spent in prison and a psychological breakdown. Fourteen years later, the question remains as to whether justice has been served.

In the pursuit of truth 

Last week the owner of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, was rumoured to be expelled from the Ecuadorian embassy where he is currently seeking asylum for breaching ‘asylum terms’.  Assange’s name has briefly made headlines again and the debate about whether he is a hero or a criminal reared its head.  But as with many whistleblowers, the struggle continues even after the media storm has settled.

‘‘What is happening to Julian Assange is actually the very same thing what happens to most or even every whistleblower,’’ Elmer told me.  ‘‘After having blown the whistle life becomes difficult…and secondly, civil society loses interest in what happens with the lives of whistleblowers.’’

‘‘What is happening to Julian Assange is actually the very same thing what happens to most or even every whistleblower”

Elmer had been a private banker and trusted employee of the Swiss financial institution Julius Baer Bank & Trust Company Ltd since the 80s.

After a long career in Zurich, Elmer was promoted to internal auditor at the company in 1994. His new role for Julius Baer would also lead him to the Cayman Islands. When he arrived, the chief accountant of the company welcomed his move to ‘‘the other side of the fence’’.

Indeed, the picturesque Cayman Islands have long become a symbol of shadow banking, the dark side of the financial industries. They are one of many off-shore sanctuaries where tax freedoms and financial loop-holes make for a lucrative place to protect money, and there are a number of recognisable bank institutions that can be found there. The small Caribbean island has been the subject of institutional mishandlings which has since led to the introduction of the Island’s Whistleblowing Protection Law in 2015.

This was not in place, however, in the controversial series of events that led to Elmer losing his job. In 2002, he failed a lie-detector that is employer claimed to be routine – a measure he later tried to dismiss as unlawful with the help of a lawyer.  He was abruptly fired from his position without any severance pay or contractual promises.

Threatened and arrested

‘‘They threatened that if I take the bank of court, they’re going to finish me off: a clear message,’’ Elmer recounts upon returning back to Switzerland. Elmer claims that himself, his wife and daughter were all terrorised by individuals associated with his former bank after losing his job.

He instead chose to send confidential back-up data that he still had within his possession to Swiss tax authorities in a bid to raise the alarm. In 2005, instead of going after the bankers implicated in his data he was arrested and held for 30 days for breaching confidentiality laws for attempting to leak the information.

Two years later he threatened to take data public if they didn’t stop following Elmer and his family. The whistleblower claims that Julius Baer employees, set on discrediting Elmer, then disclosed information to his next employer which led to Elmer’s firing, and failure to find further work.

Allegations of other threats conducted by the former financial employee also came to light in the coming years, such as falsifying a document and conducting threatening phone calls, and the pressure on Elmer continued to grow.  

In 2011 the story erupted when Elmer delivered the mentioned CDs to Wikileak’s Julian Assange at a public press conference. Among the files shared with WikiLeaks were the alleged names of countless politicians and officials from all over the world, who were implicated in unlawful financial handlings. ‘‘The disks where empty…I’m not that stupid to hand over CD’s publicly when the UK police is next door,’’ Elmer explains. Yet he was arrested shortly after, once again, and this time spent 220 days in solitary confinement.  

‘‘My wish was when I was 22 was to have an interesting life, that really happened”, he says when he recalls how his decision to go public would change every aspect of his previous life.

The results of whistleblowing led to an ongoing legal battle between Elmer and various pillars of the Swiss financial and legal systems.  In addition, he was discredited from working in finance, a sector he loved, was required to pay staggering legal fees and even had a dramatic collapse which left him in a psychiatric ward for a brief period.

Is Switzerland shielding its financial industry?

Elmer suggests that Switzerland has a ‘‘morally corrupt judicial system to protect the financial industry, as simple as that’’. Although the country’s Supreme Court ruled 3-2 last year that Elmer was not guilty of breaking Swiss financial confidentiality laws – which could have seen him imprisoned for three years – there have been legal hurdles throughout the process.

‘‘(The authorities) have to protect the golden coffer and they can’t accept that a whistleblower or any truth teller or conscientious objector who reports a crime in the financial industry in Switzerland walks away and is the hero. That can’t be’’.

There are examples that back up Elmer’s claims that the Swiss judicial system is either choosing not to pursue criminal cases linked to banks or being ineffective at doing so. In 2017, HSBC paid French prosecutors 300 million euros to end a probe into the Swiss-arm of their company for tax evasion.

Swiss sentences for whistleblowing also appear harsher than other countries. For example in the case of Swiss Leaks’ Hervé Falciani, who Spanish authorities refuse to extradite to Switzerland because there are no equivalent Spanish laws linked to his charge of ‘aggravated financial espionage’.  Earlier this year the Financial Times explained that Switzerland remains behind other countries when it comes to protecting whistleblowers, and structures mean that the Swiss financial system is able to continue working unabated.

‘’Has Justice been served? In my case, justice no, on the contrary, life is punished.’’

Rudolf Elmer has pried open the lid on his country’s secretive banking industry and attempted to fight the legal system singlehandedly. However, as of yet, there is no change to the Swiss financial system or the laws established to protect it. And so far, there is little coordination between countries or larger institutions such as the EU or the UN on whistleblowing protections.

‘’Has Justice been served? In my case, justice no, on the contrary, life is punished”, Elmer concludes.

Even though the cost of professional suicide has left a permanent mark on Elmer, he remains an advocate for holding the financial and legal systems accountable. And he considers himself lucky as opposed to other whistleblowers who are now in exile or imprisoned around the world: “‘I do so for the whistleblowers who actually went down the drain, I feel I have a responsibility to do it because I can”…..150sec.com

Isabell Hemming
www.w-t-w.org/en/isabell-hemming