Imprisoned former Panamanian General Manuel Noriega's attorneys have filed a new civil suit, in the US District Court in Miami, against both Warden George Pastrana of Miami FCI, and US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. The action is seeking issuance of a Writ of Habeas Corpus, or alternatively, a Writ of Mandamus or a Writ under the Federal All Writs Act, to prevent his transfer to France, and requiring his repatriation to his native country, Panama, as a released Prisoner of War. Is all this just to assure him the same privileged treatment he received in the US during his incarceration, or to seek to avoid the additional ten years of prison time he will probably receive in France?

Just today, another call came in, this one regarding a query from a Washington, D.C. broker: What about these Bandagro bonds that have been offered to me for sale? Are they genuine? The story is a classic illustration of why it is sheer folly these days to purchase any bonds or other financial instruments that are tied to the present government of Venezuela. Add this to the other problems, and one wonders whether it might just be safer to red-line Venezuela completely as an unacceptable high-risk, and treat it like North Korea and Syria. At least the risk of million-dollar OFAC fines and penalties will be greatly reduced.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement network (FinCEN) has published the 12th issue of "SAR Activity Review Tips and Issues," which contains information concerning the rise in SAR reporting on the use of Convenience Cheques. If you are not aware of this, read below.

All the articles covering the dismissal of the corruption charges pending against General Augusto Pinochet's family and close associates in Chile have ignored one important aspect of the case; that it was corrupt bankers in the United States who enabled the late dictator to set up accounts in fictional names, and to use companies formed in offshore financial centres. No American banker has ever been charged for aiding and abetting Pinochet and his associates in hiding the reported $25m, and many of those bankers remain in the industry today. How were those bankers able to acquire those offshore companies? They did it by lying to the lawyers they hired to form those corporations.

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, the country's FIU, has published its 2007 Annual Report. Readers wishing to examine it can access the report through the URL appearing below.

The widow of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl has taken a voluntary dismissal in the pending US District Court suit against her husband's alleged Al-Qaeda kidnappers and killers, and the entities that are accused of financing the horrid beheading. Whilst the dismissal is without prejudice, meaning that it can be refiled, the reason for this action is unclear. The plaintiff has failed to obtain personal jurisdiction over the defendants, except defendant Habib Bank, which, after stipulating to an extension of time to respond, failed to file a responsive pleading. Was there a settlement as to the bank, and if so, why was it alone not dismissed with prejudice? There is no obvious answer.

I recommend MLROs and compliance officers at international banks concerned that their clients could be violating UN non-proliferation 1737 sanctions on Iran read the recent Guidance on the subject issued by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), as it contains some valuable instruction on the identification of high-risk customers and transactions relevant to proliferation issues.

The case, which was originally touted as the wave of the future in combating PEP corruption in Latin America, has been dropped . Corruption charges against the widow, four adult children, and ten close associates, of deceased Chilean dictator, General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte have been dismissed by the Chilean court of appeals. Was this really a triumph of the rule of law in Chile, or is Pinochet's lingering influence still being felt after his death? And why hasn't the United States Department of Justice ever indicted these individuals for money laundering through American banks?

Our readers may wish to know that there are presently over 1000 relevant financial crime articles in the World-Check archives, all written since June 2006 in "From a Different Angle," and all subjects can be located easily through the search box located in the upper right-hand corner of the World-Check home page. If you are looking for articles written on a specific popular topic, the pull-down menu above the article appearing on the home page will lead you to no less than 18 categories that we cover regularly on these pages.

The licenses of three Russian commercial financial institutions have been revoked by the Central Bank of Russia. The information released was, as always, minimal, but we publish it below for the benefit of our readers.