DIFFERENT ANGLE by Kenneth Rijock
The close relatives of a prominent Venezuelan PEP have reportedly placed a deposit, and are ready to close, on a $4m apartment in New York. What's wrong with this picture? When individuals who have the same last name as a PEP are your banking clients, if you have not absolutely ruled them out as PEPs themselves, and instituted appropriate account monitoring, they can and will move large amounts of the PEP's wealth right under your nose. Should the PEP later be charged with theft of public funds, acceptance of bribes, or even criminal conspiracy, your association with those relatives may be revealed in the media, and reputation damage ensue. I am not creating a work of fiction here; this is an actual true story. Read and learn.
A couple of Rangel's close relatives, some of whom are rather young, currently own, according to Miami-Dade Public Records:
- An $800,000 warehouse in Miami's Doral District.
- Two Miami residences, located in Beacon at Doral, and in Islands at Doral.
- A residence and corporations in the State of Alabama.
- Two corporations that appear to be in the import-export business.
- A large number of luxury automobiles:
Mercedes Benz CLS 550-registered California.
Mercedes Benz 563-registered Florida.
Mercedes Benz 550-registered Florida.
Cadillac Escalade XL-registered Florida
Cadillac-registered Florida.
Two Range Rovers-registered Florida.
Though the PEP himself is not present in the US, it is widely believed in the business community in Miami that the relatives are fronting for him. One wonders why the Miami-area banks that accepted these fronts as clients didn't make the obvious connection. Several years ago, I was compelled to actually construct the Pinochet family tree, in order to positively rule out an individual with the same last name as a possible relative of the General, before he could be accepted at the NBFI where I worked in compliance.
How is the money to purchase all these homes and toys coming in? We cannot say for sure, but there are persistent rumours that funds sent in for medical supplies and equipment to their import/export companies are not being spent for the designated medical purposes. No wonder there are major equipment shortages in Venezuela's private hospitals. Rangel is reported to possess a near-monopoly on the contract for medical supplies for social security.
Therefore, check those last names, please. Are there any PEPs with that name? You might save yourself a lot a trouble later.
The facts and opinions stated in this article are those of the author and not those of World-Check. World-Check does not warrant the accuracy of any facts and opinions stated in this article, does not endorse them, and accepts no responsibility for them.
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