When Lawyers and other professionals aid Corrupt PEPs, Evil Wins

FROM A
DIFFERENT ANGLE by Kenneth Rijock

Financial Crime Consultant, for World-Check

5 February 2010

When lawyers for obviously corrupt Politically Exposed Persons [PEPs] hide behind the fifth-amendment privilege against self-incrimination when testifying before the US Congress, it is a sign that there is something every wrong with our system. The use of professionals to domestically launder bribes and kickbacks obtained overseas by corrupt PEPs has to stop, for the United States can no longer continue to be the repository of dirty PEP money. Unfortunately, much of what they do is technically legal. The remedy advanced by members of Congress deserves our full attention. Will it become law?

The remedy proposed is similar to the one I have been advocating for years; require the execution of a certificate, signed by the professional who handles PEP funds. This document, as contemplated, will affirm the legal origin of the deposits, reveal source of funds, and bring total transparency to the dark and sordid role of American professionals who handle large sums for foreign citizens who meet the broadest possible definition of Politically Exposed Person.

Remember, tough they might be a microscopic fraction of the legal, real estate, and other financial professions, the bad actors utilise shell companies, offshore banks,private banks, and other similar vehicles to invest dirty PEP money in the United States. Can we stop them in their tracks through legislation which will threaten their professional livelihood if they fail to comply? You bet we can.

Tom Cash, formerly the Special Agent in Charge of the Miami DEA division, was fond of saying, " there are criminal defence lawyers, and then there are attorney criminals." If the United States is serious about shutting down the flow of dirty PEP money into its financial system, then it is high time it passes legislation, with teeth in it, that forces licensed professionals to be transparent, and accountable, in their representation of powerful (read corrupt)foreign leaders from nations where bribe-takers are not brought to justice.

Question: should not US lawyers, real estate professionals and other financial services providers be required to perform KYC and Source of Funds, like their brethren in the European Union ? The Financial Action Task Force [FATF] has already asked that question; perhaps the American legislators might want to tackle this issue as well.

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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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