CONFESSIONS OF A
MONEY LAUNDERER by Kenneth Rijock
Financial Crime Consultant, for World-Check
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 28
15 April 2007

Operating a money laundering enterprise whilst under a law enforcement microscope required that I exercise extreme care, but criminal clients can get sloppy, which may have a resulting impact on the laundryman. One such episode involved a client who was purchasing a light aircraft for use as a marijuana smuggling vehicle between Jamaica and Florida. The human factor was that the organisation's leader was of small physical stature, which he overcompensated for by being arrogant, imperious and difficult. Of course, those characteristics could be applied to many normal-sized drug smugglers, as their successful operations caused them to often be incredibly egotistical, to the point where they tended to ignore instructions from the professionals advising them in their money laundering operations. For example, I have previously referred to the placement of $6m in Switzerland by my clients, against my specific advice, as I feared it would be lost. As fate would have it, both the US & Swiss governments shared in that plunder when they later seized those accounts.

Anyway, back to our story. Drug profits were to be used to purchase an aircraft from a legitimate seller located in the southeastern US. As such, a cashier's cheque, or the functional equivalent, would be needed to consummate the purchase. Fortunately, I had funds offshore in another client's account, and he needed to bring some cash into the US, so I was able to execute  what I call the swap. 

The swap is an exchange between a criminal entity with funds offshore, that needs some or all of them in hand in the US, and another group with cash here, who wants its offshore. if the money launderer has access, or signature authority, over offshore client funds, he can easily effectuate such an arrangement, operating much like a financial institution, albeit for illegal purposes. It went like this:  

  • I traveled to a Caribbean tax haven and obtained a New York draft (a cheque drawn by an offshore bank upon its NY correspondent account) payable to the aircraft's seller, so that the first client could close on the purchase. 
  • Next, I took the onshore funds delivered to me from that client, and passed them on to the second client, from whose offshore account I had withdrawn funds for that cashier's cheque.
  • The first client sent the aircraft to Jamaica, and I thought the matter was complete. What I did not know (but found out later) was that the aircraft's seller waited five days until the cheque cleared, claiming that it was not strictly a cashier's cheque. I did note that the client sent me in a payment for my services that was slightly less than I had requested.

Years later, after I was arrested and in Federal custody, US Customs agents badgered me about an aircraft that they believed that I owned, which was engaged in smuggling operations. It turned out that the short of stature, unhappy with the fact that he had to wait until the cheque cleared before taking possession of the aircraft, had titled the plane in my name.  

The aircraft, loaded with marijuana near Negril, was violently blocked from taking off by a Jamaican organisation that had not been paid protection money. The mob burned the aircraft, with the pilot still inside. This was the aircraft that Customs agents were asking me about; imagine how I felt when I heard the entire story from the agents.

After I bonded out through pre-trial release, I confronted the organisation's second-in-command about the aircraft title matter, and he very matter of factly told me that his boss had done that because of the delay in clearing funds. This will give you some idea of what criminal clients sometimes do to their advisors, when they are unhappy.

There is no honour amongst thieves. Remember, I spent years protecting criminal clients, and refused to testify against them, only to have three of them present evidence against me when they got in trouble. That is how I was later indicted.

Next Week: the money laundering goes on, but the heat is turned up.

 

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.

Read more in this exciting series

Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 73
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 72
Confessions of a Money launderer - Part 71
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 70
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 69
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 68
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 67
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 66
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 65
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 64
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 63
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 62
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 61
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 60
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 59
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 58
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 57
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 56
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 55
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 54
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 53
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 52
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 51
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 50
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 49
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 48
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 47
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 46
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 45
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 44
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 43
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 42
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 41
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 40
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 39
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 38
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 37
Confessions of a Money launderer - Part 36
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 35
Confessions of a Money launderer - Part 34
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 33
Confessions of a Money launderer - Part 32
Confessions of a Money launderer - Part 31
Confessions of a Money launderer - Part 30
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 29
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 28
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 27
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 26
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 25
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 24
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 23
Confessions of a Money Launderer - part 22
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 21
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 20
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 19
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 18
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 17
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 16
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 15
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 14
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 13
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 12
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 11
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 10
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 9
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 8
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 7
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 6
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 5
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 4
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 3
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 2
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 1
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