PEP ... FORMER MINISTER ON TRIAL

Ao Man-long (UID 4576) is currently on trial in Macau on bribery, money laundering and abuse of power charges. Ao a former transport minister is alleged to have taken tens of millions of euros in kickbacks. Ao has denied that he set up shell companies and bank accounts abroad in which he reportedly hid the ill gotten gains. Authorities say that they have uncovered assets worth more than 50 times Ao’s income over the period of his tenure. Keep abreast of developments in this case by using our unique profile specific search engine News-Check.

Earlier this month Salvatore Lo Piccolo aka ‘l Barone” (UID 138961) his son Sandro (UID 189020) and two associates Andrea Adamo (UID 682804) and Gaspare Pulizzi (UID 740213) were arrested by Italian authorities. Lo Piccolo had been on the ‘run’ since 1993 and was found in a house in the countryside near to Palermo. Lo Piccolo is reported to have succeeded to be the 'boss of bosses' in the Cosa Nostra, after the April 2006 arrest of the former head of the Mafia Bernardo Provenzano.

NARCOTICS GANG BEHIND BARS

Four Britons, a Brazilian and three men from the Netherlands are behind bars after authorities found them guilty of conspiracy to import a Class A drug. In May 2006 off the East coast of Ireland over 90 kilos of cocaine with an estimated street value of £6.5million was found on board a luxury yacht. The plan was to transport the cocaine from Brazil to the coast of Wales and then to the streets of Lancashire. Lee Morgan (UID 444033) who was the leader of the conspiracy and his Dutch compatriot Johan Ranft (UID 444029) were each handed down a 16 year sentence. The other six were handed sentences ranging from eleven and a half years to fifteen years. To see all the co-conspirators identities visit Morgan’s profile.

FORMER TOP IRA MAN ARRESTED

This month after two years on the run Thomas ‘Slab’ Murphy (UID 60736) was arrested for alleged tax evasion. Murphy, it has been reported, formerly held the position of Chief of Staff in the Irish Republican Army (UID 1437) and allegedly was the main arms procurer for the organisation during the 1980s. Murphy was in the news in October 2005 after police raided properties in Manchester, which were supposedly linked to Murphy through the laundering of monies from a purported illicit fuel racket that was purportedly run from his property close to the border in South Armagh. Murphy has over the years been arrested many times but this is the first time that criminal charges have been laid. To read more about Murphy, his past and alleged present activities browse the hyperlink sources on his profile.

THREE URUGUAYANS JAILED IN NZ

Juan Carlos Pissano Briaturi (UID 744965) his brother Roberto (UID 744966) and their friend Horacio Gabrial Bandera (UID 744967) have been jailed by a New Zealand Court for conspiring to import and export cocaine worth an estimated $10 million. The group had planned to import the drugs in clothing, before extracting the narcotic and sending it to Australia. Ringleader Juan Carlos Pissano Briaturi was jailed for nine years, his brother to five years and their friend was sentenced to 4 years and 8 months.

The office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC. has classified Belneftekhim, more commonly known as the Belarusian State Concern for Oil and Chemistry, as a Specially Designated National (SDN). The company is reported to be under the direct control of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko a/k/a Lukashenka, himself designated by OFAC in 2006, and his assets blocked. The company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Belneftekhim USA, Inc., of Methuen, Massachusetts [UID 747060] has also received SDN status. …read more

This month authorities in Milan arrested 20 Tunisian and Algerian nationals who are wanted in connection with terrorist activities. Leaders of the cell are reported to be Dridi Sabri (UID 742066) who was arrested in Milan, Medi Ben Nasr (UID 742067) who was captured in Reggio Emilia and Imed Ben Zarkaouwi (UID 194205) who is presently on trial in the Lombardy capital. Since 2003 the twenty North Africans have allegedly been recruiting individuals willing to carry out acts of terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq.

MONTANA MAN INCARCERATED

A Montana court has sentenced Michael Curtis Reynolds (UID 416418) to thirty years in jail. Reynolds was found guilty on five of the six counts brought against him of attempting to aid al-Qaida. He was alleged to have contacted who he thought was a terrorist via email and discussed plans to target several fuel pipelines and refineries, and giving details of bomb making and equipment necessary to facilitate such attacks.

In November, six terrorists from the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (UID 81015) have been sentenced by the Intermediate people’s Court of Kashgar. Three of the suspects have been given the death sentence the remaining three will serve life sentences. They allegedly set up terrorist training camps in southern Xinjang where they purportedly trained individuals from August 2005 until January 2007. This terrorist organisation is listed on various sanction watch lists, including OFAC and the EU and has been profiled in the World-Check database since September 2002.

Three former officers of Care International Inc. (UID 307030), Emadeddin Muntasser (UID 307028), Muhammed Mubayyid (UID 307029) and Samir Al-Monla (UID 691007) are currently on trial in Boston. It is alleged that they lied to US authorities on the status of their charity in order to receive tax-exempt status. The case against them accuses the charity of distributing a newsletter promoting jihadist viewpoints and supporting Islamic militants globally as well as raising funds to support the mujahideen.

A heads up to both the legal and compliance communities in London and surrounding areas. World-Check is hosting two free seminars on December 14th in London. The morning session is customized for legal professionals and the afternoon session for the compliance community in general. Expert speakers will be presenting on key industry issues. Please see here. for more details of these exciting events.

In October World-Check’s global team of research analyst created more than 22,000 new and updated a further 37,000 profiles.

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