PEP ALERT ... EX VICE PRESIDENT ARRESTED IN BELGIUM

Jean-Pierre Bemba (UID 165507) was the Vice President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) transitional government from 2003 to 2006. This month Bemba was detained on a warrant from the International Criminal Court. Bemba who led the rebel Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC), reportedly became involved in conflict in the neighbouring Central African Republic in 2002, leading to him being charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Charges related to the DRC have not been ruled out. He denies the charges levelled against him. Bemba fled to Europe in early 2007, shortly after his defeat in the presidential elections.

This month a London court sentenced John Donnan (UID 875057) to seven years in jail for his part in a money laundering scam worth £16.5 million. Donnan and solicitor Gerard Hyde (UID 875058) reportedly laundered the money they made from a multi-million 'missing trader' fraud, involving mobile phones. The pair allegedly used front companies and accounts in the UK, Hungary, Dubai, Ghana, the Isle of Man and Guernsey. Donnan then used the 'clean' money to finance property development deals and also projects in Africa among other things. In addition to his jail sentence Donnan was disqualified from acting as a company director for eight years. In May 2007, Hyde pleaded guilty to seven counts involving approximately £2 million, and was jailed for three years and six months. The HM Revenue and Customs site is just one of the many government and enforcement sites that World-Check researchers monitor. The HM Revenue and Customs is keyworded in our database to assist users in filtering their searches, resulting in fewer 'false positive' hits.

FIVE INDICTED FOR A US$26M FRAUD

This month five individuals have been indicted by the Arizona Attorney General's Office for reportedly bilking more than US$26 million from investors. They claimed investors would receive high interest rates from the profits that their production company, Cal Productions, would be making by staging and promoting concerts by top recording acts. The named defendants, who were charged on 204 criminal counts including securities fraud, sale of unregistered securities and money laundering were William Galyon (UID 874373), Alfred Olsen (UID 874374), Nova Michaels (UID 874375) and Robert Rosepink (UID 874376). A fifth individual has yet to be named. World-Check researchers are watching the news for further developments in this case and will update the profiles accordingly.

TRIBUNAL FINDS SOLICITOR GUILTY OF MISCONDUCT

A Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in Ireland revealed that more than 30 million euros is reportedly missing from fraudulent mortgage loans, allegedly drawn by Thomas Byrne (UID 742047). In October 2007 his legal practice was closed, a month later his assets were frozen pending Criminal Assets Bureau and Garda Fraud Squad investigations. The tribunal found him guilty on 64 charges of professional misconduct. In a report last year an associate of Byrne whom he allegedly owed money, was revealed to be linked to organised crime. Byrne is reportedly the subject of a number of legal writs regarding his finances. Check out Byrne's profile to get the full story from the verification sources.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has amended its Rough Diamonds Control Regulations by adding two requirements. The importation of diamonds into the US governed by the Clean Diamond Trade Act and the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS). Basically, businesses must file reports detailing import, export and stockpile information. Should financial institutions that bank diamond traders obtain some sort of certification from their clients that they are in compliance with this new regulation? …read more

This month French and Spanish police arrested Francisco Javier Lopez Pena (UID 662006) and three others in Bordeaux. Pena has been on the run since the early Eighties and is believed to have taken over ETA's underground leadership in 2006. He is reportedly suspected of having ordered the December 2006 Madrid airport bombing. Ainhoa Ozaeta (UID 870315) Jon Algeria (UID 92126) and Igor Suberbiola (UID 53232) were named by authorities as the other three arrested with Pena.

Authorities in three West European countries have arrested ten individuals whom they believe to have links to Islamic Extremist factions in Uzbekistan. It is reported that those arrested were obtaining funding for a militant group within Uzbekistan that allegedly has ties with al-Qaida. Our Terrorism and Insurgency Research Unit (TIRU) are currently monitoring reports and will update and create profiles as more information becomes available.

The Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) (UID 534184) which recently claimed responsiblity for attacks on an international oil corporation's facilities in southern Nigeria, has warned in a statement that it intends to conduct more attacks and acts of sabotage to disrupt the Nigerian oil industry. Check out the group's profile to see the leaders of the movement, and how it funds its operations. In May 2007 the US State Department designated the group as a foreign terrorist organisation of concern.

For those who live or work in New York City may we remind you that the World-Check Power Breakfast will take place on June 16th.
Venue: The Carlyle, Madison Avenue, New York.
Presentations by Kenneth Rijock 'A Former Money Launderer tells how it's done' and 'Emerging fraud and money laundering threats in 2008.' and by World-Check, Consultant Dan Peak 'Your politically exposed customers and the risk they represent.'
Time: 0830 until noon.

COUNTRY-CHECK

You might like to take advantage of the currently free beta version of Country-Check, the country risk ranking tool recently launched by World-Check. Register now to take advantage of this limited period of free access. For more information about Country-Check click here to visit the website.

Last month World-Check's research and editorial teams updated more than 32,900 existing profiles. The global teams also added more than 22,500 new profiles of heightened risk individuals and entities to the World-Check database.

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