PEP ALERT ... FORMER CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR CHARGED

In April Burhanuddin Abdullah (UID 172081) was arrested by the Indonesian Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) which launched a series of investigations targeting the Central Bank. This month Customs and the Attorney General's offices charged him with embezzling $11 million of the bank’s funds. He is reported to have taken the money to pay to lawmakers who were deliberating a bill governing the Central Bank. Two other officials, the legal affairs director Oey Hoeng Tiong (UID 80-5995) and the head of communications Rusli Simanjuntak (UID 805996), were detained earlier this year in connection with the same case.

Tony Pisano (UID 486042) who previously held the position of city councillor for a suburb of Perth in Australia, has been sentenced to four years and eight months in jail. Pisano who was also a financial adviser, is reported to have defrauded investors out of more than AUS$1.5 million and used the monies to fund a lavish lifestyle. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC) Executive Director of Enforcement, Jan Redfern, stated that the sentence meted out to Pisano would serve as a warning for "individuals who abuse positions of trust and authority and misuse investors' funds.' World-Check monitors the ASIC site which is just one of the more than 100 keywords that World-Check places on profiles to assist our users in making positive matches during their screening processes.

FORMER AUC LEADER PLEADS GUILTY

Diego Fernando Murillo Bejarano (UID 215079), has pleaded guilty to conspiring to smuggle vast quantities of cocaine into the USA. Murillo was arrested in Colombia in 2005 and held in various prisons before he was extradited to the USA in May this year. Murillo is reportedly the former leader of United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia - AUC (UID 14174). He is due for sentencing in December 2008.

CIVIL SERVANT CONVICTED OF BRIBERY

This month Nick Petroulias (UID 43793) was sentenced to two years and two months in jail by the NSW Supreme Court. In the third trial that Petroulias has been through and after numerous appeals the jury found him guilty of one charge of bribery and corruption and another of unauthorised publication of tax office documents. Reportedly during his tenure at the Australian Taxation Office Petroulias issued private rulings that benefited companies in which he had a financial interest. The judge commented that Petroulias had "damaged the public fabric of our community by undermining confidence in the fair and impartial administration of the tax system." Read the verification source hyperlinks on his profile to glean more background information.

ARMY OFFICER AND WIFE PLEAD GUILTY

In our August 2007 iBrief we highlighted San Antonio army officer John Cockerham (UID 672179) and his wife Melissa Cockerham (UID 672180) who were alleged to have committed fraud involving the awarding of contracts in connection with the war in Iraq. This month John Cockerham pleaded guilty to bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery and money laundering charges. His wife pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering. Cockerham admitted to receiving, or being promised, more than $9 million in bribes.

The Executive Committee of INTERPOL, the international police organisation, has unanimously affirmed its report on the authenticity of materials contained in computers seized by the Armed Forces of Colombia from the FARC. The Committee, having reviewed the agency's extensive forensic report on the FARC computers and hardware, "endorsed the Report and its findings in their entirety." The statement came after INTERPOL's two-day meeting of the Executive Committee at the INTERPOL General Secretariat Headquarters in Lyon, France, and was released on 25 June, 2008. …read more

Abu Hamza (UID 60004) loses appeal against extradition to the United States. Hamza is already serving a 7-year jail term in Britain for inciting his followers to murder non-believers. The United States accuse Hamza of trying to set up a terrorist training camp in Bly, Oregon, from 1999 to early 2000. He is also believed to have been involved in the kidnapping of Westerners in Yemen in 1998.

Mohammed Momin Khawaja (UID 222036), who appeared in our May 2007 Intelligence Brief, has gone on trial in Ottawa for his alleged involvement in an international terrorist conspiracy. The prosecution says that Khawaja played a key role in a conspiracy to conduct an act of terror which would have targeted London. His alleged accomplices are already behind bars in England. In addition convicted terrorist Mohammed Junaid Babar (UID 248066) has turned State witness. Babar reportedly said that he and Khawaja attended al-Qaida terror training camps in Pakistan during 2003. Check out the Display Graph on his profile to see his connections.

WORLD-CHECK IN ASIA

At the end of July, beginning of August World-Check will present a number of power breakfast and compliance seminars in Singapore and Hong Kong, with presentations from industry experts in the field of money laundering, fraud and compliance issues. Details of the Singapore leg are already available on the website. Please be advised that space is limited so early reservation is recommended. Details of the Hong Kong events will be available soon.

In September World-Check will be presenting a number of compliance seminars in key European cities. Presentations include “Emerging fraud and money laundering threats in 2008,” by Kenneth Rijock which will get you back up to speed after the traditional summer break. For full details of where and when the seminars will take place, please consult the World-Check Seminars page.

PEP NEWS

World-Check has recently released a PEP discussion paper entitled “PEPS: Moving Forward”, written by World-Check CEO and Founder David Leppan. This paper offers a candid view of the weaknesses in the Politically Exposed Person definition, the potential flawed interpretation thereof, and offers directions in which this subject may need to evolve. Read it here .

For those of you hungry to find more information on PEP’s take a look at our White Papers Section and read ‘Refining the PEP Definition Edition II,‘ which was added to our on-line Library in April 2008.

To read more expert opinion and analysis check out the recently launched 'Industry Voices' section here.

For information and frequently asked questions please visit our web site by clicking here.