FORMER FIRST FAMILY SUSPECTED OF LAUNDERING MILLIONS THROUGH PALAU

The former first family of Taiwan are suspected of having channeled approximately US$45 million through Palau. Chen Shui-bian (UID 4032) the country's president from 2000 until 2008 was in September 2009 sentenced to life imprisonment for corruption, forgery and money laundering. Reportedly the alleged millions may have been deposited in the bank accounts of the former president's children. In addition, prosecutors in Taiwan have asked for assistance from the Singaporean government in connection with another senior financier who is alleged to have assisted the Chens in their money laundering operations.

A Florida-based hedge fund manager, who is suspected of running a US$360 million investment fraud and is currently in jail, has requested his release on reduced bail. He is accused by the federal authorities of securities, mail and wire fraud which reportedly took place over a ten year period. He has been in custody since his arrest in January 2009.

JAIL FOR THREE ACCUSED IN UK ACCOUNTING FRAUD CASE

This September three senior managers of a quarrying business, who had falsified sales figures and accounts for three years, were jailed. Christopher Law (UID 970695), former managing director and the architect of the scam, was jailed for two and a half years. Geraint Roberts (UID 970697), former operations director was jailed for 16 months and Paul Harvey (UID 970696), former sales director, was jailed for 10 months. In addition Law was disqualified from being a company director for four years and Roberts for three. The trio had managed to convince the company's head office that the subsidiary, which operated a quarry in Wales, was performing strongly. They employed forged invoices and delivery notes to boost sales figures in a fraud which was allegedly worth approximately £10 million.

THREE JAILED FOR DEFRAUDING AUSTRALIAN CITY COUNCIL

Three individuals who managed to defraud a council out of more than Aus$1.5 million over three years have been jailed after pleading guilty to 13 counts of fraud. Massimo Giordano (UID 1121865) who held the position of Information Technology manager for the city of Whittlesea in Victoria, his brother Frank Giordan (UID 1141868) and Salvatore Cosentino (UID 1141870) a friend of the Giordan brothers, issued false invoices for IT equipment to the council. The judge stated that they had committed "a calculated fraud over a period of time on a public institution". Look at Massimo Giordano's profile to see the sentences meted out for their crimes.

BULGARIA FREEZE BUSINESSMAN'S ASSETS

The Bulgarian Commission for the recovery of criminal assets has issued a statement which explains that it has frozen the assets of an individual and his family, whilst an investigation progresses into alleged tax evasion charges. In September the Commission placed a freezing order on any real estate, stakes in companies, movable assets including cars and the bank accounts of the individual and his family. Authorities have stated that if he is convicted they will seek confiscation of the assets.

ANOTHER POLITICIAN FACES CRIMINAL CHARGES IN ISRAEL

A former Prime Minister has been accused of defrauding a charity, breach of trust and tax evasion. The charges reportedly refer to an eight year period in his career when he held the post of mayor. One of the charges is for an alleged promotion for cash deal, in which he reportedly received more than £300,000 from a US citizen in order to promote that individual's business interests.

ENRON TELECOM CEO JAILED

Joseph Hirko (UID 151305) who was the chief executive officer of Enron Broadband Services has been jailed for 16 months for fraud. Reportedly Hirko falsely promoted the broadband division to analysts through press releases and "assisted in maintaining Enron's overall stock price, thereby improperly maintaining the value of his own holdings of the stock."

The Government of Slovenia, which had blocked Croatia's European Union discussions regarding membership, due to a border dispute pending since 1991, has lifted it opposition to EU Accession talks. Though there are issues regarding alleged discrimination against foreign investors in Croatia, and involving reforms in public administration, this act allows Croatia to move forward with its efforts to join the European Union. …read more

Ali Dirie (UID 456040) who was originally found guilty and jailed for illegal possession of a firearm, was in June 2009 charged with terrorism offences and has pleaded guilty to charges. Somalia born Dirie is the second member of the so called 'Toronto 18' to enter a guilty plea. The charges relate to an alleged plot which is purported to have targeted Toronto's CN Tower, the city's stock exchange, a building housing the Canadian secret service and the parliament in Ottawa. Sentencing is expected in early October.

G20 CALL FOR STRONGER ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING STANDARDS

The G20’s communiqué has urged an international watchdog on AML laws to prioritise the fight against corrupt funds. The G20 statement read “We ask the FATF to help detect and deter the proceeds of corruption by prioritizing work to strengthen standards on customer due diligence, beneficial ownership and transparency.'

MONEYVAL ADOPTS EVALUATION REPORT ON ROMANIA

In September Romania's first progress evaluation report on Anti-Money Laundering measures and financing of terrorism was unanimously adopted by the Moneyval committee of experts in Strasbourg. According to the report it was estimated that Romania has made significant progress in the implementation of the recommendations of the International Financial Action Task Force on Money laundering (FATF) in this field.

G20 REQUIRES LISTINGS OF MONEY LAUNDERING TERRITORIES

The G20 leaders have asked for a public list of high-risk money laundering and terror financing jurisdictions by February 2010. According to their report they will be ready with counter measures against tax havens from March 2010. "We welcome the progress made by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in the fight against money laundering and terrorists financing and call upon the FATF to issue a public list of high-risk jurisdictions by February 2010." The G20 statement also read that the Financial Stability Board will report against the non-cooperative jurisdictions.

World-Check is visiting the Nordic countries in October with a series of AML Seminars.
Starting in Stockholm, Sweden on 12 October, followed by Helsinki, Finland on the 13 October, Oslo, Norway on 14 October and concluding on 15 October in Copenhagen, Denmark. Full itineraries and details of speakers are available on the Seminars page.

In November the focus moves to the United States where World-Check will host a number of FCPA seminars.
Starting on 2 November in Miami, then heading north to New York on 3 November, visiting Washington DC on 4 November, before rounding off in Chicago on 5 November.
More comprehensive details will be available on our Seminars page soon.

Delivered by experts in their respective fields World-Check Seminars offer compliance professionals across all industries the opportunity to get insight into topical and relevant issues.

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World-Check financial crime consultant Kenneth Rijock has featured a number of alerts to lower or raise country risk in his From a Different Angle column. If you are interested in finding out more about country risk you can read about our jurisdictional risk index Country-Check on the website by clicking here or alternatively visit Country-Check for a more comprehensive overview.

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