Pirates, Parrots and Presidents money

Pirates, Parrots and Presidents
money-laundering cases and
curiosities
David Fabri LL.D.
Chamber of Advocates,
Department of Commercial Law and
FIAU Conference
26 February 2010
June 1998
First ever anti money laundering
provision
1988
MIBA
The income or property accruing to
an offshore company through
illegal activity would be subject to
confiscation.
ACT
(Seizure was subject to proof of
casual link)
1994
All income or property accruing to
an offshore company found to have
been involved in illegal activity
would be subject to seizure
amendment
MFSC Act
Company would have burden to
prove otherwise
UK - 1986
The UK only adopted its first
anti-money laundering statute
in 1986
(The Drug Trafficking Offences Act)
THE SMURFS
Many little runners dividing a big amount into smaller unreportable units
THE
LODGER
1934
Stole 100,000 Francs
A sort of pre-money laundering smurfing
Disposing or cleaning huge amounts of
1,000 franc notes may prove difficult
SMURFING IN AUSTRALIA
“Maltese lawyers in
Australia for Mid-Med case”
The Malta Business Weekly
24-30 August 1995
A true story of
corruption,
fraud and money
laundering to beat all
fiction.
Very convenient to have
a bank help you to
launder your money.
President Nixon – Watergate
The first reference to the term "money laundering"
itself actually appears during the Watergate
scandal. US President Richard Nixon's "Committee
to Re-Elect The President" moved illegal campaign
contributions to Mexico, then brought the money
back through a company in Miami. It was Britain's
Guardian newspaper that coined the term,
referring to the process as "laundering."
A PRESIDENT LAUNDERS
“ ‘ How much money do you need?’ The President asked suddenly, breaking
off my recitation of criminal liability in the White House. He seemed
impatient with that line.
I paused. I had no idea what kind of figure to put on the future blackmail,
but I had to pick a number. ‘I would say these people are going to cost,
uh, a million dollars over the next, uh, two years.’
‘We could get that, ‘ he declared firmly.
‘Uh uh,’ I mumbled. The President was moving in the opposite direction
from the horror I badly wanted him to express, and I was softening.
‘If you need the money, ‘ he continued, ‘ I mean you could get the money.
Let’s say …’
‘Well, I think that we’re going to – ‘
‘What I mean is you could get a million dollars. And you could get it in cash.
I know where it could be gotten.’
‘Uh huh.’ I thought that the President was almost boasting about his ability
to lay his hands on a million dollars of loose, untraceable cash. “
Blind Ambition– John W. Dean
Chapter 7– pg 205
President Nixon – Watergate
When Dean observed that money laundering ''is the type
of thing Mafia people can do,'' Nixon calmly answered:
''Maybe it takes a gang to do that.''
President Nixon – Watergate
“… When the President does it, that
means it is not illegal.”
Single & Single– John le Carre’
Chapter 1– pg 18
“ His specialities embraced offshore
companies, trusts, havens, and the tax
shelters of all accommodating nations. He
was not a marine lawyer as Dr Mirsky
claimed to be, not a dicey entrepreneur like
Mirsky, not a gangster. He dealt in the art
of the legitimate, in transferring informal
assets to firmer ground. “
Single & Single– John le Carre’
Chapter 1– pg 19
“ ‘…Single’s fronted it all for you, washed your
grubby money Persil white!
Overnight,
remember? You heard what Mirsky said –
so legal it ought to be forbidden. Well, it’s
not. It’s legal!’ “
Single & Single– John le Carre’
Chapter 1– pg 19
“ ‘Reputable private bank, Hoban - us –
remember? Registered in Monaco, offers
to buy your land lock, stock and barrel .
Do you accept? No! You’ll take paper only,
never cash! And our bank agrees to that.
It agrees to everything , of course it does.
Because we ‘re you, remember?
We’re
yourselves in another hat. We ‘re a bank
but we’re using your money to buy your
land! “
It’s useful to own a bank.
Single & Single– John le Carre’
Chapter 14– pg 242
“
‘These are not my companies , Oliver. I am a
lawyer, not a trader. I am for what is on the page,
not what is on the boat. I do not load this boat. I
do not open every banana to see whether it is a
banana or something else.
‘Please. I sell you a box, I am not responsible for
what you put in the box.’ He ran the handkerchief
round his neck. He was speaking faster, running
low on breath. ‘ provide advice, based on the
I charge a fee,
information given to me.
goodnight. If the information is not correct, now
can I be held responsible? I can be misinformed.
To be misinformed is not a crime.’ “
Money-laundering
in a new
Treasure Island
in
the Cayman
Treasure Island
guardian.co.uk
Big trouble on treasure island
Jersey's status as a tax haven has made it one of the richest places on Earth.
But there is a widening gulf between the millionaires of the financial sector
and locals struggling with low wages and rising prices. As Jon Henley
reports, the backlash is growing
Jon Henley
Friday 21 March 2008
"The culture is now that of a Hilton hotel lobby," says
one Jerseyman who has now left the island. Adds
another: "The island has been sold into prostitution. The
financial services guys are like the pimps." Like many, he
prefers not to be named; there is a "nasty climate here
of attacking dissent and insulting critics. If you're not
with Jersey plc, you're against it - you're the enemy. It
can get very personal, and it's not pretty."
How
would
you
do
his
Due
Diligence
?
• illegal gambling
• bootlegging,
• bond scam
Know your client?
“Some
here,
some
there”
Prof . Crashcup invents the Treasure Island
Treasure Island – R.L.Stevenson
Chapter 7– I go to Bristol
pg 44-45
“ ‘ I forgot to tell you that Silver is a man of
substance ; I know of my own knowledge
that he has a banker’s account, which has
never been overdrawn. He leaves his wife
to manage the inn… “
Treasure Island – R.L.Stevenson
Chapter 11 – What I Heard in the Apple Barrel
pg 67
“… and when a cruise is done, why it’s
hundreds of pounds instead of hundreds of
farthings in their pockets. Now, the most
goes for rum and a good fling, and to sea
again in their shirts. But that’s not the
course I lay. I puts it all away, some here,
some there, and none too much
anywhere's, by reason of suspicion.”
Treasure Island – R.L.Stevenson
Chapter 11 – What I Heard in the Apple Barrel
pg 66
“.. First with England, then with Flint,
that’s my story; and now here on my
own account, in a manner of speaking.
I laid by nine hundred safe, from
England, and two thousand after Flint.
That ain’t bad for a man before the mast
– all safe in bank.”
Treasure Island – R.L.Stevenson
Chapter 11 – What I Heard in the Apple Barrel
pg 67-68
“
… ‘Well,’ said the other, ‘but all the other
money’s gone now, ain’t it? You daren’t show face
in Bristol after this.’
‘Why, where might you suppose it was?’ asked
Silver, derisively.
‘At Bristol, in banks and places,’ answered his
companion.
‘It were,’ said the cook; ‘it were when we weighed
anchor. But my old missis has it all by now. And
the “Spy-glass” is sold, lease and goodwill and
rigging; and the old girl’s off to meet me.”
(He does not disclose where)
Fact and Fiction
Treasure Islands,
bankers,
boxes and bananas
Nixon + Watergate
Fact :
BCCI
MidMed Australia
Jersey
Fiction :
The Lodger
The Smurfs
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Great Gatsby
Single & Single
The Firm
Clyde Crashcup
Treasure Island
Pirates, Parrots and Presidents
money-laundering cases and
curiosities