REPUBLIC OF PANAMA MARITIME AUTHORITY DEREGISTERING OIL TANKERS USED BY IRAN AND SYRIA

The Republic of Panama is in the process of removing sixty Panamanian-flag vessels from registration, due to the fact that Iran is using Panamanian-registered oil tankers to transport sanctioned petroleum, and is also shipping oil to Syria, which is internationally sanctioned.

Panama has no wish to run afoul of international sanctions involving Iran, according to Panama's Maritime Authority. The vessel was reportedly bound for Syria's Banyas Refinery.

Some deregistered vessels have failed to reregister elsewhere; the GRACE I, seized by the Royal Navy in Gibraltar Territorial Waters8, was delisted by Panama on May 29. It was detained for illegally transporting crude oil to Syria from Iran, technically as a stateless vessel, which provides a ground for naval or law enforcement forces to stop and identify.

Contributed by Kenneth Rijock - Financial Crime Consultant

Chronicles of Monte Friesner - Financial Crime Analyst  

SON OF HAMAS FOUNDER DESERTS FROM TERRORIST ORGANIZATION OVER RAMPANT CORRUPTION AND RACISM

Suheid Yousef, whose father is Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, has publicly broken with the terrorist organization, and fled the Middle East, due its systemic corruption. He described Hamas to media, during a television interview, as "a racist, terror organization" which is basically working for Iran, and not for the goal of Palestinian independence.

Yousef, who until very recently was with Hamas' so-called "Political Wing" in Turkey, described an advanced Hamas intelligence collection system in place in that country, with the assistance of the Turkish government, with advanced listening equipment that spies upon Palestinian telephone conversations in the West Bank (Judea & Samaria), especially PA leaders, as well as Israelis in the State of Israel. This information is then sold to Iran, which provides financial support to Hamas.

The most compelling statements that Yousef made were about the corrupt personal conduct of the Hamas leadership:

(1) Hamas leaders live a life of privilege , while the average Gazan, unemployed penniless, and struggles to survive each day. Hamas' senior leaders live in "fancy hotels and luxury towers, their kids learn at private schools, and they get very well paid by Hamas. They get between four and five thousand dollars as month; they have guards, swimming pools and country clubs."

(2) Perhaps the most outrageous statement made by Yousef, taken from personal observations he made in Turkey: "They ate on the best restaurants. I would see them eating at places where one course costs $200." The average family in Gaza has $100 per month for food, and lives on Public Assistance supplied by the West, while the corrupt leadership lives a life of luxury.

He is the second son of the Hamas foundser to fleee the terrorist organization.Yousef's brother,  Mosab Yousef, left Hamas in the late 1990s, and converted to Christianity. He stated in his autobiography that he worked undercover for Israel's security services, against Hamas, prior to his defection.

The information supplied by Suheid Yousef means that a new examination of the Turkish Government's role in providing support to Hamas is necessary. Turkey has stated that it forced most Hamas agents to lave the country, but since it is operating a sophisticated listening post there, with Turkish support, financial transactions with companies operating in Turkey, and indeed Country Risk, must be reassessed, for risk management purposes.

Contributed by Kenneth Rijock - Financial Crime Consultant

Chronicles of Monte Friesner - Financial Crime Analyst  

JUAN CARLOS VARELA FORMER PRESIDENT OF PANAMA SPIED ON US EMBASSY & DONALD TRUMP

Sources in the Republic of Panama are reporting that a twitter account known as LATAM for TRUMP has accused the country's former president, Juan Carlos Varela, of conducting an electronic espionage operation upon the US Embassy. A Moroccan national named Mohammed is alleged to have directed the illegal surveillance program, and the Attorney General, Kenia Porcell, is also said to be involved.

Former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli is currently standing trial on espionage charges, for illegally conducting audio and video surveillance of prominent Panamanians during his term in office. Was Varela, who served as Vice President during this period, actually in charge of the illegal program ? His level of involvement is the issue, and if so, was Martinelli not directing the program ?

While we must stress that this information is unverified, the significance of the disclosures, if true, cannot  be underestimated. Classified messages from President Donald Trump to the US Ambassador are alleged to have been intercepted and read, and reports of covert operations in Latin America may have been intercepted.

In 2009 a well respocted source who worked with agents at the US Enbassy in Panama exposed that the present President was spying on the US Embassy and on him pertaining to the involvement of money laundering of Government Officials and various banks.

Contributed by Kenneth Rijock - Financial Crime Consultant
Chronicles of Monte Friesner - Financial Crime Analyst 

MONTE FRIESNER EXPOSES UPDATED TERRORIST LIST FROM CANADA

Monte Friesner and WantedSA obtained the updated list for readers in Canada that require access to information regarding the currently listed Terrorist Entities. as designated and passed by Parliament, may access the website here.

Contributed by Kenneth Rijock - Financial Crime Consultant

Chronicles of Monte Friesner - Financial Crime Analyst  

CARIBBEAN ISLAND OF ANTIGUA SEEKS TO REPAIR ITS IMAGE AFTER CHOKSI SCANDAL, BUT FAILS

The Prime Minister of Antigua & Barbuda, Gaston Browne, has now publicly stated that Mehul Choksi, the billionaire diamond fraudster, who has used his Antigua CBI passport and citizenship to delay his extradition to his native India for one year, will have his Antigua citizenship revoked after the extradition process is completed. Unfortunately, what PM Browne has failed to mention is the well-known fact that Choksi's extradition, to face justice, may never occur.

We call it Antigua's "Leroy King Rule, " named for the former banking regulator, who was Allen Stanford's Blood Brother [we mean that literally] who has now evaded extradition to the United States for more than a decade. Choksi, like King, may never run out of bogus "appeals," judicial reassignments, court delays, motions for rehearing, and similar dilatory actions, all of which delay any case indefinitely, as can only occur in Antigua's corrupt court system.

If Choksi is never extradited,  Browne never has to revoke his CBI passport and citizenship, although his standing offer to do so improves his status with Opposition leaders, and undecided voters, and wins the PM political points. Of course, Choksi may indeed grow old in Antigua, but that little detail has been conveniently left out. As an offer, Browne's efforts have been rebuffed from all quarters; the PR effort has failed.

Observers of the Antigua political scene have said that Browne's unusual offer, which runs against Antigua's longtime support of its CBI citizens, may have come due to what medical professionals fear is a decline in the Prime Minister's mental acuity, which is not age-related, but is reportedly occurring due to his family mental health history. It is time for a change in leadership. 
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Note: Readers who are not familiar with the Choksi or King cases will find that there has been ample prior coverage of both matters just by going to Google and typing in Leroy King or Mehul Choksi and you will find articles on WANTED SA. 

CANADA REVENUE AGENCY TAX EVASION SETTLEMENT WITH KPMG AND ITS CANADIAN CLIENTS WAS KEPT CONFIDENTIAL FROM THE PUBLIC

Our ongoing survey of cases involving the global accounting giant KPMG has turned up a dark chapter in the company's operations. It operated a scheme whereby high net worth Canadians, with assets that exceeded CAD$5m, were advised to secrete their funds in the Isle of Man, using shell companies. KPMG  received fees equal to fifteen per cent of the amount of the amount of taxes evaded by its clients. Over one hundred and thirty million dollars was placed into the scheme.

When Canada Revenue Agency regulators learned of the illicit program, it offered KPMG clients a sweetheart deal, involving no penalty, nor any jail time for the offenders. The agreements were made confidential, meaning that the public and the media were unaware that neither the investing public, nor the media, would learn of the arrangement. Furthermore, KPMG was NOT fined or sanctioned in any way. The entire settlement was kept out of the public eye, until it was leaked to the media by an anonymous whistle blower.

What we are seeing in a pattern whereby KMPG, and its officers, is repeatedly implicated, in case after case, of misconduct, verging at times as criminal, and due it its size, politics, or some other reason, is not held accountable for its misdeeds. This blog will continue to examine cases where KPMG's conduct has been found to be improper, unethical, amoral or criminal.   

NOTE: A respected Financial Crime Analyst in Canada advises that KPMG is a major financial supporter of Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party and that is why KPMG got a "sweetheart" for their clients and another criminal corporation in Canada is silenced.

Contributed by Kenneth Rijock - Financial Crime Consultant

Chronicles of Monte Friesner - Financial Crime Analyst 

GARY JAMES LUNDGREN OF PANAMA CONVICTED BY "FINRA" (FINANCIAL INDUSTRY REGULATORY AUTHORITY) & BANNED FOR LIFE IN TRADING SECURITIES

When FINRA ordered Gary James Lundgren to produce his accounts and records, he brazenly disobeyed five FINRA directives to open his books and records; the result was the ultimate loss of all his securities licenses, and a lifetime bar on any participation in the securities industry*. No legitimate trader of securities would ever allow that to occur.

His lawyer, Alcides Peña**, attempted to employ every single procedural roadblock, to delay the proceedings, asserting one bogus defense after another, until FINRA removed him, due to the simple fact that he was not admitted to practice law in any state. The final stunt: after asking for a hearing, Lundgren decided not to attend, probably because he fears a sealed Federal indictment exists, charging him with securities violations, and tax evasion.

Why would any licensed trader, with a lifetime of experience in the field, allow such a result, when he could have easily avoided such a disastrous outcome, by disclosing his finances. ? Read on.

If Gary Lundgren had turned over his bank account information, FINRA investigators would have seen these glaring violations:

(1) Lundgren took investment funds from US citizens, paid through his brokerage firm in the State of Washington, to his accounts in Panama, where he did not hold any securities licenses, and purchased local real estate, as well as unregistered securities, and took some of the investors' money into his personal accounts, so that he could make investments in his own name.

(2) Lundgren has a long and sordid history of accepting bulk cash from criminal clients located in Colombia, who sell narcotics, and engage in other illegal cash-producing businesses. He laundered the money, by using it to purchase real estate in Panama, from Panamanian builders who accepted the money, no questions asked. His connections with traffickers in Medellín are well known.

(3) Lundgren had a long history of accepting money for convicted Pyramind/Ponzi schemer, David Murcia Guzmán, and when Murcia was extradited, never to return, Lundgren reportedly retained millions of dollars, which he converted to his own use. Any close examination of his bank accounts would surely find deposits for which Source of Funds could never be established.

(4) Lundgren knew securities salesmen all over the United States, who steered investor funds to him, as he was paying high commissions to those who did. Lundgren promised double-digit returns, monthly, and his well-known high yield investment program, which was bogus, also constituted a security under US laws, meaning that SEC registration was required; it was never performed.

Therefore, had he followed the law, and timely delivered to FINRA the necessary records, he might have gone to prison in 2015, when the documents produced incriminated him. True, his dilatory tactics may have bought him some extra time, perhaps before any criminal charges were filed in the US, but his situation has now deteriorated further.

Two Panamanian law enforcement and regulatory agencies have now opened an investigation into Gary Lundgren's acts; one of them is a task force on organized crime. One US law enforcement agency is known to be conducting a new investigation, after Lundgren made repeated death threats to journalists reporting on his FINRA disbarment. He continues to illegally participate in the trading of US securities, using third parties, in a direct challenge to American regulators.

Due to his advanced age, Lundgren, should he be convicted in Panama, would be sentenced to home confinement, but in the United States, where the Bureau of Prisons maintains state-of-the-art medical care, and he will have to serve some serious prison time; Let justice be served.
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*FINRA permanently bars fraudster Gary Lundgren
**Alert: Fraudster Gary Lundgren has a new in-house Lawyer 

Contributed by Kenneth Rijock - Financial Crime Consultant

Chronicles of Monte Friesner - Financial Crime Analyst

ALBERTO DIAMOND PANAMA'S CORRUPT SUPERINTENDENT OF BANKING WAS BAD ACTOR IN KPMG CENTRAL AMERICA SCANDAL

 If you read our recent exposé about misconduct of KPMG in Latin America, CPA says KPMG  Shortchanged its Latin American Partners and then Fixed the Courts, denying them Access, you probably wondered which KPMG executives ordered the amoral, and obviously illegal, denial of partner compensation. At the center of the misconduct is someone whom you may be familiar with, if you follow financial crime in the Republic of Panama.

The bad actor is the former Panamanian Superintendent of Banking, Alberto Diamond Rodriguez. Diamond , while acting as president of KPMG Central America SA, presided over the slashing of partner compensation, at KPMG offices in the region, to only three per cent (3%), less than one tenth of what their contracts provided.  When the partners filed suit, in El Salvador, Diamond ordered that bribes be paid to not only members of the local judiciary, to delay the cases for many years, but he personally saw to it that the settlements forced upon the partners amounted to only pennies on the dollar, as to what they should have received.

There were also issues regarding covert payments, to US-based partners, made from accounts in offshore tax havens, which were not disclosed to American regulatory or tax authorities.   

It is believed the reason that Alberto Diamond hastily left Panama, when Martinelli's presidential term expired, because he feared that criminal charges would be filed against him should he remain. Appointed largely because he was related to Martinelli through marriage, he was totally unqualified to serve as Superintendent of Banking, While in office, he not only failed to indict a single Panamanian bank on money laundering charges, be openly bragged that he facilitated deposits of approximately seventeen billion ($17b) US Dollars [known as Balboas in Panama], coming in, largely in the form of bulk cash, from Venezuela.

Diamond also extorted large sums from Panamanian bankers, whose banks he often threatened to indict for money laundering, due to some phantom regulatory violation he would charge them with, unless $150,000 was paid to him. Diamond received millions of dollars in bribes from Money Service Firms in Panama which led to his downfall with the US Law Enforcement when a respectd Financial Analyst working with a US Agency in Panama filed a lengthy report on Diamond.

We shall be making further inquiries into Diamond's multiple criminal acts, while serving as president of KPMG Central America, and report back to our readers, as we further explore the scandal. 

Contributed by Kenneth Rijock - Financial Crime Consultant

Chronicles of Monte Friesner - Financial Crime Analyst  

IRAN MONEY LAUNDERING BANKS OFFERED MALTA "CITIZEN BY INVESTMENT" (CBI) PASSPORTS TO LATVIAN BANK

PILATUS BANK OF MALTA OFFERED CITIZEN BY INVESTMENT PASSPORTS FROM MALTA TO CLIENTS OF "ABLV BANK" BASED IN LATVIA|

Just when the dust was starting to settle over Malta's Pilatus Bank/Ali Sadr Hasheminejad scandal,  news about the link between Latvia's ABLV Bank and Pilatus, regarding joint money laundering activities, has again focused EU attention upon Malta. To make matters worse, ABLV was actively marketing Malta's CBI passports to its dodgy Azeri and Maltese PEP clients. Latvia is high-risk when its comes to Country Risk; did Malta and Pilatus miss that detail ?

Who was watching the store over in Malta, in its CBI as well as financial regulatory agency ? Or did just too much cash quietly change hands under the table ?

The fact that ABLV blatantly advertised Malta's CBI passport sales program on the bank's website, through its corporate services subsidiary, while engaged in money laundering operations for its clients, including designated State Sponsors of Terrorism, raises the possibility that terrorists, in addition to financial criminals, obtained Maltese CBI passports through ABLV. We are especially concerned about Iranian and North Korean agents inside the Schengen Zone, evading international sanctions.

For those who have opposed the EU's valid objections to ANY Member offering Citizenship by Investment (CBI) passports, we rest our case.

Contributed by Kenneth Rijock - Financial Crime Consultant

Chronicles of Monte Friesner - Financial Crime Analyst

MONTE FRIESNER EXPOSES PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY OFFICIALS EMBEZZLED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FROM THE PALESTINE PEOPLE TRANSFERRED TO HAMAS IN MALAYSIA TO FUND TERRORIST ACTIVITIES

Reports from Israel confirm that corrupt senior Palestinian Authority officials are moving PA funds to Malaysia, where they are used for Hamas terrorist training there. The money, obviously diverted from Authority accounts, is laundered through Dubai, and thereafter into Malaysia. 

The senior PA leaders named as players in the terrorist financing operation are:

(1) Dr. Mahmoud Al-Habash, the Supreme Sharia Judge of the Palestinian Authority; he also holds the titles of PA leader Mahmoud Abbas Adviser on Religious and Islamic Affairs, and Chairman of the Supreme Council for Sharia Justice. He is said to have formed shell companies for the movement of the proceeds of corruption  out of the West Bank, through Dubai and to Malaysia. His bureau chief is listed as Khaled Barude. Hamash is known to be display a violently anti-American perspective.

MAHMOUD AL - HABASH

(2) The Ambassador of the Palestinian Authority to Malaysia Anwar Al-Agha. His now ex-wife reportedly divorced him when she discovered he was using her as an officer in his shell companies without her knowledge and consent.

ANWAR AL-AGHA

(3) These two conspirators are linked to Hamas member Fatah Al-Nuri, a businessman now living in Algeria, and Yasser Abbas, the son of Mahmoud Abbas; these two individuals are also involved in terrorist financing. Another close associate is the PA Ambassador to the Sudan, Abed Al-FatahAl-Satri.

The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, who is known to have close links to Hamas,is presumed to be facilitating Hamas operations, and providing material support to Hamas, which is a global terrorist organization.

We have previously reported on Hamas military training camps in Malaysia; we now know how they are financed. 

Contributed by Kenneth Rijock - Financial Crime Consultant

Chronicles of Monte Friesner - Financial Crime Analyst  

CREDIT SUISSE BANKER PLEADS GUILTY IN NEW YORK TO MASSIVE MONEY LAUNDERING

Datelina Subeva, A former Credit Suisse Group AG banker, entered a guilty plea this week,  in US District Court in New York, to assisting in a massive $2bn money laundering and kickback scheme in Mozambique. Subeva, a Bulgarian national who says she is a Princeton graduate, pled to one count of Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering.

According to published reports, there was a $372m loan to state-owned entities in Mozambique, with a $1m kickback, $200m of which she laundered through her own bank account. There are seven other defendants in the case, including two other Credit Suisse bankers, (who are fighting extradition from the UK) and the former Finance Minister of Mozambique. Subeva came voluntarily to the United States; she has been released on bail, which is a good indication that she intends to cooperate with the authorities.

This case, and previous matters that we have reported on, causes us to ask the question: is there a culture of corruption and the facilitation of money laundering at Credit Suisse, in its London office ?  

Contributed by Kenneth Rijock - Financial Crime Consultant

Chronicles of Monte Friesner - Financial Crime Analyst  

IRAN EVADING SANCTIONS BY USING SYRIANS WITH CARIBBEAN ISLAND OF ANTIGUA CITIZEN BY INVESTMENT (CBI) PASSPORTS OPERATING IN THE EAST CARIBBEAN STATES

The Islamic Republic of Iran, which is scrambling to create new covert financial pipelines to defeat and evade US sanctions, is apparently building one in Antigua & Barbuda, with the able assistance of Syrian agents. What you see above is a Citizenship by Investment (CBI/CIP) passport, issued by Antigua, to a Syrian national. According to our sources, Mohamad Ayad Ghazal, the passport holder,  used forged documents in support of his CBI application in Antigua. Also, the passport was among those listed as "stolen" by Antiguan authorities, but shows up as a government-issued document.

Mohamaf Ayad Ghazal is the Director of Operations for Syria's national railway system, though he is operating from, and a resident of, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Obviously, he has a part-time residence in the primary jurisdiction used to accomplish the forwarding of goods, where end users ostensibly in the UAE, ship the goods inwaes ultimately to Iran, thus making an end run around sanctions, is no accident. He's no railway executive, but an operative in Iran's global sanctions evasion scheme. 

Reliable sources in Antigua have reported that a number of Syrian nationals have obtained Antigua CBI passports; they have been observed conducting business, of an unknown nature, in Antigua.

Additionally, several Iranian nationals have recently filed CBI applications; it is not known whether  passports have already been issued to them. Most East Caribbean states have blacklisted Iran and other high-risk jurisdictions from their CBI programs. The fact that Antigua, whose program only allows expats living outside the sanctioned jurisdiction, violates its own policies, in issuing a CBI passport to Ghazal. This individual is a PEP, politically Exposed Person; he works for the Iranian government, which makes him a santcioned individual by definition. It appears that Antigua's CIP program performs little or no compliance on applicants.

Antigua PM Gaston Browne and mentor Castro

Why is Antigua allowing itself to become a center for Iranian sanctions evasion activity ? Perhaps you might want to ask the country's leader, Prime Minister Gaston Browne, a left-of-center candidate with ties to the Governments of both Cuba and Venezuela. We wonder whether he understands that short-term financial gains, due to the additional CBI passport income, and international trade transactions being conducted by the new "Syrian" Antiguans, will not be worth the exposure to sanctions violations or terrorist financing charges by the United States, especially Antigua's banks.

Contributed by Kenneth Rijock - Financial Crime Consultant

Chronicles of Monte Friesner - Financial Crime Analyst  

FACE OF THE CRIMINAL LEADER OF ORGANIZED CRIME IN BRITISH COLUMBIA ?

KWOK CHUNG TAM is the alleged kingpin of a Chinese organized crime cartel operating a narcotics trafficking ring in British Columbia, a transnational organized crime syndicate that sells heroin and fentanyl in Canada. It is the laundering of narcotic profits in BC that has drawn the attention of Canada's press.

Kwok has, thus far, avoided conviction for any serious crimes in Canada, but he remains a major target of law enforcement. His attorneys have a history of harassing Canadian media when they write about his alleged criminal activities.

This is a counterfeit passport seized by Canadian law enforcement. KWOK has never been a citizen of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

Contributed by Kenneth Rijock - Financial Crime Consultant

Chronicles of Monte Friesner - Financial Crime Analyst