PANAMA CONTINUES TO BE CRIMINAL JURISDICTION.

FROM THE - JOURNALS of Monte Friesner – Criminal & Intelligence Analyst and Consulaire for WANTED SA ~ Contributed & Written by Kenneth Rijock

IS PANAMA BURNING ?

With the explosion of anti-corruption public sentiment in the Republic of Panama, the people are demonstrating their unhappiness with a government where most of the ministers, and their president, are accused of insider trading, among many other crimes and misdeeds.

 Add this to the total failure of the local law enforcement and financial regulatory community, when it comes to rampant and universal money laundering, and you have a recipe for disaster.

The United States has studiously avoided any involvement in Panama since it intervened to remove and arrest General Noriega, so you cannot expect any help there. The EU is also ignoring the issue of institutionalized money laundering in the banks. What is to be done ?

The only card left to play is a return to the FATF NCCT list; name & shame Panama as a non-compliant country for money laundering and terrorist financing. The question is, does the Financial Action Task Force have the stomach to return to the blacklist as a enforcement ands reform tool ? Let us hope that someone there is paying attention, for only a radical solution will work.

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COURT ACCEPTED TO HEAR VIKTOR BOUT'S APPEAL

FROM THE - JOURNALS of Monte Friesner – Criminal & Intelligence Analyst and Consulaire for WANTED SA ~ Contributed & Written by Kenneth Rijock

APPEALS COURT SCHEDULES ORAL 
ARGUMENT IN VICTOR BOUT CASE

For those legal experts who thought that Viktor Bout's appeal of his conviction was frivolous, and without any legal merit, be advised  that the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has scheduled Oral Argument in the case for 10 AM, on 22 August.

The hearing, where each side will be given ten minutes to make its case, will be at the United States courthouse in Manhattan, at Foley Square.

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THE ILLUSION OF FAIRNESS IN VENEZUELA IS GONE.

 FROM THE - JOURNALS of Monte Friesner – Criminal & Intelligence Analyst and Consulaire for WANTED SA

~Contributed & Written by Kenneth Rijock ~

VENEZUELA TO USE MILITARY UNITS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT ROLES.

  

If you had any illusions left about the fairness of the criminal justice system in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, they have now completely evaporated; the government has announced that members of all branches of its armed forces shall now be tasked with law enforcement duties in that Latin American nation.

What little protection remains, under the country's Constitution, against arbitrary arrest, and detention without trial, or assistance of counsel, will certainly disappear, as the Venezuelan military does not answer to those few members of the judiciary who are not Chavista appointees, and actually follow the law.

This is but one additional factor in my current opinion, to the effect that Country Risk levels in Venezuela are so high at present, to recommend that you engage in no new investment, no major extension of credit, and no exposure of your staff to the possibility of arrest.

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Cuba And Its Corruption.

FROM THE - JOURNALS of Monte Friesner – Criminal & Intelligence Analyst and Consulaire for WANTED SA

~Contributed & Written by Kenneth Rijock ~

COUNTRY RISK REMAINS HIGH FOR CUBA

The Havana closed non-jury trial of Canadian businessman Sarkis Yacoubian has concluded after two days of hearings that will surely be regarded as a travesty of justice; a judgment is expected at the Peoples' Tribunal for Havana Province shortly. Mr. Yacoubian could receive as much as twelve years on corruption charges. The fact that he was the whistle blower of major institutional governmental corruption notwithstanding, he will be spending a substantial amount of time in one of Cuba's notorious prisons. Apparently, the embarrassing exposure of corruption will result in conviction of the messenger.

Since his arrest, several foreign business executives, as well as government officials, and leaders of state-controlled corporation have been detained. Inasmuch as bribes and kickbacks are required to open, and maintain, any foreign-owned business in Communist Cuba, you can expect the current purge, of officials as well as the foreign businessmen who paid them, to be extensive, and dangerous to foreign investors, businessmen and professionals.

Investing in Cuba, for foreign individuals and entities, appears to be out of the question at this time; keep your Country Risk for Cuba at the highest level, which strongly discourages investment, any banking relationships, and any expenditure of significant amounts of capital.

CORRUPTION AND EXTRADITION IN COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT

FROM THE - JOURNALS of Monte Friesner – Criminal & Intelligence Analyst and Consulaire for WANTED SA

Corrupt Colombian government employee and criminal defense attorney extradited to USA in obstruction of justice case

A corrupt Colombian government employee and a criminal defense attorney were extradited to the United States and arraigned on obstruction of justice charges Wednesday. These events stems from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Freddy Mauricio Tellez-Buitrago, 34, and Adriana Gonzalez-Marquez, 33, both Colombian nationals, face obstruction of justice charges for stealing sensitive and confidential U.S. law enforcement information concerning prosecutions in the Eastern District of New York and selling that information to a narcotics trafficker.

"Gonzalez-Marquez and Tellez-Buitrago allegedly used their connections within the Colombian government to provide sensitive information to members of drug trafficking organizations. This type of criminal espionage greatly threatens our efforts to capture criminals abroad and threatens the safety of American and Colombian law enforcement officers alike," said James T. Hayes Jr., special agent in charge of HSI New York. "HSI, working with our attachés and international and federal law enforcement partners, contributes to the disruption of drug trafficking organizations that line their pockets with millions of dollars in illicit proceeds." 

"These defendants used their insider’s knowledge of the Colombian Attorney General’s Office to steal confidential information that put lives at risk. The extradition of the defendants highlights the success of the international cooperation between the United States and Colombia," said U.S. Attorney Loretta E. Lynch, Eastern District of New York. "We will continue to take every step to target individuals who attempt to compromise the judicial process by obstructing justice here and in Colombia, placing the lives of law enforcement personnel in jeopardy." 

"Today, as the defendants in this case stepped onto American soil, Freddy Mauricio Tellez-Buitrago and Adriana Gonzalez-Marquez realized the harsh reality that there is no amount of money worth their charged criminal acts," said Brian Crowell, special agent in charge of the DEA New York Field Division. "Federal, state, local and international law enforcement united their resources to expose the defendants’ obstruction of justice and extradited them to the U.S. to face our judicial system, a system they allegedly tried to endanger by selling sensitive information and supplying it to the enemies of cops everywhere – drug traffickers."

 Prior to his arrest, Tellez-Buitrago was employed as an administrative services assistant at the International Affairs Office within the Attorney General’s Office in Colombia. Prior to her arrest, Gonzalez-Marquez, a former prosecutor at the Colombia Attorney General’s Office, was practicing as a Colombian criminal defense attorney. Tellez-Buitrago and Gonzalez-Marquez were arrested in Colombia Nov. 16, 2012, on provisional arrest warrants issued from the Eastern District of New York.

 The defendants’ extradition resulted from an investigation, which revealed that through his employment at the Colombian Attorney General’s Office, Tellez-Buitrago had specialized access to law enforcement materials, including requests from the United States government for the extradition of alleged Colombian drug traffickers. Typically, the Colombian authorities treat such extradition requests as sensitive and confidential until the arrest of the individual whose extradition is sought. Tellez-Buitrago is charged with accepting bribes from Gonzalez-Marquez in exchange for leaking documents relating to Eastern District of New York extradition requests for narcotics traffickers. Gonzalez-Marquez, in turn, allegedly sold the information to a narcotics trafficker in exchange for the equivalent of approximately 30,000 in U.S. dollars.

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CUBA IS A DANGEROUS COUNTRY FOR FOREIGNERS TO INVEST.

FROM THE - JOURNALS of Monte Friesner – Criminal & Intelligence Analyst and Consulaire for WANTED SA

~Contributed & Written by Kenneth Rijock ~

RAISE COUNTRY RISK FOR CUBA DUE TO INVESTIGATION AND ARRESTS OF FOREIGN BUSINESSMEN

Two prominent Canadian businessmen* are languishing in Cuban jails, one already charged with corruption**, and admitted his involvement, and the other incarcerated for two years without formal charges. The Canadian who had admitted giving large bribes, and gifts, to secure government business, has detailed the depth of rampant corruption in Cuba.

He has gone so far as to reportedly make a video explaining exactly how bribes are paid to high-level Cuban officials, to obtain contracts with government entities, and this program has been shown to a large number of senior officials, as a part of a widespread anti-corruption investigation. The businessman has alleged that virtually all foreigners doing business with Cuba must continually pay illegal compensation, before, and during, the performance of contracts with Cuban agencies and entities. 

Businessmen from  Canada, and the European Union, working in and with Cuba, now face possible arrests, seizure of their assets inside Cuba, and closure of their commercial operations, as fallout from the high-profile Canadian cases drives the corruption enquiry. Inasmuch as one must take it as given that all the major foreign businesses have paid illegal compensation, to secure Cuban business, expect a witch hunt in Havana.

Is this a good time to consider doing business in Cuba ? I doubt it, and if you are financially exposed, it might be the appropriate time to reduce risk by divesting yourself of your holdings there, if that is possible.

Compliance officers should review all available material, and decide whether to raise Country Risk on Cuba at this time. I recommend that you do, lest a bank client, or your bank itself, risk a total loss of investment, due to the investigation, and resulting crackdown on corruption,  and/or arrest of your people there.

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*Sarkis Yakoubian abnd Cy Tokmakjian.

** The specific charge is Crimes Against the Security of the State.

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