US law enforcement agencies were aware of Ali Sadr Hasheminejad's activities on behalf of Iran as early as 2011, when he sought to purchase, in bulk, Panama's coveted bearer-share corporations. Information which recently surfaced in Hasheminejad's US money laundering case confirmed that warrants were issued, upon court approval, to search sixteen e-mail addresses connected to the defendant, his business associates, and extended family members, in 2014. He was a target long before the Pilatus Bank application was ever filed.
Why the Government of Malta would issue Pilatus a banking license to the Iranian, (although he held himself out as a Kittitian, due to his St Kitts & Nevis CBI passport), is a mystery. Any enhanced due diligence search would have uncovered Hasheminejad's substantial and longtime ties to government officials in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Was the transaction facilitated through the artful payment of bribes ? We cannot say, but no director of compliance worthy of that title would have approved Pilatus Bank's application. Something corrupt certainly occurred to make that approval happen.
Was the transaction facilitated through the artful payment of bribes ? We cannot say, but no director of compliance worthy of that title would have approved Pilatus Bank's application. Something corrupt certainly occurred to make that approval happen.
Chronicles of Monte Friesner - Financial Crime Analyst
Contributed by Kenneth Rijock - Financial Crime Consultant
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