FUGITIVE CAYMAN GANG OF FOUR FRAUDSTER'S US LAWYERS TRY TO MUZZLE WHISTLEBLOWERS

FROM THE - CHRONICLES Of Andrei Slavenkov Netherlands –  Analyst For Wanted SA ~ Contributed & Written By Kenneth Rijock ~

Two news websites have received what purport to be copyright  notices, claiming that sites carrying news of fugitive fraudster Cayman Gang of Four Ryan Bateman, which include his photograph, violate Bateman's copyright. It appears to be an effort to intimidate anyone who is publishing news about Bateman, to keep his photograph off the Internet.

The language of the demands, sent by a defamation specialist at the Cincinnati law firm of Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP. was precisely the same in both letters. It warned the recipients that Bateman was the copyright owner of the photo, and that use of the photo was neither authorized by him, or pursuant to law, and demanded that it be removed.

Readers familiar with the term "Fair Use" know that the use of copyrighted information, in news articles, of an image, is specifically allowed, under US statutory and case law.

We also note that nowhere, in Bateman's own posting of his photo, is there indication or embedding, indicating that the image is copyright-protected. Furthermore, Bateman has failed to timely object, when the image was published, in over 70 news articles, on the Internet, during the past two years.

We are at a loss to understand why such an experienced Internet attorney, from a large law firm, disregarded the law, in sending the demand letter to media. His firm has been monitoring all the articles about their client's Cayman Islands mega-fraud, his fugitive status, from a felony charge, and his sordid past, in the securities field, for several weeks, and his photo has shown up on this blog, many times in the part six months.

The photo, as it appeared in the Curacao Chronicle

If Bateman should choose to file a civil suit, upon any grounds, against any media source, contesting the truth and accuracy of the reports, he would subsequently be required to present himself for deposition; at that time, any law enforcement agency with a charge against him, could take him into custody; we look forward to seeing him to sue those who write about his crimes. The defense to libel is truth.

If prospective investors do not see Bateman's image, then they may fall victim to any frauds he perpetrates in the future. We want his photo to be widely distributed, as he allegedly was a major player in the theft of $450m, from accounts of Canadian & American retirees and pensioner, in the Cayman Gang of four scandal, which has been widely reported in the media for the past eight months.

The Cayman Gang of Four are the trader Ryan Bateman, ex-Dundee Banker Sharon Lexa Lamb (the ringleader), former Dundee Bank President Derek Buntain, and B & C Capital/Bateman Capital Managing Director, Fernando Motto Mendes.

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CHINA TRIES TO COVER UP NEWS OF ITS CORRUPT PEPS BY KIDNAPPING HONG KONG PUBLISHERS

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

All the news on corrupt Chinese PEPs is important to compliance officers, but it also sells big in Hong Kong, where mainland censorship does not exist.

China's kidnapping of five publishing house executives, from companies that regularly publish details of Chinese corruption at the highest level, reinforces the fact that China simply does not want you to know about the extent of corruption, among its power elite, many of whom have socked away millions obtained illegally, all in overseas accounts and investments.

One of those kidnapped was a UK citizen, taken in Hong Kong, which is a serious breach of the British-Chinese agreement on the former Crown colony. Another, a Swedish citizen, was kidnapped in Thailand. No wonder the public in Hong Kong is angry and frightened.

If China can go to such lengths, to intimidate individuals who publish the truth about its leaders, then all EU and North American compliance officers should adopt the position that ALL affluent Chinese nationals seeking to open accounts, or business relationships require Enhanced Due Diligence investigations, because the truth of their PEP status could be well hidden, and not reported in the media.

I would now consider that there is a rebuttable presumption that your new wealthy Chinese client is a PEP, until you eliminate him as such. This may sound overbearing, but since China is going to such lengths to be opaque about its leaders, one must assume the worst, until you rule it out.

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GREG ALAN SALARD ALASKAN PHYSICIAN SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS FOR RECEIVING AND DISTRIBUTING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

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

~Contributed by FBI ~

Alaskan Physician Sentenced to 20 Years for Receiving and Distributing Child Pornography

An Alaskan physician was sentenced to 20 years in prison and a lifetime term of supervised release for receiving and distributing child pornography, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Karen. L. Loeffler of the District of Alaska.

Dr. Greg Alan Salard, 54, of Wrangell, Alaska, was found guilty on July 28, 2015, after a six-day trial before Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy M. Burgess of the District of Alaska, who also sentenced Salard late yesterday and ordered him to pay a $25,000 fine. 

According to evidence presented at trial, between June and October 2014, an Internet Protocol address linked to Salard was used to share known child sexual exploitation files and a laptop computer seized from Salard’s home contained peer to peer software that was used to share one of the images identified during the investigation.  

A forensic examination of the laptop uncovered evidence of hundreds of child sexual exploitation files, that multiple searches had been run on the laptop for a term associated with child sexual exploitation and that child sexual exploitation videos had been viewed on the computer.  The evidence also revealed that a program designed to erase or “wipe” computer files had been used multiple times, including on the morning the search warrant was executed.

The FBI investigated the case, with assistance from the U.S. Forest Service; the Petersburg, Alaska, Police Department; the Wrangell Police Department; and the Juneau, Alaska, Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Reardon of the District of Alaska and Trial Attorney Leslie Williams Fisher of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  

Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

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MARTINELLI ALLY DIRECTS EFFORTS TO UNSEAT PANAMANIAN GOVERNMENT FROM COLOMBIA

FROM THE - CHRONICLES Of Andrei Slavenkov Netherlands –  Analyst For Wanted SA ~ Contributed & Written By Kenneth Rijock ~

Salomón Shamah, the former Panamanian Minister of Tourism, under the former government of Ricardo Martinelli, is reportedly directing the operation who goal is the resignation of the Varela administration, or failing that, initiating a coup d'etat in Panama. 

While Shamah has avoid entering Panama of late, his wife is said to be serving as his emissary to factions within the country, seeking support among the power elite. He is one of the leaders of the movement to unseat Varela, and replace him with Martinelli.

The people of the Republic of Panama, sick of official corruption, and seeing that the much-anticipated reform movement of Varela has failed to make any significant progress, since taking office, are being bombarded with calls for his resignation. 

This movement is reportedly led by Panama's powerful Syrian Organized Crime Syndicate (whose less politically correct description is the Sephardic Group), who wish to dismantle the current leadership, under the guise of replacing a failed administration. 

In truth and in fact,  the plotters wish to enthrone a Martinelli-led coalition, which will unfortunately, place Panama back into a system featuring massive, systemic corruption.   

Shamah, a Colombian national who holds Panamanian citizenship, whose prior involvement in drug smuggling and arms trafficking, let alone ties to David Murcia/DMG, caused his US visa to be revoked, is rumored to have been engaged in money laundering of narcotics profits, of close ties to Ricardo Martinelli, and of engaging in official corruption while in office. He is known to be commanding the extralegal efforts to remove President Varela.

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INDICTED CHIEF JUSTICE OF PANAMA'S SUPREME COURT NAMED GOODWILL AMBASSADOR TO OAS

FROM THE - CHRONICLES Of Andrei Slavenkov Netherlands –  Analyst For Wanted SA ~ Contributed & Written By Kenneth Rijock ~

José Ayú Prado, the head of the Supreme Court of Justice in the Republic of Panama, has inexplicably been named the Goodwill Ambassador of Panama, to the Organization of American States. 

This judge has been charged in no less than thirteen cases, and faces removal, prison time for accepting bribes and other unlawful compensation, and probably eventual money laundering, for seeking to hide his ill-gotten gain in real estate purchases.

Ayú Prado personifies all that is evil in the totally corrupt Panamanian justice system. If he didn't have incriminating information on the sitting Panamanian president, Juan Carlos Varela, he would be in a prison cell. Unfortunately, the universal corruption that pervades Panama prevents true reform, because the reformers are themselves dirty.

Panama is unable to clean itself up; no wonder its citizens have begged the United Nations to step in. it will remain blacklisted for foreign investors, North American retirees and pensioners, and any businessman who wants to operate in a country where the rule of law is respected.

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DON'T TRUST YOUR PANAMA LAWYER TO KNOW THE LAW: HE MAY HAVE BOUGHT HIS DIPLOMA

FROM THE - CHRONICLES Of Andrei Slavenkov Netherlands –  Analyst For Wanted SA ~ Contributed & Written By Kenneth Rijock ~

When a client retains an attorney, anywhere in the world, he explicitly trusts that lawyer to: (1) know the laws of his country, whether they be statutory or case law,  (2) to be able to navigate through the various court systems, by understanding their rules of procedure, and (3) to be a zealous advocate for his or her client. Unfortunately, in the Republic of Panama this is not always the case. Do you know why ?

Panama's legal system suffers from several major problems, the most pressing one being that many members of the judiciary rules in favor of the party paying the largest bribe, and this includes the members of the Supreme Court of Justice, including its president, who is the functional equivalent of the chief justice, who was just reelected to that post, notwithstanding the dozen criminal charges pending against him.

Here are the specific reasons why you cannot trust some Panama City lawyers to represent you in court, or in office practice:

(1) A number of wealthy Panamanians actually purchased their law degree for cold cash; they never attended one hour of instruction in law school, where one learns issue perception, the process by which attorneys identify issues, through a study of decisions designed to teach them how to extract them.

(2) Panama has no required bar examination; it has the diploma privilege, meaning that all graduates of Panama's law schools are automatically admitted to the practice of law. The are not tested on their knowledge of the major subjects, procedure, ethics, or any other subject lawyers must master, and be tested upon, in Western democracies.

So, follow me here: a son of an affluent ( whether legitimately wealthy, or affluent through criminal activity) Panamanian buys his law school diploma, get admitted to the bar, by virtue of his degree, and puts up his shingle in Panama City. This is a nightmare waiting to happen.

Some of these non-lawyer lawyers hire competent, trained and educated, lawyers to work in their offices, but they often jump in on actual cases, with disastrous results, When a layman masquerades as a lawyer, the client is denied the services of a legal mind, working on his behalf. I do not have to tell you what the usual outcome is. Of course, if the fake lawyer bribes the judge, as often occurs, the playing field is often leveled. Yes, it is that kind of justice system; you are best served by staying out of it.

Unless your lawyer is from a top Panama city law firm, where the attorneys often hold advanced law degrees (LL.M. or rarely S.J.D./J.S.D.) from North American or European law schools,  you have no guarantee that the lawyer you select to help you is only a poser, not the real mccoy.

A final note: the above-mention head of the Supreme Court of Justice of Panama, is himself on lawyer; yes, José Ayú Prado, himself, is not a lawyer. Watch yourself in Panama, please, lest you get burned.

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MARTINELLI'S SUPPORTERS IN PANAMA SEEK TO REMOVE REFORMIST GOVERNMENT BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY

FROM THE - CHRONICLES Of Andrei Slavenkov Netherlands –  Analyst For Wanted SA ~ Contributed & Written By Kenneth Rijock ~

The reappearance of a number of powerful Panamanians*, who are known supporters of disgraced (and indicted) former President Ricardo Martinelli, and the recurring rumors, to the effect that they intend to remove the current reform president, Juan Carlos Varela Rodriguez, through a coup, has spread unease throughput Panama City.

Martinelli, presently living in Miami, by virtue some non-public back-room arrangement. with an unnamed American law enforcement agency, has made no bones about his desire to return to power, through any means necessary. The reform process in Panama has frightened the country's powerful organized crime syndicate, whose best patron has always been Martinelli; they are supporting Varela's departure.

The upshot of this is a growing reluctance, on the part of foreign investors, to bring their capital into Panama at this time. The perceived risk levels, already greatly increased due to the massive corruption cases pending in Panama, since Martinelli's departure, are now so high that new money is looking elsewhere in the Caribbean for placement.

As the economy contracts in Panama, capital flight is inevitable, notwithstanding the government's efforts to tax, control, and curtail, it. This new uncertainty is sure to raise Country Risk levels even higher than they are at this time.

Whether Panama should be completely redlined for all banking, and investment purposes, is a matter for individual assessment, but there is a well-founded fear that the situation will further deteriorate.
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*The coup d'etat plot is being led by former Minister for Tourism, Salomón Shamah, whose US visa was reportedly revoked years ago for his involvement in Colombian drug trafficking.

   Minister Salomón Shamah

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