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  

MONTE FRIESNER & KENNETH RIJOCK EXPOSE M0NEY LAUNDERING THROUGH LUXURY CAR PURCHASES IN BRITISH COLUMBIA CONTINUES UNCHECKED

Reports from the Canadian Province of British Columbia about rampant money laundering raise the question: when, if even, will Ottawa step in and bring it under control ? whether it is the forty-two million dollars of dirty money laundered through real estate purchases, or the out-of-control casino money laundering, something definitely need to be done at the Federal level. Blame rests with the policies of the Liberal Party government in Canada's capital, as well as in British Columbia, for failure to act decisively to check Chinese organized crime.

One verified story, about a buyer paying CAD$240,000, all in cash, to purchase a high-end luxury car at a local new car dealership, demonstrates the abject failure of government, and indeed law enforcement, to suppress money laundering through automobile purchases. One source said the cash was taken to the dealer's bank by several staff members, as they were concerned about a robbery. Are businesses in BC so fearless of law enforcement that they so openly cooperate with money launderers ? Perhaps it is because many known convicted felons own auto sales companies.

Another note stated that foreign purchasers of automobiles, straw men obviously, using Chinese drivers' licenses as identifications, export the vehicles abroad, and and received $85m in sales tax rebates over the last six years. What's wrong with this picture ?

Apparently, the current Federal Government in power in Ottawa failed last year, to impose mandatory reporting, to FINTRAC, of cash sales of high-end vehicles. Did industry lobbyists stop the legislation under consideration ? Someone in Canada needs to step up and clean up BC, before all the other provinces become similarly infected. 

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