Bank of Angola for co-operation in money laundering prevention

The director of the financial information department of the National Reserve Bank of Angola (BNA), Francisca de Brito highlighted in Luanda the need for public and private financial institutions to co-operate with the state in the prevention of Money laundering and terrorism funding.

The director said so to Angop after the opening ceremony of the seminar on “Awareness on Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Funding”.

Francisca de Brito said that such involvement is intended to safeguard the interest of Angola of not being considered by international entities as a safe haven of this evil that threatens economies.

In addition, Francisca de Brito said that the Angolan government is concerned about the consequences of Money Laundering and Terrorism Funding in the integrity of the financial system.

She said that BNA has regulations and warnings for banks and other financial institutions in order to strengthen measures on “know the customer and his/her business”, practices that may prevent harmful situation to the financial sector.

The event is being organised by the African Foundation Innovation, an organisation created by Angolans in Switzerland.

The seminar is discussing themes such as “The Impact on Economic Growth and Social Development”, “The risks, prudential and macroeconomic consequences”, “The Role of Supervision and the Financial Intelligence Unit, among other topics.

To end on Monday afternoon, the event is being attended by the Justice Minister, Guilhermina Prata and BNA governor, José de Lima Massano.

Source: ANGOP

Govt must seized black money stashed in Swiss banks

CPM politburo member S R Pillai, while demanding confiscation of black money stashed in Swiss bank accounts, has said check on corruption will be the main slogan of anti-price rise agitation to be launched from February 9 to 20 by ten Left and secular parties.


Talking to the newsmen here on Sunday, Pillai said the failure of the UPA-II government at the Centre in unearthing black money stashed in Swiss banks and other tax havens has been exposed by the recent observations of the Supreme Court. He said unaccounted and ill-gotten wealth, amassed through tax evasion, money laundering and other illegal means, kept in Swiss banks should be directly confiscated by the Centre.

While maintaining that common people were suffering due to the relentless increase in the prices of food items, Pillai said onions and vegetables had gone out of the reach of the common people.

"Food inflation remains unbearably high. Yet, the UPA government remains callous to the plight of the people. False assurances are given that the prices will come down within a short period. The ministers in the UPA government are giving contradictory statements regarding price rise and ways to tackle it," he added.

He said since deregulation, petrol prices have been hiked seven times leading to 20 per cent rise in petrol prices and adedd oil companies had increased the price of petrol twice in a month.The hike amounts to a steep Rs 5.50 per litre, he said.

Source: The Times of India

Left to govt: Confiscate black money in Swiss Bank accounts

The Left parties today asked thegovernment to confiscate the black money allegedly stashed in Swiss Bank accounts and make the names of the account-holderspublic.

"Government should not only obtain full details of theseaccounts, but also make the names of the account-holderspublic and bring the money back to the country for investmentin social projects," party leader Sitaram Yechury toldreporters here.

In a statement, the CPI(M) Politburo said the "laxity"of the UPA Government in unearthing black money stashed inSwiss Bank accounts and other tax havens "has been exposed bythe recent observations of the Supreme Court".

It said the "unaccounted and ill-gotten wealth, amassedthrough tax evasion, money laundering and other illegal means,parked in these Swiss Bank accounts should be directlyconfiscated by the Union Government from the Swiss Banks.

"These monies should be brought back to India and thedetails of the account holders must be made public," it said,adding that any delay in undertaking these steps would beunacceptable.

Earlier, CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan had said,"What is the secrecy about black money? Why are they notrevealing the names? Why are they keeping them (names) undersealed cover? We want to know who they are".

He had said that those who had kept money stashed inSwiss bank accounts had done so to evade taxes. "They are taxevaders. They have committed a crime. The fund should beconfiscated."

The Left parties'' demand came after the apex court pulledup the government for witholding information on black moneystashed in foreign banks, saying it was not just limited totax evasion but was a "mind boggling crime" amounting to"theft" and "plunder" of national wealth having securityramifications.

Earlier, a Swiss bank staffer had handed over details of2,000 secret Swiss bank accounts to whistle-blowing siteWikileaks, claiming the list, contained in two compact discs,included names of about 40 politicians, multinationalcompanies and financial institutions from Asia, Europe and theUnited States.

Maintaining that the website would publish the list infuture, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said he wanted theworld to know the truth about money concealed in offshoreaccounts, how they evaded taxes and the systems in place tokeep this secret.

Source: OneIndia

Tunisians, Swiss Target Family Cash

Bank accounts, properties and holdings owned by Tunisia's ousted leader and his family came under scrutiny Wednesday in Tunisia and Europe, intensifying what promises to be a long battle over assets that activists and Tunisians officials say the family illegally gained during the ex-president's 23-year rule.

Tunisian officials said Wednesday they had opened an investigation into allegations that former president Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali and his relatives illegally transferred assets and currency overseas, according to the state news agency. The probe targeted Mr. Ben Ali, his wife, Leila Trabelsi, and dozens of their relatives.

Federal authorities in Switzerland announced Wednesday an immediate freeze of all Swiss assets belonging to Mr. Ben Ali, his wife and about 40 family members.

In France, anticorruption activists said they filed a complaint with Paris prosecutors Wednesday, urging judicial officials to freeze French assets of Mr. Ben Ali and about 12 family members—which they say includes bank accounts and real estate in Paris and the French Riviera—alleging misappropriation of Tunisian public funds and money laundering.

Mr. Ben Ali and an unknown number of his relatives fled Tunisia for Saudi Arabia on Friday. Their surprise exit followed a month of popular protests against the president that included allegations that their lavish lifestyle was funded by corruption.

The exact whereabouts of Mr. Ben Ali and his wife in Saudi Arabia weren't known. Mr. Ben Ali has made no public statements since fleeing to Saudi Arabia. It is unclear whether Mr. Ben Ali or other relatives have engaged legal representation. Calls to several Tunisian businesses owned by Mr. Ben Ali’s relatives went unanswered.

Tunisian state television reported Wednesday that authorities in Tunisia's new caretaker government have arrested 33 members of Mr. Ben Ali's extended family. It wasn't immediately clear who the individuals were, when they were arrested or why they were detained.

Members of Mr. Ben Ali's immediate family control stakes in at least three major banks and hold significant shares in at least two Tunisian cellphone companies and at least one airline, according to local lawyers, officials and others with knowledge of the businesses. Holding companies controlled by family members have partnerships with foreign firms operating in Tunisia, which include branches of European car makers and retailers, these people say.

Daniel Lebègue, head of the French arm of anticorruption group Transparency International, estimated Mr. Ben Ali and his clan controlled an estimated 35% of Tunisia's economy. Tunisia's gross domestic product reached an estimated $44 billion last year. Mr. Lebègue's estimate wasn't immediately verifiable.

The Tunisian actions represents the latest in a series of decrees by the North African country's new caretaker government aimed at meeting public demands for widespread political reform and justice. On Tuesday, Tunisia's former ruling party revoked the membership of Mr. Ben Ali, its founder. On Wednesday, the caretaker government started work, with multiple members taking oaths of office.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi announced commissions to investigate corruption and alleged illegal enrichment by Tunisians during Mr. Ben Ali's rule, a position that became clearer with Wednesday's government's announcement that authorities were looking into alleged transfers of assets and currency overseas.

"An investigation in illegal acquisition of personal property, real estate and stock-market investments abroad has been opened by the Public Prosecutor," the statement said, according to state news media.

Switzerland's immediate freeze covers assets that belong to Mr. Ben Ali and dozens of members of his extended family. The Swiss government said it doesn't have a precise picture of these assets but that its order binds bankers, traders or real-estate agents to take note when they come into contact with suspected Ben Ali assets. "We've ordered all financial intermediaries not to touch this money; they must also declare it," said Valentin Zellweger, a director at the Swiss Foreign Ministry.

Anti-corruption activists in France say their complaint with Paris prosecutors urges judicial authorities to freeze Ben Ali family assets in France. The complaint's aim is to return these assets to their owners—the Tunisian state, in most cases—said Mr. Lebègue of Transparency International, which filed the complaint.

An official at Paris prosecutor's office said she had not yet seen the complaint. The French government has said it was standing by to assist Tunisia in recovering any of Mr. Ben Ali's assets found in France and deemed fraudulent.

Much of the public outrage against the old regime focused on the president's wife and a son-in-law, Sakker el-Materi. Protesters last week hurled insults against Mrs. Ben Ali and over the weekend, people looted mansions that neighbors said belonged to Mr. El-Materi.

The Central Bank has placed under administrative control a bank owned by Mr. El-Materi, Bank Zitouna, according to the state news agency. Mr. El-Materi's whereabouts aren't known.

A 2009 U.S. diplomatic cable leaked by the website WikiLeaks included a diplomat's description of a home of Mr. El-Materi, which its author said was staffed by at least a dozen people—an expensive rarity, the cable noted—and was home to a caged tiger named Pasha that ate four chickens a day.

"The situation reminded the Ambassador of Uday Hussein's lion cage in Baghdad," the author wrote, referring to the late son of Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein.

"The opulence with which El Materi and [his wife] Nesrine live and their behavior make clear why they and other members of Ben Ali's family are disliked and even hated by some Tunisians," the author wrote. "The excesses of the Ben Ali family are growing."

Separately Wednesday, Moody's Investor Service Inc. downgraded Tunisia's sovereign rating by one notch, to Baa2 from Baa3, and changed the country's outlook to negative from stable, citing political instability.

By MARGARET COKER in Tunis and DAVID GAUTHIER-VILLARS in Paris

Write to Margaret Coker at margaret.coker@wsj.com and David Gauthier-Villars at David.Gauthier-Villars@wsj.com

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Occurrence of Money Laundering Grows by 29% in Switzerland

There have been over 1000 cases of suspected money laundering activity or suspicions of serious financial crimes reported to authorities in Switzerland.


According to the figures made available in the latest report published by the Money Laundering Reporting Office of Switzerland (MROS), in the year 2010 there were 1 159 reports submitted to the Office of suspicious financial activity and transactions. Analysis of the report shows that the number of occurrences represents a 29.4 percent increase in the volume of suspicious activity reports (SAR) filed in the year 2009.

The newly published report, drew attention to the particularly high number of filed suspicions submitted regarding the banking sector, with a nearly 71 percent of all SARs being based on perceived offences committed within the industry. The payment services sector was the next most significant contributor to the number of SARs, although it only accounted for 16 percent of all complaints. 55 percent of all cases of dubious financial activity reported to the Office were classified as crimes against property, and 39 percent were regarded as fraud.

The total value of assets covered by the reported SARs was approximately CHF 847 million, which is approximately the same level as in previously analyzed periods.

According to the MROS 86.5 percent of all SARs were forwarded to for legal investigation by the appropriate authorities, with the banking sector seeing over 90 percent of all SARs now undergoing further legal action.

The number of SARs related to terrorist financing in Switzerland was reported to be 13 in 2010, compared to the 7 seen in 2009.

Source: TaxationInfoNews

Russians accused of Swiss money laundering

Russian tax officials are being investigated for alleged money laundering in Switzerland, the federal prosecutor’s office has confirmed.

The Swiss money laundering reporting office received a complaint from legal representatives of an investment fund run by Hermitage Capital Management, a company based in Guernsey that specializes in Russian markets.

The company’s head, Bill Browder, who works out of London, said Switzerland has frozen the accounts of the husband of one of the Russian tax officials suspected of financial fraud.

Hermitage, founded in 1996 by Browder and the late Edmond Safra (a Brazilian who established a bank in Switzerland), claims that it is the victim of a fraud perpetrated by Russian police and tax officials.

One former employee was killed in mysterious circumstances after revealing improper financial dealings.

Other Hermitage associates have reportedly been attacked and robbed, with information stolen from the company’s Moscow offices.

Browder, a supporter of former Russian president Vladimir Putin, was famously blacklisted by the Russian government as a threat to national security, reportedly because he interfered with the flow of money to bureaucrats and business accomplices with links to Putin.

Source: WRS

Swiss money laundering docs mysteriously shifted

As the news comes that the Supreme Court will start hearing petitions against NRO cases from 7th Dec, Geo News has reported that in a secret operation headed by Pakistan envoy to UK, Mr. Wajid Shamsul Hasan, documents and evidences related to the Swiss Money Laundering Case have been taken over in Geneva and shifted to unknown location(s).


It is not clear where these documents are presently kept at, whether they have been brought up to the Pakistan Embassy in UK by Mr Hasan, and who has its official custody now.

The Swiss money-laundering charges against President Asif Zardari were taken seriously by the international banking circles and the governments in 1999 when US Congress launched an intensive investigation into the allegations of money-laundering by Citibank through private banking.

A permanent sub-committee on investigation by the US Congress found two cases intriguing enough to kick off a thorough probe. Nigeria s military dictator Sani Abacha and President Zardari’s bank accounts qualified for this investigation and US Congress found that both had been involved in money-laundering through Citibanks negligence, said a report.

Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Britain Mr. Wajid Shamsul Hasan, is a close confidant of President Asif Zardai and the Bhutto family. He reportedly personally received at least 12 cartons of original documents and evidences against Mr Zarari against whom the money laundering case was filed by the Pakistan government in Geneva, Geo News reported Tuesday.

Geo News team is said to have secretly filmed the whole episode from an undisclosed location after receiving tip-off from reliable sources.

According to its correspondent, the Prosecutor General of Pakistan deposited these cartons to Geneva legal authorities during the former President Gen (R) Pervez Musharraf’s government.

The secret operation on Monday was carried out at the bidding of a "top personality" of Pakistan, says Geo, as these evidences could be used if the said case was reopened after the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) term came to an end, on November 28, 2009.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has announced that it will look into the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) that has benefited President Zardari among others. The hearings are said to start on December 7th.
The judge in Geneva, Daniel Devaud, who originally investigated the charges against President Zardari late wife Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto is on record having said that the withdrawal of the case does not prove Zardari’s innocence. The withdrawal of the case had come as a shock to me and it should not be interpreted as a sign of Zardari’s innocence, the Daily Times quoted Devaud as saying.

Source: PK on WEB

Charges still dog Benazir's husband

ISLAMABAD: Benazir Bhutto's husband, who took effective control of his slain wife's party yesterday, is a former cabinet minister who spent eight years in prison on corruption charges and is known as "Mr 10 Per Cent" for allegedly taking kickbacks.

In her will, read yesterday, Bhutto named Asif Ali Zardari as her successor as head of the Pakistan People's Party in case of her death. But Mr Zardari, who is viewed with suspicion by many Pakistanis, appointed his son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, as official chairman of the party that the 19-year-old's grandfather founded in 1967.

Mr Zardari, 54, who comes from a feudal family, shot to fame after his arranged marriage to Bhutto, who become prime minister for the first time in 1988, less than three months after giving birth to her son. Bhutto's husband is generally blamed for many of her political misfortunes, with her twice being forced out of the prime minister's office over allegations of corruption and misrule.

He was jailed for the first time in 1990 on charges ranging from murder to fraud when Bhutto's first government was dismissed. He was released in 1993 and acquitted of the charges, including the claim he tried to extort millions of dollars from a British man by attaching a bomb to his leg. Mr Zardari said the charges were politically motivated.

Mr Zardari became investment minister in Bhutto's second government, and was nicknamed "Mr 10 Per Cent" for allegedly skimming off commissions on government contracts.

He was jailed a second time in 1996 over corruption allegations and his alleged involvement in an attack on Bhutto's brother, Murtaza, who died in a shootout near his home in Karachi.

After years in prison Mr Zardari was freed in 2004 and left Pakistan to live with his family in the United Arab Emirates. He still faces charges at a Swiss court of money laundering. He is accused of siphoning off $US1.5 billion in kickbacks.

A Geneva magistrate convicted Bhutto and her husband in absentia of money laundering in 2003 under a Swiss law that empowers high-level investigators to impose penalties without a court hearing.

They received six-month suspended sentences and were ordered to pay $US11 million to the Pakistani Government, but the conviction was automatically thrown out when the pair contested it. They were then charged by another Swiss magistrate in 2004 and the case was reopened.

The Swiss investigation against Bhutto for alleged money-laundering was declared closed after her assassination last week, although the parallel investigation against her husband remains open.

Swiss authorities said in 1998 they found about 20 million Swiss francs in Swiss accounts belonging to Bhutto and her family. These accounts were frozen at Pakistan's request.

"Zardari is not very much liked in the party. He goes for big hotels, world's best addresses. He wants to live like a prince abroad," said Rafiq Safi, a longtime party activist.

Mr Zardari also has many critics in the West, which could further complicate US hopes that President Pervez Musharraf and the PPP might form a coalition that would unify moderate forces in Pakistan against extremism.

"The US is not going to be excited about working with Zardari," Daniel Markey, fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told The Washington Post.

AP

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22991942-2703,00.html

Swiss deny Bhutto money laundering

Swiss officials have closed a probe into the late Benazir Bhutto for alleged money laundering and have denied charges against her.

The Pakistani opposition leader was killed Thursday in Rawalpindi by a suicide bomber who shot at her and than blew himself up.

A three-year investigation into allegations that Bhutto used Swiss banks to launder millions of dollars in kickbacks has been closed, lawyer Alec has said. He said the charges against Bhutto were steadfastly denied, calling the corruption claims politically motivated.

However, Reymond said a parallel probe would continue against Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, and another unnamed individual.

In 1998, Swiss authorities said they found 20 million Swiss francs (then about US$13.8 million) in Swiss accounts belonging to Bhutto and her family.

The accounts were frozen at the request of Pakistan's government.

"Miss Bhutto has always said that this was not her money. The accounts were not in her name,'' Reymond told The Associated Press.

MMA/RA

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=36765§ionid=351020401

Mexican money remains blocked

The Federal Court says more than $130 million in Swiss bank accounts linked to Raul Salinas, the brother of a former Mexican president, will stay frozen.
In its ruling published on Thursday, the court rejected an appeal by Salinas' wife against an earlier decision by the investigating authorities to keep the money blocked.

The decision enables the Mexican justice authorities to confiscate the assets frozen since 1995 if they present a legal order to their Swiss counterparts.

Switzerland handed over the case of suspected money laundering by Salinas – brother of former president Carlos Salinas – to Mexican officials in 2002.

The court called on the Swiss authorities to closely follow the proceedings in Mexico where Salinas still faces charges of illegal enrichment.

Salinas claims the millions of dollars found in overseas bank accounts were legitimate - not the product of money laundering or political payoffs as prosecutors have suggested.

Paulina Castanon argued that keeping the money frozen for 12 years was excessively long and infringed the principle of proportionality.

But the court referred to the complexity of the case and said the length of the proceedings was not the fault of Switzerland.

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/front/Mexican_money_remains_blocked.html?siteSect=104&sid=8572764&cKey=1198772234000&ty=nd

Jersey lawyer criticises inconsistency of EU money laundering 'white list'

A Jersey lawyer specialising in the field of money laundering and financial services regulation has questioned the validity of the European Union's 'white list' of countries whose money-laundering controls are considered to be equal to those of EU member states, and which notably excludes leading offshore fund jurisdictions in Europe and the Caribbean.

Stephen Platt, an English barrister and chairman of BakerPlatt Group, queries the inclusion on the list of countries such as Russia, Argentina and Mexico, as well Australia and Canada, which have been adjudged to be less than 25 per cent compliant with the international standards established by the Financial Action Task Force.

Platt describes as "bewildering" the suggestion that the white list countries have higher standards of anti-money laundering controls than leading offshore financial services jurisdictions including the UK's Crown Dependencies.

"Having researched the background to some of the countries included, we question why countries that fall behind recognised international standards are on the list, while finance centres such as Jersey, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands are not," says Platt, who advises governments and regulators on the implementation of regulatory and anti-money laundering rules.

An analysis by BakerPlatt and its alliance partner in London, Seven Bedford Row, notes that the first mutual evaluation report on Russia in 2001 by the European Committee on Crime Problems noted as a "critical deficiency" the country's lack of comprehensive laws and regulations implementing international standards on money laundering.

Although a second evaluation in 2004 noted significant improvements, it also found that numbers of investigations, prosecutions and convictions for money laundering were falling and know your customer procedures remained deficient.

A report on Argentina by Gafisud, a regional FATF offshoot for South America, noted inherent weaknesses in legislation that had the effect of impeding successful prosecution of money laundering, while no offence of terrorist financing existed. The country was criticised for its failure to provide statistics in anti-money laundering areas, preventing an assessment of the implementation of core requirements from being carried out.

The FATF's September 2004 report described the application of anti money laundering measures in Mexico as somewhat haphazard, and said the lack of mutual legal assistance legislation not only inhibited the country's ability to co-operate internationally, it also undermined national prosecutions. Bank and trust secrecy was also criticised as impeding investigations.

In addition, the lawyers say, while the FATF praised South Africa for developing a legislative structure to combat money laundering, the absence of a framework to combat the financing of terrorism was noted, whilst the framework in place was so new it needed time to be assessed for its effectiveness.

BakerPlatt notes that Jersey, which was not included on the white list, was assessed as 76 per cent compliant at the time of the island's last assessment by the International Monetary Fund in 2003. The most recent FATF assessments, issued in November last year, rated the Bahamas as 45 per cent compliant and Cayman as 78 per cent compliant.

However, five of the 13 countries on the list were far below this level, according to their most recent IMF assessments: Australia (24 per cent), Canada (14 per cent), Singapore (23 per cent), Switzerland (22 per cent) and the US (31 per cent).

"Australia's and Canada's staggering level of non-compliance with FATF recommendations makes it difficult for the EU to justify their inclusion on the white list on the grounds of 'equivalence'," Platt says.

"Given that the EU recently announced that it is to pursue infringement measures against 15 of its member states for failing to implement the Third Money Laundering Directive into national law, it would perhaps be better placed to give a jurisdiction such as Jersey the recognition it deserves, and the role model some of its member states appear to need, as the leader in the field of anti-money laundering."

Source: HedgeWeek

Taiwan seeks help of foreign banks in money-laundering probe

Taiwan has sought the help of international banks as part of its probe into an alleged money-laundering case implicating former president Chen Shui-bian and his family, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

Merrill Lynch & Co., Credit Suisse Group and ABN Amro Holding NV are among the banks that have pledged to assist the investigation, said a prosecutor who declined to be named.

"We are seeking assistance from the banks as witnesses," the prosecutor said, without elaborating.

When contacted by phone, Merrill Lynch spokeswoman Vicki Kwong said: "As in normal practice, Merrill Lynch is cooperating with authorities."

Taiwan launched a probe this month into alleged money laundering implicating the former first family, following similar moves by Swiss authorities.

Copies of Swiss documents obtained by a Taiwanese lawmaker showed Chen's son Chen Chih-chung and daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching transferred 31 million US dollars to her Swiss bank accounts in 2007.

They were also suspected of laundering money by setting up companies in the Cayman Islands.

Prosecutors have named the couple and Chen Shui-bian, his wife and brother-in-law, as defendants in the case.

The ex-president has admitted that his wife wired 20 million US dollars abroad from his past campaign funds, but said she did so without his knowledge. He has denied any illegal activity.

His son and daughter-in-law have said they merely did their mother's bidding and were unclear about "the source or the background" of any transferred funds.

Chen, who left office in May, is already being investigated for allegedly embezzling 14.8 million Taiwan dollars (480,500 US) in special expenses while president, and his wife is on trial for corruption and document forgery in the same case.

Source: AFP

Switzerland closes money laundering probe against Bhutto

Swiss authorities on Monday closed a long-running probe into alleged money laundering against Benazir Bhutto, the former Pakistani prime minister who was assassinated in December and her husband, Swiss news agency ATS reported.

Bhutto and her husband, businessman Asif Ali Zardari, were suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to launder about 12 million dollars (8.4 million euros) in alleged bribes paid by companies seeking customs inspection contracts in Pakistan in the 1990s.

The couple were formally sentenced by decree on the charges in Geneva in 2003 after a first investigation, but the ruling was overturned on appeal.

Source: The Times of India

Son of Taiwan ex-leader returns to face money laundering charges

The son and daughter-in-law of Taiwan's ex-president Chen Shui-bian Monday returned to the island to face a probe into alleged money laundering implicating the former leader. The couple, listed as defendants along with the ex-leader and his wife Wu Shu-chen over their alleged roles in the scandal, insisted they knew nothing about a 20 million US dollar fund kept at their bank accounts set up by a Swiss bank in Cayman Islands.

"I have no idea about the funds because my mother has long been the one handling the family's money," said the son Chen Chih-chung at the airport.

He stressed he did not know about the source and how the fund was wired abroad.

His wife, Huang Jui-ching, also said her mother-in-law, Wu Shu-chen, asked her to sign some documents, which she did as she was told without asking why.

They insisted that their return to Taiwan is a solid proof that they want to cooperate with the judicial authorities in clearing themselves and their family. Taiwan prosecutors have issued summons for the couple, who left Taiwan on August 9, just days before the scandal came to light earlier in August.

Taiwan's prosecution authorities have listed the former president Chen and four of his family members as defendants over their alleged roles in a high-profile money laundering scandal.

The scandal came to light on August 11 after Swiss judicial authorities notified Taiwan after finding unusual fund transfers through the son and daughter-in-law accounts set up by a Swiss bank.

The Supreme Prosecutor's Office launched the probe after Chen admitted at a news conference on August 14 that his wife had remitted 20 million US dollars worth of previous campaign donations abroad without telling him. He said his wife told him this was done in preparation for their retirement after he stepped down as president in May.

On August 16, prosecutors barred the ex-leader and his wife from going abroad, after searching Chen's home and office and Wu's home earlier in the day.

Investigators claimed to have found details of four secret bank accounts opened in 2000, the year Chen won the presidential election.

Chen said the money was from campaign funds that he had failed to declare. But prosecutors are trying to determine if the couple was attempting to launder illegally-obtained money through their son and daughter-in-law as well as other relatives.

The money laundering scandal has dealt a crushing blow to Chen's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which lost its eight-year grip on power to the pro-China Kuomintang (KMT) party in the March 22 election.

Chen, who served two four-year terms as president between 2000 and 2008, resigned from the DPP on August 15 as the party was preparing to expel him.

Source: The Earth Times

Swiss Bank Accounts: Separating Fact From Fiction

By Mark Koba Web Editor | 20 Aug 2008

Mention the words Swiss bank account and it can bring to mind corrupt politicians hiding vast sums of money, drug lords laundering ill gotten gains or filthy rich American citizens trying to avoid paying taxes. The reality, however, is quite different from the myths.

"Swiss banks must verify your identity and won’t accept your business if they think it is illegal, says Ken Wassell, CEO of Los Angeles, California-based Offshore Company, a firm that aids its customers in overseas financial services. "About five percent of applications a year are turned down because of possible fraud," says Wassell.

It doesn't stop there. James Nason, spokesman for the Swiss Bankers Association, adds that Swiss banks must not only verify your identity but also verify the source of the funds you are putting in the bank. "And besides that," says Nason, "the beneficiary of the funds must also be positively identified."

That’s not to say there isn’t secrecy in having a Swiss bank account. Any Swiss banker today who reveals your information without your consent risks prison time by law. And there is secrecy when it comes to issues like inheritance or divorce. It’s up to plaintiffs to prove someone has a bank account in Switzerland, if they want access to it through a lawsuit.

There are, of course, exceptions to the secrecy rule, especially concerning crimes such as gun running and drug trafficking. Swiss banks are forbidden by law to accept money which they know might be as a result of a crime.

And when it comes to names, the so-called secret numbered accounts in Swiss banks are not completely secret.

"Yes, banks can set up an account by number only," says Nason," but you will have to go through the same process to open the account as a named account" at greater expense. Your name will be known to several upper management types in the bank and there are records of ownership."

Origins Of Secrecy

The concept got its start in the 18th century, when a group called The Great Council of Geneva passed a law in 1713, preventing banks from sharing information about their clients.

The modern Swiss banking system started in 1934 during the global depression era when France and Germany pressured Switzerland to divulge depositor information as part of an effort to prevent capital flight. Switzerland, in trying to maintain sovereignty, passed a law making the disclosure of such information a crime. And in 1984, some 73-percent of all Swiss citizens voted to keep bank secrecy.

Taxes

Any American Swiss bank account holder does not pay taxes to Switzerland. But if an American is looking to hide money from the IRS, a Swiss bank account won’t do much good. As of January 1, 2001, unless a foreign bank obtained a status of QI or "qualified intermediary," the bank must report to the IRS all earnings received from the U.S. and the names of the beneficial owners. If the bank does have a QI, which keeps a bank’s secrecy if it follows strict regulations, U.S. citizens can only have money in the bank if they are willing to disclose their identity to the IRS.

Opening An Account

If you still want to open an account, it's not complicated but it does take some time, effort and of course, money. A search on the Internet for Swiss bank accounts suggests that you don’t need much money to open an account, but that is one of the myths about how the system works.

Nason says that while the deposit amount varies for each of the more than 400 banks in Switzerland, most of them are looking to invest the money for a depositor, and not just hold it to generate a minimal amount of interest.

"I get letters nearly once a month from Americans asking about Swiss banks," says Nason. "I recently got one from a man in Virginia, asking for help in finding a bank to hold his retirement savings account for him and his wife. But that’s not what Swiss banks really do. They are into professional asset management. A six-figure sum is usually the starting point for opening an account."

Wassel says it’s more like $250,000. "Most people opening a Swiss bank account or doing so for privacy and from potential litigation," says Wassel, "and to protect their assets."

Besides the right amount of money, there is also the vast amount paper work to consider. Here’s what you more than likely need to have to set up an account:

• Valid Passport
• Verification of Address
• Documents to prove economic background
• Documents to prove economic origin of money being deposited
• Identification of any beneficiaries of the account
• You must be 18 years oldYou must go in person or have a financial service company open it for you

"Americans account for a very small percentage of our business currently," says Francois Xavier of Micheloud & Co., an immigration and financial consultancy based in Switzerland, which helps people set up accounts in Swiss banks.

"The QI regulations are definitely slowing banks down when it comes to Americans opening Swiss accounts," says Nason." It's a lot of regulation for these banks to conform with."

"There are less Americans now then during the Reagan administration because inflation was so high then," explains Xavier. "People tried to escape the erosion of the American dollar. Maybe if things [economically] get worse in the U.S., that will change and more of them will open accounts."

Source: CNBC

Swiss representative pledges aid in Chen scandal

The Swiss Representative to Taiwan, Jost Feer, says Switzerland is committed to combating money laundering. He said his country will offer legal assistance to Taiwan once evidence is provided in a high-profile case involving Taiwan's former first family. Feer made the remarks in response to the latest scandal implicating former President Chen Shui-bian and his family.

In July, Taiwan received a request from the Swiss authorities for
Assistance in probing alleged money laundering by Chen's son Chen Chih-chung and his daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching in Switzerland.

In Taiwan, the former president confessed in August that he did not honestly account for his election campaign expenses. He also said that his wife Wu Shu-jen funneled surplus funds from election campaign contributions into overseas bank accounts. He said that this was done without his knowledge.

Feer said that Taiwan is not a special case and that as long as there is evidence of criminal activities, Swiss authorities will look into it.

Source: RTI

Taiwan to criminalize unexplained wealth

The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) aims at criminalizing unexplained wealth for government officials, Vice Justice Minister Huang Shih-ming said yesterday.

The statement came less than a week after an investigation was launched into money laundering claims apparently implicating former president Chen Shui-bian and his family, following similar moves by Swiss authorities.

Speaking at a news conference, Huang drew on similar laws existing abroad to explain that Taiwan aims at better monitoring illicit flows of money and combat money laundering.

As Chen and his wife Wu Shu-jen deposited large sums of cash abroad under the names of their family members, he stressed that the MOJ will seek to broaden cross-border judicial cooperation with foreign governments in Switzerland, Singapore and the United States.

In the meantime, Huang said the MOJ offers a NT$10 million reward to anyone providing information leading to a break in the case over the latest money-laundering allegations against the former first family.

The MOJ also urges companies, organizations or individuals who were involved in the alleged money laundering operations to take a moral stance and come forward to help solve the case.

During a questioning at her residence last week, the former first lady told prosecutors that the US$21 million remitted in the family's various overseas bank accounts was "all legal income."

The hefty sum was reportedly rifled into three bank accounts: two in Switzerland held in the names of her daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching and one in Singapore under the name of her brother Wu Ching-mao.

In November 2006, Chen's wife was first charged with corruption and forgery for using receipts provided by others to claim reimbursements totaling NT$14.8 million from the president's "state affairs fund" between July 2002 and March 2006.

Chen, who was named as a co-defendant in the same case but enjoyed immunity from prosecution while he was in office, came under questioning shortly after he stepped down from the presidency May 20.

After he admitted Aug. 14 that he lied about his campaign expenses for his two mayoral elections and two presidential elections, and that his wife had transferred surplus campaign contributions to overseas bank accounts, prosecutors imposed an overseas travel ban on him.

Prosecutor Ching Chi-jen left for Switzerland Aug. 15 to review the accounts under the name of Chen's daughter-in-law at Merrill Lynch Bank after the Federal Department of Justice and Police of the Swiss Confederation requested assistance from Taiwan in a case of suspected money laundering by Chen's son and his daughter-in-law, through two Swiss bank accounts.

The prosecutors also searched Chen and Wu's home over the weekend.

Source: China Post

Switzerland to Give Mexico $74 Million Linked to Salinas Clan

By VOA News
18 June 2008

Switzerland says it will turn over $74 million to the Mexican government from bank accounts linked to the brother of former Mexican President Carlos Salinas.

In a statement Wednesday, the Swiss Justice Ministry said Swiss and Mexican authorities proved Raul Salinas had misappropriated the funds.

The statement said the remainder of the assets will be returned to the Salinas family since the investigation did not reveal any criminal origin. The handover concludes Swiss proceedings in the case.

Swiss authorities froze about $110 million worth of funds in 1995 when they launched a criminal investigation into Raul Salinas for alleged money laundering.

Raul Salinas said the money in his Swiss bank accounts was legitimately given to him by business associates as part of an investment fund.

In 1999, Raul Salinas was sentenced to 50 years in prison for the murder of his former brother-in-law, Jose Francisco Ruiz Massieu. He was released in 2005, after his conviction was overturned.

Switzerland gave Mexican authorities the documents from its money-laundering investigation in 2002.

Switzerland has taken a harder stance against money laundering in recent years in an effort to fight its reputation as a safe haven for the illegal funds of corrupt heads of state. Reforms have made it harder to hide money in the country's banks.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

Source: VoA

Former first lady's brother confesses to remitting money via illegal channels

The China Post news staff
Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Wu Ching-mao, the brother-in-law of ex-president Chen Shui-bian, said yesterday that he remitted mo

ney abroad via underground channels on behalf of his younger sister Wu Shu-jen, the former first lady, according to the Special Criminal Investigation Unit (SCII) of the Supreme Prosecutor Office.

Wu made the remarks when questioned by the SCII over his alleged role in the suspected money laundering involving the former first family.

Wu told prosecutors that since Chen was elected Taipei mayor in 1994, he started to use his account at a Dutch bank in Singapore to manage funds for his younger sister. Touching on credit transfer methods, Wu said he sometimes remitted money abroad via banks, and sometimes through underground channels.

Chen's brother-in-law also noted that sometimes he made remittances on his own, but sometimes asked his wife Chen Chun-ying to do the job.

Prosecutors were surprised to hear Wu's remarks concerning remittances via underground channels, and they wondered very much why Wu chose underground remittance channels.

Earlier, former first lady Wu Shu-jen told prosecutors that all the funds, around US$20 million, remitted abroad were all legally obtained. "If so, why should her elder brother use underground remittance channels, instead of legal ones?" prosecutors asked.

Prosecutors said that they would also move to question operators of the underground remittance channels on charges of violating the Banking Act by handling the remittances for Wu.

For his alleged role in the suspected money laundering scandal, Wu Ching-mao has been listed as a defendant in the case and has been banned from leaving the country.

Ex-president Chen, Wu Shu-jen and their son Chen Chih-chung, as well as daughter-in-law have all been listed as defendants in the suspected money laundering case as evidence emerged about the former president and his wife using their daughter-in-law to transfer US$20 million of funds through her two Swiss bank accounts.

The scandal came to light recently after Swiss prosecution authorities sought Taiwan's help in a probe into a possible money laundering case in Switzerland involving the ex-president's son and his daughter-in-law.

Also yesterday evening, Wu Ching-mao's wife, Chen Chun-ying, was sent to the National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) for emergency medical treatment after she fainted while being questioned by prosecutors. Wu claimed that her wife attempted to commit suicide amid heavy questioning and pressure from prosecutors by taking a certain kind of pill. Wu accused prosecutors of pressing his wife to confess to allegations beyond her knowledge, leading to her suicide attempt.

Prosecutor Chu Chao-liang, spokesman of the SCII, said that Wu told prosecutors that his wife took a kind of sedative to mitigate the interrogation pressure, during a break in the questioning session. Prosecutors allowed Wu to take his wife to receive medical treatment at the NTUH, according to Chu.

Chu continued by saying that the entire questioning process, carried out in a legal way, had been recorded and videotaped.

Meanwhile, prosecutors also questioned Lin Wen-yen, chairman of China Steel Corp., over his alleged role in managing the election campaign budgets to see if the money remitted abroad by ex-president Chen was related to the campaign budget surplus.

Lin said he was responsible for controlling the campaign budgets for Chen, adding that he knew little about Chen remitting money abroad.

Source: The China Post

Singapore to help Taiwan probe ex-president's offshore accounts

Author : DPA

Taiwan on Monday thanked Singapore for offering to help Taipei probe suspected money laundering by former president Chen Shui-bian. "We are happy to see that Singapore is willing to provide legal assistance and to jointly fight cross-country crime," the Central News Agency (CNA) quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Andrew Hsia as saying.

Hsia made the remark after Singapore's trade office announced that Singapore would assist Taiwan in probing the suspected money laundering by former president Chen and his family.

Because it refuses to allow its financial system to be used for illegal activities, Singapore contacted Taiwan's Supreme Prosecutor's Office to provide the necessary assistance allowable by Singaporean law, Singapore's trade office was reported as saying.

In January 2008, Chen's wife Wu Shu-chen deposited 20 million US dollars - campaign funds from the 2000 and 2004 presidential election which Chen has not declared - into several foreign bank accounts, and eventually into a Swiss bank account.

One of the deposits was made to an account at the Standard Merchant Bank Asia in Singapore opened by Wu's elder brother Wu Ching-mao.

Taiwan has also required legal assistance from Swiss prosecutors.

Chen, former chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), served as Taiwan's president from 2000-2004 and from 2004-2008.

Corruption scandals involving Chen's family and DPP officials caused the party to lose the 2008 election to the pro-China Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).

Chen quit the DPP on August 15 as the party, in reaction to his money laundering allegations, was preparing to expel him.

Source: The Earth Times