Tweet Whopping $150 Billion Stolen from Nigeria in 10 Years Nigeria’s new President, Muhammadu Buhari, today said that the government believes that its officials have stolen approximately US$150 billion from the state in the past ten years.  In anti-money laundering law, high ranking government officials with access to state property and assets are politically exposed persons […]
Tweet It has been noted by US officials that the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA“), 26 USC Ch. 4, is not only one of the most significant pieces of US legislation for financial institutions, asset managers and foreign residents, it is also one of the most legally complex and technical that “will spawn significant enforcement activity […]
Tweet Suitcases full of cash muled to Vancouver by cash couriers According to this article in South China Morning Post, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA“), will result in the growth of Asia’s underground or shadow banking system, including an increase in the use of cash mules who transport suitcases full of US cash from […]
Tweet The founders, executives and several employees of a UK construction firm have collectively been jailed for 90 years for money laundering and fraud for under-the-table construction payments made to subcontractors. The company hired contractors and paid them under-the-table, without paying the requisite payroll or sales taxes or making other employment-related contributions, totalling £8 billion. […]
Tweet According to this article in the Wall Street Journal, the IRS and the government of China are negotiating an agreement whereby the US would provide financial information to the government of China on Chinese foreign nationals living in the US. The information provided to China will likely include asset, financial, corporate and personal information […]
Tweet Here’s an interesting story about how a Court dismissed a $24 million money laundering case because, in the Court’s view, the evidence did not prove that three unemployed siblings who funneled millions of dollars in cash through a money services business in Vancouver were laundering proceeds of crime. Even though one of the siblings […]
Tweet Today, the CEO of a Swiss trust company, Josef Dorig, pleaded guilty to defrauding the IRS for his role in helping US clients set up sham foundations and trusts and keep money in Switzerland for the purpose of tax evasion. He faces a term of incarceration in a US federal prison of five years. […]
Tweet How correspondent banking relationships are used to launder funds My favorite resource for correspond banking is the US Senate Report on Correspondent Banking published several years ago. Despite its age, it remains timely because it deals specifically with how the US financial system is used by correspondent banks in, mainly offshore tax havens to, […]
Tweet Party is over says Colombia Minister of Finance The government of Colombia is imposing a 33% surtax on assets moved out of the country by its nationals to known tax havens. The surtax will be assessed against individuals and corporations to curb the exodus of funds out of Colombia. The government estimates that the […]
Tweet Tax Evasion Plea Edgar Paltzer, a lawyer called to the bar in Switzerland and the U.S. with the Zurich firm of Niederer, Kraft and Frey, pleaded guilty today in New York to conspiracy to evade taxes and faces up to five years in prison. According to Mr. Paltzer’s indictment, the bank with whom he […]