Narco subs, drug cartels and Canada – new threats on the horizon to international security

Tweet Narco subs In the last few months, an increasing number of so-called narco subs, also called drug subs, have been intercepted in international waters by law enforcement (“LE“). A narco sub is usually a self-propelled semi-submersible (“SPSS“) used by drug traffickers to transport large quantities of illegal drugs for cartels to an international market. […]

A lawyer like no other: Albert Battel, the Nazi lawyer who defied the SS to save Polish Jews from an extermination camp

Tweet Almost three years after the German Army invaded Poland, the Nazis started to implement the final solution in Poland, and in 1942, established the first of many extermination camps in which millions of Jews would perish. One of those camps was Bełżec. In the midst of those 1942 mass deportations of Polish Jews to extermination […]

Canadian accused of money laundering as part of sophisticated lawyer-concocted shell operation to hide proceeds of crime, extradited to New York and indicted

Tweet A Canadian charged with money laundering, Enzo Vettesse, was extradited to New York last week and a 2013 sealed indictment against him, was unsealed. On March 18, 2013, Montrealer Vettesse was caught in New York transporting a suitcase filled with US$245,000 in cash and confessed to US law enforcement that he was traveling with […]

US President signs Financial Crime Executive Order to, among other things, bring foreigners to “Face Justice in the US”

Tweet Come Face US Justice On Thursday, the US President signed an executive order to protect the US from transnational criminal organizations and, inter alia, to tackle financial crimes. The executive order is entitled “Enforcing Federal Law with Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations and Preventing International Trafficking.” Its purpose is to dismantle international organized crime. […]

Eritean refugees get green light to sue Vancouver mining company for slavery and crimes against humanity

Tweet Late last week, the Supreme Court of British Columbia approved a representative lawsuit for damages for slavery and crimes against humanity filed by three refugees from Eritea against Nevsun Resources Ltd., a BC incorporated mining company (“Nevsun“). The Reasons for Judgment are not the most clear, in part because the litigation involved an attempt […]

FBI wins appeal to hack into your personal computer for serious criminality

Tweet Right to hack any computer anywhere for serious criminality with underlying court order In a case that seemed to be quite sweeping, the US government has won an appeal to use evidence in a criminal proceeding derived from hacking into personal computers, regardless of where situated (a home, a corporation, a cafe, an airport) […]

A banker’s update on terrorist financing and money laundering from the US Committee on Homeland Security

Tweet Summary of the Updates The US House Committee on Homeland Security released a number of updates and received testimony on the status of terrorist financing, terrorism and money laundering in the last few weeks with some interesting developments relevant to banks in terms of changes in terrorist financing typologies that should be added to […]

Canada and the fake refugee passport issue

Tweet Fake refugees — A crisis within a crisis It seems to becoming clear that it is not reasonably possible to rely on the identity documents of any persons who claim Syrian or Iraqi refugee status from 2014 onwards, the time in which the Islamic State acquired the capacity to create authentic passports. Since at […]

Is there a terrorism risk for Canada in accepting 25,000 refugees?

Tweet Terrorist risks for refugees There appears to be a debate that has the potential to escalate in this country in respect of whether there are risks for Canada in taking in 25,000 Syrian refugees. No decision is ever risk-free. The decision to accept Syrian refugee is no different – it is not risk free. […]