29th July 2018
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO FIU: ‘SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS’ MADE TO BECOME FULLY FATF COMPLIANT
Trinidad & Tobago Newsday on 27th July reported that the country may not yet be sufficiently compliant with FATF requirements – including enacting amendments to legislation improving measures for international co-operation on tax offences and advancing legislation on a number of criminal justice reforms – but the FIU says “significant progress” has been made towards it. The country is one of 8 jurisdictions FATF identified as having strategic AML/CFT deficiencies. The FIU is quoted as saying the country has developed a strategic action plan to accomplish the objectives to strengthen the AML/CFT regime. The action plan contained staggered timelines for actions to be completed in April and September, 2018 and January and May, 2019. To date, it has completed all the action items scheduled for April, 2018 and is well on its way to doing the same for the September 2018 items.
https://newsday.co.tt/2018/07/27/fiu-significant/
FACTCHECK: IS IRELAND REALLY THE MOST CORRUPT NATION IN THE WESTERN WORLD?
The Journal in Ireland on 28th July carried an article responding to a recent article, published on 7th April, on American site Your News Wire which claims that Ireland has been deemed the ‘most corrupt nation in the western world’.
http://www.thejournal.ie/ireland-factcheck-corruption-4150209-Jul2018/
IRANIAN TYCOON ARRESTED NEAR BORDER CROSSING IN AZERBAIJAN
The Trend news agency in Azerbaijan on 29th July reported that Shahram Jazayeri, an Iranian tycoon who spent several years of his life in jail for being involved in a high-profile corruption case, has been arrested whilst apparently trying to flee to Turkey. He is said to have been hiding in a truck with Afghan refugees. It reports that Jazayeri was arrested in 2001, when 24, for criminal activities involving bribery, illegal exports, forgery and massive embezzlement of state money and assets and spent the next 13 years in prison.
https://en.trend.az/iran/society/2934783.html?src=ilaw
ONLY 66% OF REGISTERED COMPANIES IN INDIA ARE ACTIVE
Live Mint in India on 29th July reported official data released as the government continued its clampdown on “shell companies”.
NIGERIAN-AMERICAN JAILED 4 YEARS IN US FOR $900,000 CYBER FRAUD
The Premium Times in Nigeria on 29th July reported that Emeka Ndukwu, 46, a Nigerian-American based in Maryland, has been sentenced to 4 years in prison for engaging in business e-mail scheme and conspiring to launder more than $900,000 proceeds of scams 2013-17. A co-defendant, Chuka Mbonu, 33, of Nigeria, remains at large.
CRACK TEAM OF ELITE GARDAI HEADING TO SPAIN TO SMASH KINAHAN CARTEL
Dublin Live on 29th July reported that the squad will set up a base near Malaga in their hunt for gangland killers who have fled Ireland.
https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/kinahan-hutch-news-14964959?src=ilaw
£1.5 BILLION SPACE EXPORT CAMPAIGN TO FUEL UK INDUSTRY GROWTH
A news release on 19th July from the Department for International Trade reported that the International Trade Secretary launched the Department for International Trade’s first-ever space exports campaign to target export opportunities in the US and India.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/15-billion-space-export-campaign-to-fuel-british-industry-growth
GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS EXPLAINED … IN ONE GRAPHIC
The US Chamber of Commerce published this graphic on 8th May in order to illustrate a typical complex industrial supply chain. It shows the make-up of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
https://www.uschamber.com/series/above-the-fold/global-supply-chains-explained-one-graphic-0
GAO REPORT ON NATIONAL SECURITY RISKS OF FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN THE US
USNI News on 27th July published a public version of a sensitive report that GAO issued in April 2018, the July 2018 Government Accountability Office report, “Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States: Action Needed to Address Evolving National Security Concerns Facing the Department of Defense”.
https://news.usni.org/2018/07/27/gao-report-national-security-risks-foreign-investment-u-s
SOUTH AFRICA: PROBE OF ALLEGED CORRUPTION INVOLVING STATE FIRMS ESKOM AND TRANSNET COMPLETE
Reuters on 29th July reported that South Africa’s National Treasury has concluded its investigation of alleged corruption at state power utility Eskom and state logistics firm Transnet and will give the relevant parties 2 weeks to respond before making its findings public.
BERMUDA: AML LAWS APPROVED AS CFATF EVALUATION LOOMS
The Royal Gazette in Bermuda on 29th July reported that MPs in Bermuda have approved 9 amendments that aim to address matters “pertinent to Bermuda’s compliance with international standards” and protect the island from money laundering and terrorist funding activities. Bermuda’s standards, it says, will come under scrutiny in an upcoming national audit. Law changes are proposed on proceeds of crime, charities, banks and the accountancy profession, as well as the Bermuda Monetary Authority. A team drawn from peer jurisdictions and led by the CFATF will visit the island for 2 weeks from September 24th to carry out the on-site evaluation.
POLICE RECOMMEND TRYING JERUSALEM’S DEPUTY MAYOR FOR BRIBERY
Arutz Sheva in Israel on 29th July reported that authorities say Deputy Jerusalem Mayor Meir Turjeman advanced the interests of local business at city hall in exchange for bribes. He was one of 4 people arrested in March and is accused of abusing his position for the benefit of 2 of the other suspects. According to the police, Turgeman advanced the interests of the owners of the Koresh Hotel and the owners of the Artemisia Events Hall.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/249705?src=ilaw
WHO IS ANDREW BRUNSON, THE DETAINED PASTOR CENTRAL TO THE US THREAT OF SANCTIONS ON TURKEY?
CNN on 29th July published an article saying that the Trump Administration’s threatens to issue economic sanctions against Turkey because of its detention of American pastor, Andrew Brunson. It says that, to Turkey, Brunson is a spy who attempted to overthrow the government during a 2016 coup attempt; but to US officials, Brunson is an innocent Christian family man who is being wrongfully detained. He worked in Izmir on Turkey’s Aegean coast, where he was a pastor at the Izmir Resurrection Church, having lived in Turkey for 23 years. Arrested in October 2016, charges against Brunson include supporting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party as well as the Gulen Movement, which Turkey says orchestrated the coup attempt.
https://us.cnn.com/2018/07/29/politics/andrew-brunson-pastor-turkey-detained/index.html
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