Day: August 25, 2018

25 August 2018

RUSSIAN CARGO SHIP: ‘EXPLOSIVES ADDITIVES’ FOUND DID NOT HAVE TRANSIT PERMIT FOR SOUTH AFRICA

News 24 reported on 24 August that the SA Council for the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (NPC) has confirmed that “explosives additives” found on a Russian vessel, currently arrested near Port Elizabeth, did not have a transit permit.  The council was formed under the auspices of the minister of trade and industry. One of NPC’s functions is to provide for control over weapons of mass destruction and to control and manage matters relating to the proliferation of such weapons in the country.  A spokesman said the explosive additives did not have a transit permit as required in the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Act.

https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/russian-cargo-ship-explosives-additives-found-did-not-have-transit-permit-20180824

SLOVAK POLICE CAUGHT HUMAN TRAFFICKERS FLYING ON GLIDER FROM UKRAINE

Xinhua on 25 August reported that Slovak Police caught human traffickers trying to smuggle a migrant from Ukraine to Slovakia by a Rogallo powered wing hang glider.  2 Ukrainian nationals now face charges of human trafficking and illegal crossing of the state border. A third man from Afghanistan, who was illegally smuggled to Slovak soil, has been returned to Ukraine under the readmission agreement.  A fourth man, a Ukrainian, was arrested.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-08/25/c_137416689.htm

IRISH CUSTOMS OFFICERS HAVE SEIZED OVER 24,400 LITRES OF BEER

FN 104 on 24 August reported that Revenue officers have seized over 24,400 litres of beer following routine profiling in Rosslare Europort in Wexford.  Officers discovered the smuggled alcohol when they stopped and searched a foreign-registered truck that had arrived on a ferry from France. The beer has a retail value of over €108,000.  

https://www.fm104.ie/news/smuggled-beer-seized-at-rosslare/

“GANGSTER” JOHN GILLIGAN ARRESTED AND CHARGED WITH MONEY LAUNDERING IN BELFAST

The Irish Mirror and others reported on 24 August that John Gillian, 66, from Dublin had been arrested by the NCA at an airport in Belfast with €23,000.

https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/gangster-john-gilligan-arrested-charged-13132680

MEXICO CHARGES ‘MOST CORRUPT GOVERNOR’ WITH MONEY LAUNDERING

Telesur on 24 August reported that Mexico’s ex-governor of Veracruz, Javier Duarte, has been charged with money laundering and illicit association, and faces up to 50 years in prison if convicted.  It says that prosecutors presented enough evidence to link him to a money laundering network that funneled about $20 million into his pocket. He was later expelled from the Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI) and fled to Guatemala.  Duarte was arrested in April 2017 after 5 months on the run.

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Charges-Against-Mexicos-Most-Corrupt-Governor-Presented-20180824-0025.html?src=ilaw

VENEZUELA ARRESTS LOCAL MANAGERS AT SMURFIT KAPPA PLANT

The Irish Independent on 25 August reported that the 2 men were arrested for allegedly engaging in what were described by authorities of the leftist and increasingly authoritarian regime as “crimes of speculation, boycott, extraction contraband, destabilising the economy, and corruption”.  It comes after the government occupied a factory and ordered the Irish company to cut prices. It has heightened fears that the plant could be nationalised, or Smurfit ordered out of the country. It is understood that the arrested managers are local Venezuelan employees and that no Irish nationals work at the factory.

https://www.independent.ie/business/irish/venezuela-arrests-local-managers-at-smurfit-kappa-plant-37250013.html?src=ilaw

JEWELLER KILLED IN SKYDIVING ACCIDENT IN VENEZUELA LINKED TO $1.2 BILLION MONEY LAUNDERING CASE

Univision News on 24 August reported that several Miami properties frozen by prosecutors are listed under companies linked to Fernando Valero who died in a skydiving accident.  At least 4 properties in South Florida that the US government is seeking to confiscate for alleged links to the laundering of embezzled state oil company funds in Venezuela, are registered in public records in the name of companies linked to him.

https://www.univision.com/univision-news/united-states/jeweler-killed-in-skydiving-accident-in-venezuela-linked-to-12-billion-money-laundering-case?src=ilaw

CHINA CALLS ON OVERSEAS GROUPS, PEOPLE TO GET GRAFT SUSPECTS TO SURRENDER

Baker McKenzie on 24 August reported that China has called on groups and individuals outside the country to actively encourage graft suspects who have fled overseas to give themselves up, and promised leniency for those who surrender.

http://www.riskandcompliancehub.com/china-calls-on-overseas-groups-people-to-get-graft-suspects-to-surrender/

HUNGARY REJECTS CROATIA’S EXTRADITION REQUEST FOR FUGITIVE BUSINESSMAN

BNE on 24 August reported that Hungary’s Capital Court has rejected Croatia’s request to extradite Zsolt Hernadi, the chairman and CEO of the MOL energy company.  Hernadi is charged in Croatia with bribing former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader in 2009 in order to have MOL gain a controlling stake in the local oil firm INA. Croatian authorities have asked Hungary since 2011 to allow Hernadi to be summoned for questioning in relation to the 2009 deal between MOL and INA, but Hungary refused to carry out these requests.  Following Croatia joining the EU in 2013, the Croatian authorities issued a European arrest warrant for Hernadi. However, the Hungarian judicial authorities refused to execute the warrant on the grounds that a criminal proceeding had already been closed in Hungary – grounds that the ECJ has recently ruled against in another case.

http://www.intellinews.com/hungary-rejects-croatia-s-extradition-request-for-mol-s-chairman-147341/?source=croatia

POLICE SEIZE HAUL OF COUNTERFEIT WATCHES FROM MAN AT ABERDEEN HELIPORT

The Evening Express on 25 August reported that 2 dozen counterfeit watches have been seized from an offshore worker at the heliport at Aberdeen International Airport.

https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/news/local/police-seize-haul-of-counterfeit-watches-from-man-at-heliport/

 

Amnesty International on 20 August published an article saying that many governments are still fuelling conflicts around the world and breaking the rules of the landmark Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) by supplying weapons to known human rights violators.  The ATT prohibits the transfer between states of weapons, munitions and related items when it is known that they would be used for war crimes, or there is an overriding risk they could contribute to serious human rights violations. It cites –

• the refusal of the UK, France, USA and others to suspend arms transfers to Saudi Arabia;
• Cameroonian soldiers used weapons to execute civilians in the city of Achigachia were traced to a factory in Serbia;
• Nicaragua has imported small arms, related parts and ammunition mainly from the USA, followed by Brazil and Mexico and used to “crush” protests; and
• several countries have exported small arms to the Philippines, including Israel, Bulgaria, South Africa, India and South Korea.  China and Russia have also offered to supply small arms to the Philippines.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/08/untokyo-brazen-treaty-violations-overshadow-arms-control-conference/

BTA on 25 August reported that all the factories are fitted with state-of-the-art equipment for the production of cigarettes in various brands.  The factories constitute large, fully blacked-out premises, with dormitories for the workers, baths, a canteen with cooks, a table tennis room, power generators, motion sensors and CCTV.  The factories have been in operation for 2 years now and produced 100,000 boxes of cigarettes per day. The production was exported every 2-3 days and sold outside Bulgaria.  A fifth factory was under construction. A total of 42 tonnes of cigarettes were impounded, together with 13.5 million cigarette filters and other inputs for the illegal production, and all of the machines, forklifts, 11 heavy-duty trucks, vans and cars.

http://www.bta.bg/en/c/DF/id/1858855?src=ilaw

Time on 25 August reported that Landing International Development Ltd shares plunged after the casino operator said Chairman Yang Zhihui was unreachable.  Yang is said to be a target of investigators looking into ties with China Huarong Asset Management Co, a state-owned bad-debt manager whose former chairman, Lai Xiaomin, is under investigation for alleged corruption.  The news came just 2 weeks after the company’s $1.5 billion Philippine project was thrown into doubt.

http://time.com/5378122/missing-chinese-ex-billionaire-casino-stock-tanks/?src=ilaw

On 25 August, Rferl reported that details were published in the US Federal Register on 24 August.  The State Department posting said the measures would terminate assistance to Russia except for urgent humanitarian issues, end some arms sales and financing, restrict access to US credit or other financial assistance, and prohibit the export to Russia of restricted goods or technology.  A second batch of sanctions related to the poisoning case will be imposed after 90 days if Russia it does not allow inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to confirm that it no longer has chemical weapons.

https://www.rferl.org/a/u-s-sanctions-on-russia-tied-to-poisoning-in-britain-begin-on-august-27/29451822.html

The US DoJ on 22 August issued a news release saying that Ghobad Ghasempour, 38, a Canadian national, was sentenced to 42 months in prison for conspiracy to unlawfully export US goods to Iran.  He was arrested in March 2017. Ghasempour exported a thin film measurement system, manufactured by a California company, that is essentially a microscopic tape measure for liquid coatings and parts that are used in cell phones and missiles; he attempted to export an inertial guidance system test table, manufactured by a North Dakota company, used to test the accuracy of gyroscopes that assist in flying commercial and military airplanes; and the conspirators exported two types of thermal imaging cameras, manufactured by an Oregon company, that can be used in commercial security systems and military drones.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/canadian-sentenced-3-years-prison-conspiracy-export-restricted-goods-and-technology-iran