Month: September 2018

The Talking Politics podcast from the London review of Books sees an interview of Oliver Bullough (who acted as a guide on kleptocracy tours of London) about his acclaimed new book Moneyland: Why Thieves and Crooks Now Rule the World and How to Take it Back.  Where is Moneyland?  How did London become its capital?  And will Brexit, or a Corbyn government, or another financial crash change how it operates?  A conversation about tax havens, money-laundering, the politics of corruption and the corruption of politics.   The Guardian says that Bullough traces the ways in which, over the last 3 decades, a criminal elite of politicians and “businessmen” have been able to move their thieved fortunes around the world, through offshoring and shell companies, and have seen those fortunes settle in the places that have the highest-paid lawyers and accountants.

https://www.acast.com/talkingpolitics/moneyland

See also –

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/sep/09/moneyland-oliver-bullough-review-wealth-corruption-oligarchs

Illicit Trade on 29^th September reported that Andres Lopez Elorza, a Venezuelan vet, who was extradited to the US from Spain earlier this year has pleaded guilty to turning puppies into drug mules by sewing containers filled with liquid heroin inside their bodies for a Colombian trafficking gang.  It is alleged that Elorza and his accomplices smuggled at least 1kg of heroin into the US between September 2004 and January the following year.

https://www.illicit-trade.com/2018/09/venezuelan-vet-pleads-guilty-to-sewing-heroin-into-puppies-bellies-for-colombian-drugs-cartel/

On 28^th September, a news release from the UN advised that the STATE ENTERPRISE FOR AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY had been removed from the sanctions lists on the recommendation of the relevant sanctions committee.

https://www.un.org/press/en/2018/sc13526.doc.htm

Thanks to Kenneth Rijock and his blog at http://rijock.blogspot.com/ one can access an 87-page white paper dated 19^th September, by Bruun & Hjejle, a leading Danish law firm, entitled Report on the Non-Resident Portfolio at Danske Bank’s Estonian Branch.  The report summarises characteristics of the terminated Non-Resident Portfolio at Danske Bank’s Estonian branch as well as other facts relating to it, including main events both at branch and Group level.

https://danskebank.com/-/media/danske-bank-com/file-cloud/2018/9/report-on-the-non-resident-portfolio-at-danske-banks-estonian-branch-.-la=en.pdf

On 28^th September, Thomson Reuters Financial & Risk published an article referring to a recent report published jointly by Thomson Reuters (which provides the World-Check tools) and leading American think tank The Atlantic Council: Big Data, A Twenty-First century Arms Race.  It argues that the data revolution, “big data”, is creating a new toolkit for banks, law enforcement agencies and regulators to combat financial crime, yet the ability to identify illicit money flows and reveal hidden relationships could be impeded by conflicting privacy laws (such as GDPR and the EU “right to be forgotten”) and inconsistent financial regulation across the globe (despite the efforts of FATF).

https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/is-big-data-being-handcuffed-in-the-31079/

The report is available at –

https://risk.thomsonreuters.com/en/resources/special-report/atlantic-council-report-big-data.html

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On 29^th September, Politico reported on the case of a small store in New Zealand called “A Little Bit of Britain”.  108 boxes of Weetabix will be destroyed by New Zealand customs after it seized and impounded the shipment last year.  Local company, Sanitarium, has its own product, Weet-Bix.  Sanitarium took its case to the High Court but although a judge found there is no chance of customers being confused because Weetabix is only available at a speciality shops selling British products, the shipment will still be destroyed.  The Guardian has the full story.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/25/weetabix-wars-british-shop-in-new-zealand-wins-fight-against-cereal-giant

A post on Arms Control Wonk on 28^th September reminds one that the Glocom company and its North Korean connections came to light after a consignment of its battlefield radios was interdicted on its way to Eritrea in 2016 and the company’s network became the subject of investigations.  Rather than disappearing there has been a seemingly successful effort by Glocom to diversify its approaches to accessing the global defence market.  It says that Glocom has unveiled a new version of its website, complete with a set of social media accounts on platforms from Twitter to Youtube and Instagram.  It director, Pyon Won Gun, is subject to EU sanctions.  It seems that, according to the post, despite reporting and flagging the content of both Glocom’s Youtube and Twitter accounts, neither have been removed.  The post refers to Wall Street Journal reports that Fabulous System SDN BHD in Malaysia currently has Glocom products for sale on their website – and details the products involved, being portable and tactical radios.  The post says that Advanced Technology Facility (ATF) in Indonesia had at least 5 products listed on their website under the “EDSAT” brand which bear striking resemblance to Glocom’s in terms of appearance and product specifications.  It appears to the poster that not only is Glocom continuing to operate, and seemingly flourish, but it is also using third party sites to sell its goods.

https://www.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/1205992/not-your-usual-game-of-whack-a-mole/

See a former Glocom advert on the Wayback Machine at –

http://web.archive.org/web/20180730175452/https:/glocom-corp.com/2018/

See also the 2017 reuters article on Glocom at –

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-northkorea-malaysia-arms-insight-idUKKBN1650YG

And a previous update on Glocom at –

https://www.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/1203749/glocom-is-at-it-again/

On 24^th September, FATF published a spreadsheet table containing consolidated assessment rating of countries assessed to date.  The table provides an up-to-date overview of the ratings that assessed countries obtained for effectiveness and technical compliance (last updated on 24^th September).  These should be read in conjunction with the detailed mutual evaluation reports, which are available on the FATF website.

http://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/mutualevaluations/documents/assessment-ratings.html

UK Finance on 28^th September reported that this group, set up by the Payment Systems Regulator earlier this year, has published its draft Voluntary Code for consultation.  The code has been developed by representatives from consumer groups and the industry and is designed to help prevent APP scams and give customers better levels of protection.  Payment service providers could be required to delay suspect payments from online accounts, while consumers could be expected to have a clearer understanding that in some circumstances they will not receive compensation.  The consultation runs to 15^th November.

https://www.aol.co.uk/news/2018/09/27/new-code-to-offer-help-to-consumers-tricked-into-fraudulent-mone/

See the consultation at –

https://appcrmsteeringgroup.uk/consultation/

On 27^th September, the EU Parliament Research Service produced a further briefing on asset freezing and confiscation orders in the EU and its proposed Regulation on the mutual recognition of freezing and confiscation orders in criminal matters.  Provisional agreement having been reached in interinstitutional negotiations in June 2018, the European Parliament is due to vote on the agreed text of the regulation in October 2018.  The EU Council should follow suit shortly.  The Regulation would then apply 24 months after its entry into force.

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2018/628225/EPRS_BRI(2018)628225_EN.pdf