9 February 2010 - Last week, Cuban Vice President Ramiro Valdes was appointed to a senior position in Venezuelan government. The problem is, Valdes, (believed to rank third in the Government of Cuba, right behind the Castro brothers) is only one of an estimated 80,000 Cuban nationals assisting in the operation of muc ...more

9 February 2010 - Friday's filing of a FinCEN Final Rule*, which allows EU law enforcement agencies to to submit AML/CFT information requests to US banks, and American law enforcement to do the same in the countries of the European Union, will have a serious effect on international money launderers. These "p ...more

8 February 2010 - A US contractor formerly involved in Iraq pled guilty this week to smuggling in more than $800,000 from the Middle East. Bulk cash smuggling issues aside, the explosion of cases involving American contractors in Iraq who are charged with criminal conduct is disturbing. Many of these cases involve co ...more

7 February 2010 - For all those who have been asking about the outcome of cousin Peter's criminal case, you find the answer in this week's chapter (95) of "Confessions of a Money Launderer." If you have not read the Confessions series*, I will summarise it for you: Peter was the colourful high-flyin ...more

6 February 2010 - If you have clients who trade in Belarus, read on. Treasury has issued a new section (Part 548)* to the Belarus regulations that exist pursuant to Executive Order 1343, "Blocking Property of Certain Persons Undermining Democratic Processes or Institutions in Belarus." The regs are attempti ...more