February 2010

“A Strategy Of Seizing Sinaloa Drug Cartel Assets” is about the U.S. Department of Justice’s use of asset forfeiture against Mexico’s drug cartels.  U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) pursues this forfeiture policy alongside the Department of Justice.  As explained by my February 11, 2009 “Asset Search News Roundup“,…

“Smuggling Cash Across Iraq’s Borders” mentioned Donnie the former DEA agent who had trained Iraqi border personnel to interdict bulk-cash smugglers.  To help detect these smugglers, governmental authorities also use declaration forms to track the cross-border movement of cash and monetary instruments.

As mentioned by my April 13, 2009 “Asset Search News Roundup“, one such declaration form is the “FinCen 105”.  It generally requires disclosure to the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, when individuals physically transport, mail or ship more than $10,000 in cash or monetary instruments into the U.S.:

(To View The Complete Form, Click On The Image)

To avoid triggering the mandatory filing of a FinCen 105, Virginia medical doctor Andrew Silva had illegally structured cash by smuggling it in packages containing less than $10,000.  During an abusive offshore tax avoidance scheme, Dr. Silva mailed these packages of cash from Switzerland into the U.S., as outlined by his “statement of facts” filed in U.S.A. v. Andrew B. Silva.Continue Reading A Doctor, A Lawyer & Bricks Of Cash In Switzerland

Today’s “Asset Search News Roundup” is about the New York case against the ex-president of Guatemala, Alfonso Portillo and it also mentions the sentencing of New York former top cop Bernard Kerik:

  • The one-count indictment unsealed on January 26, 2010 in the case against ex-president Portillo is available here.  Mr. Portillo’s indictment alleges that

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The plaintiffs’ complaint in Grosz v. The Museum of Modern Art had alleged that The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA”) was the wrongful transferee of three Holocaust-era paintings.  The Court’s Order dismissed this contested provenance complaint last month on the ground that the complaint was barred by the statute of limitations.

Since the Grosz complaint was dismissed, attorney Raymond Dowd filed a Notice of Appeal on behalf of the plaintiffs.  Mr. Dowd will also be lecturing on March 24, 2010 at Sotheby’s Institute of Art where he will present “Egon Schiele’s Dead City: Current Issues in Nazi Art Looting and Recovery”.

Perhaps more interesting than the dismissal of the Grosz complaint, are the historical letters discussed by Grosz.  The following letters for example, were respectively mentioned during Grosz, at ¶¶39 & 48 of plaintiffs’ June 23, 2009 Declaration of Jonathan G. Petropoulos:

Continue Reading The Grosz Case & Gallery Owner Curt Valentin

This "Asset Search News Roundup" contains a copy of the indictment filed against Minneapolis auto magnate Dennis Hecker.  It also discusses the securities fraud complaints pending in New York against Bank of America.
 

  1. A press release from the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Mr. Hecker was indicted last Wednesday for allegedly hiding his

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The Wall Street Journal’s February 4, 2010 article "Switzerland Freezes Freed Duvalier Assets", is about alleged illicit assets blocked in Switzerland. The blocked assets have been maintained in Swiss bank accounts and are believed to originate from Haiti’s public coffers. These public coffers were reportedly looted by former politically exposed person Jean-Claude "Baby…

The Court announced yesterday that there had been a settlement in the New Jersey case involving Former Premier Michael Misick of the Turks and Caicos Islands.  The settlement is mentioned at the Court’s Order of Dismissal and by the current docket report.

According to various court filings, the Former Premier could have been a beneficial owner of Hip Hop Weekly Magazine through his alleged interests in: My Way Productions 2 LTD. (“My Way”), Z & M Media LLC (“Z & M”), and the holding company for Hip Hop Weekly Magazine, Hip Hop Global  Media, LLC (“HHG”). (Cf. Defendants’ Answer, Counterclaim and Third-Party Complaint at p. 26 ¶ 7) (claim that the Former Premier and his ex-wife LisaRaye McCoy were “real parties in interest”).

The Verified Amended Complaint in the New Jersey case meanwhile, indicated at ¶¶7, 57, 75, 78, 80 and Exhibit “H”,  that My Way or Z & M or HHG, might have been involved in making substantial capital contributions:

  1. $798, 647. 57 capital contribution from My Way into Z & M;
  2. $10,000.00 capital contribution from My Way into HHG;
  3. $833,334.00 capital contribution from My Way into HHG and Z & M;
  4. $260,000.00 capital contribution from Z & M to fund Hip Hop Weekly Magazine.

Continue Reading New Jersey Lawsuit Involving Former Premier Misick Settles

By using customer identification or “know your customer” rules, banks try to prevent money laundering and other financial frauds.  This use of customer identification rules by banks is contemplated at the Fifth Recommendation of the Financial Action Task Force.  The Fifth Recommendation urges banks to diligently verify a customer’s identity and to record the true beneficial ownership of bank accounts.

As reported at “Fighting Financial Fraud At UK Banks“, the UK changed its banks’ “know your customer” rules on December 15, 2007, by codifying them at Money Laundering Regulations 2007*.  U.S. banks too verify customer identities, but do so pursuant to 31 C.F.R Part 103.121.  Lawsuits alleging that two U.S. banks had failed to sufficiently identify their bank customers, are respectively described at: “Associated Bank Sued For Supposedly Ignoring Red Flags” and “Lawsuit Claims Wachovia Bank Facilitated Alleged Ponzi Scheme“.

UBS AG and other Swiss banks also require customer identification at the time a bank account is opened.  The customers of Swiss banks execute a declaration of beneficial ownership, commonly referred to as a “Form A”.  A July 13, 2001 “Form A” was used in the U.S. tax fraud case brought against Florida yacht broker Robert Moran.  According to the Plea Agreement in Mr. Moran’s case, the July 13th “Form A” helped demonstrate that Mr. Moran had violated 26 U.S.C. § 7206 (1), (perjury on a return / false statements).Continue Reading Customer Identification At UBS AG And Some Other Banks