Covered by this "Asset Search News Roundup" are: a German student arrested for hiding $15 million in his luggage; Sir Ian Blair’s resignation amidst a public corruption claim; and the financial fraud investigation of AIG Insurance Company.
- German customs officials made their largest cash seizure ever from an individual, after finding euros valued at $15 million hidden in a student’s luggage. As mentioned by the Sydney Morning Herald, the 29- year-old German student was at Frankfurt Airport waiting to board a flight to the Middle East. The student was likely a courier hiding / smuggling cash and is under investigation for suspected money laundering.
- When Sir Ian Blair issued an October 2 statement explaining his resignation as London’s 24th Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Transparency International issued a statement of its own. Based on Transparency International’s statement, Sir Ian Blair’s resignation is related to public corruption allegations. As the Daily Mail mentioned, Sir Ian Blair was accused of improperly giving more than £3million in Metropolitan Police contracts to his friend of 30 years, Andy Miller.
- As was widely reported, AIG Insurance Company accepted an $85 billion federal government rescue loan and then spent hundreds of thousands on a lavish business event which included $23,000 in spa charges. Although AIG’s spa charges did not involve criminal wrongdoing, AIG is already the subject of an ongoing financial fraud investigation.
Copyright 2008 Fred L. Abrams