The "Asset Search News Roundup" for this week explores the vital role financial institutions have in detecting assets concealed through money laundering.  This kind of  issue arose in a most recent phone conversation I had with an investigator who works for a Financial Intelligence Unit located offshore.  The investigator had read one of my articles herein

This “Asset Search News Roundup” discusses criminal liability for hiding assets via money laundering in Mexico; a computer intrusion at Heartland Payment Systems which may have compromised tens of millions of credit / debit card transactions; and the sentencing of a man for identity theft after he was caught with 66 counterfeit driver’s licenses:

1. 

The Bank of Lithuania, (i.e. the central bank of Lithuania), announced its recent anti-money laundering measures at a May 15, 2008 board meeting.  The Bank’s focus on money laundering might already be paying off.  The Financial Intelligence Unit for Lithuania for example, recently detained two international gang members for suspected money laundering.

According to

Privacy and other federal laws generally prohibit pretexting, (the use of false pretenses), when contacting a U.S. bank, phone company or government agency for confidential information.  One example of pretexting would be using a false identity while phoning a bank to elicit a bank customer’s personal account information.  If an information broker, private investigator,

The following occurred over a four month period during 2002, and has been supplied by an investigator I have worked with.  Some of it has been changed / sanitized for privacy reasons:

The Tax Fraud

As part of his tax fraud, “Mr. Wallace” contacted a Cayman Island bank by mail in order to open

In the United States, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network regulates the customer identification procedures, (a.k.a  “know your customer rules”), at banks.  In order to clarify these procedures, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued guidance in January 2004.  These customer identification procedures codified at 31 C.F.R Part 103.121, demonstrate  that there is no discretion