New Zealand's Associate Minister of Justice Clayton Cosgrove has released a discussion document on enhancing measures to counter money laundering and the financing of terrorism.  The document proposes regulatory changes to enable New Zealand to comply with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force.

Mr Cosgrove said although there is currently no evidence of terrorist financing in New Zealand, it is important to have a system which cannot be exploited by those who wish to move illicit funds around the globe.  “New Zealand refuses to be a possible weak target for international criminals and terrorists,” he said.  "We propose an overhaul of the Financial Transactions Reporting Act 1996, which pre-dates the current FATF requirements and is deficient in several areas."

Proposals to address deficiencies in the Act include extending coverage of the FATF requirements to groups outside the core financial sector (including lawyers, accountants, estate agents, casinos and jewellers), more stringent checks on customer identity and verification, more detailed record keeping and reporting requirements, and increased monitoring of compliance with the FATF requirements.

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Laurence Peter Ford, a senior legal executive employed by Hampshire law firm Beveridge Gauntlett has been jailed for six years for his role in laundering more than £200 million from the proceeds of a complex VAT fraud.  Ford's conviction follows a lengthy investigation by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

Passing sentence at Southwark Crown Court, Justice Rivlin told Ford: "The scheme was deliberately and carefully planned and executed to assist men involved in a massive carousel fraud of between £20-30 million.  You set up the means to enable the money to be laundered."

Roy Clark, HMRC Director of Criminal Investigations said: "[This] verdict is clear evidence that HM Revenue & Customs will rigorously pursue not only those directly involved in attacking the VAT system, but also those who help to launder the proceeds of such fraud.  Mr Ford abused his position of trust to launder the proceeds of organised crime and as such was as guilty of an attack on the UK's taxation system as those who organised and ran the fraud."

Following suspicious activity, HMRC investigators examined the origin of large sums of money passing through the law firm's bank account.  An analysis of the financial records identified deposits totalling over £250 million between May 2002 and March 2003 moving through the Beveridge Gauntlett account and subsequently Ford was arrested on suspicion of money laundering.  He received a payment of £40,000 for facilitating the laundering.

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The Japanese government has announced that it will be updating its AML legislation to require a wider range of professions to report suspicious money transactions, including jewellery dealers, lawyers and estate agents.  Such professions will also be obliged to verify the identity of their clients and store records about their activities.  The draft legislation will be put before parliament early in 2007.

Another change will move the Japanese financial intelligence unit from the Financial Services Agency to the National Police Agency.  The FIU received 98,900 suspicious transaction reports in 2005, up sharply from nine in 1997.

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Europol's first "Organised Crime Threat Assessment" (OCTA) has been made public during a meeting of EU Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs in Luxembourg.

The main task of the OCTA is to identify and assess emerging threats. Furthermore, it describes the structure of organised crime groups and the way they operate as well as the main types of crime affecting the European Union.

The OCTA replaces the former EU "Organised Crime Report", and differs from it in two main respects.  Firstly, the OCTA uses a multi-source approach to capture information from the widest possible area - not only from the law enforcement environment but also from key public and private partners.  And secondly, the OCTA looks to the future: Europol is moving away from a mainly retrospective document towards an assessment, which will help decision makers to base their mid-term and, if possible, longer term strategic planning on a sound foundation.

To view the 26-page OCTA, click here.

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Colombian soccer star, Freddy Rincon, is being investigated by authorities in Panama for alleged money laundering on behalf of a major drug trafficker.  Rincon, a businessman residing in Sao Paulo, Brazil, says he is innocent and if necessary would travel to Panama to clear his name.

Rincon is accused by Panama's anti-narcotics police of investing in a fishing company, which operated as a shell to launder drug money for cocaine kingpin Pablo Rayo-Montano.   Rincon has admitted investing USD200,000 in a fishing company based in Panama, but he said he had no knowledge it was controlled by Rayo-Montano or his organisation.  To clear his name, Rincon must prove that the money he invested, wired from a bank account in Miami, was his own and did not come from the sale of drugs.

A former forward, Rincon scored 17 goals in 84 appearances for Colombia's national team, leading it to three World Cups - in 1990, 1994 and 1998.

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Yunus also announced that, following a recommendation from the FATF, the PPATK would expand its list of institutions required to report suspicious financial transactions.  He said the agency, together with the government, was drafting amendments to the 2003 Money Laundering Law, which would bring additional types of business into the net.  "We will require law firms, accountancy firms, car dealers and jewellery sellers to report suspicious financial transactions," he said, and warned that the FATF could put Indonesia back on its list if the country did not improve the Money Laundering Law.

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Australian Minister for Justice and Customs, Chris Ellison, has announced that the proposed second period of consultation on the draft anti-money laundering reform package will now be delayed until mid-June.  “Following the extensive process of consultation between the Government, industry representatives and other interested parties, the Government has received more than 120 submissions and I have also had the benefit of a report from the Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee Inquiry into the Exposure Draft of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Bill 2005,” Senator Ellison said.

Senator Ellison released an exposure Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) Bill and a set of sample AML/CTF Rules in December 2005 for a four-month consultation period.  “I am impressed by industry’s willingness to work with the Government to develop a robust AML/CTF regime which will strengthen Australia’s AML and CTF laws in line with international standards,” he said.  “While we are close to an agreed position, a small delay in releasing the revised Bill will help to ensure that we get the balance right."

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LV Finance Group has issued a statement saying that a Swiss business arbitration tribunal has ruled that Russian telecommunications minister Leonid Reiman used money laundering schemes in a bid to purchase a stake in mobile phone network operator OAO Megafon.  “The tribunal’s decision has confirmed that the only beneficiary of the Bermuda-based IPOC fund and its alleged option over a 25% stake in Megafon is Reiman,” said LV, which has been embroiled in a dispute with IPOC over the stake for nearly three years.  The Zurich tribunal found that the money used by IPOC to make the down-payments on the stake option payments had been “criminally sourced”.  The tribunal refused IPOC’s claim to 19.05% of shares in Megafon, Russia’s third largest mobile provider; IPOC already owns just over 5% of the company.

LV’s statement said the Tribunal “also concluded that [Reiman] is the ultimate owner of a number of offshore companies in different jurisdictions involved in IPOC business.”  LV noted that the Tribunal found Reiman had ruled illegally in granting an operating license to Telecom XXI, “a company in which he is a financial beneficiary”.  LV added that the ruling “shows that Reiman was in breach of his official responsibilities as Minister of Communications, by abusing his position for personal gain".

Reiman has faced money laundering allegations before: in December 2005, the Wall Street Journal reported that German prosecutors suspected he had illegally enriched himself in transactions during Russia’s post-Soviet 1990s privatisations.  Citing prosecutors’ letters, the newspaper said that Reiman took advantage of his position, initially as an executive at a state-owned phone company in St. Petersburg, to help transfer cash and telecommunications assets out of Russia and through a web of shell companies to IPOC. IPOC has consistently argued that it was owned by Danish lawyer Jeffrey Galmond, a long-standing friend of Reiman.  However, Galmond’s own legal team recently conceded that this position could not be maintained.

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The Gibraltar Financial Services Commission has issued a discussion document on the re-writing of the Anti-Money Laundering Guidance Notes (AMLGN).  Comments on the discussion paper are invited by 16 June 2006.  To see the discussion paper, click here.

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The Jersey Financial Services Commission has issued drafts of the Money Laundering (Jersey) Order 200? (to replace the 1999 version) and accompanying Handbook for the Prevention and Detection of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (again, to replace the 1999 edition).

Comments on drafts of both documents are invited by 16 August 2006.  To see the press release with links to the consultation paper (outlining the specific questions on which comments are invited) and the two draft documents, click here to go to the JFSC website and then find the link in the purple press releases side bar.

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The Law Society has launched an investigation into David Mills, the former lawyer for Silvio Berlusconi and estranged husband of Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary.  The investigation was launched after a complaint by regulators in Dubai who rejected Mr Mills's application to practise law there because he did not reveal the charges he was facing in Italy.  Mr Mills applied to work as a lawyer in Dubai in October 2005, but financial regulators rejected his application for six breaches of procedures, saying he was not a "fit and proper" person to practice law in the country.

The Law Society said it is not investigating allegations that Mr Mills had accepted a bribe in Italy but a spokesman confirmed that the society "shared intelligence" with the Serious Fraud Office and would hold a disciplinary tribunal if Mr Mills were found guilty in the Italian court.  Next month, an Italian judge will open a hearing to decide whether Mr Berlusconi and Mr Mills should be sent for trial.

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Athif Sanwar, the son of Labour MP for Govan, Mohammed Sarwar, is to appear at the High Court in Glasgow later this year charged money laundering under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.  Athif Sarwar is managing director of a company called United Wholesale (Scotland) Limited, and he faces laundering charges with his colleague Mansoor Khan.

Mohammed Sarwar, who founded UWS in 2002 and remains a director of the company along with his son, said, "I have nothing to do with the day-to-day running of the business, but after discussions with a number of my staff I have absolute faith that, in the due process of law, these allegations will be proved to be untrue and unfounded."  The MP is the sixth richest Asian businessman in Scotland, with his wealth estimated to be £16 million.

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American sprinter Tim Montgomery (who won a relay gold medal at the 2000 Olympics) has been arrested in Virginia on charges of being connected to a multimillion-dollar bank fraud and money laundering scheme.  The charges accuse Montgomery, his track coach Steven Riddick and twelve other people of being involved in a scheme that deposited US$5 million in stolen, altered or counterfeit cheques over three years.  Some of the money was laundered through two businesses owned by a New York couple accused of being behind the scam.

Montgomery is accused of being a lesser player in a scheme hatched by friends Douglas Shyne and Natasha Singh.  Shyne and Singh are accused of setting up sham businesses to take cheques stolen from banks and either alter them or make counterfeit copies.  Most of the cheques involved accounts at large companies that didn't immediately notice the money missing.  Montgomery allegedly deposited three bogus cheques worth a total of $775,000.

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The draft AML regulations submitted to China's authorities for approval (see story dated 12 April, below) widen the scope of the proposed law from financial institutions to estate agents, lawyers, accountants and jewellers.  The draft law says that both financial and non-financial institutions should shoulder the responsibility for "controlling and monitoring".  It stipulates that estate agency, law, accountancy, pawnshop and jewellery businesses should establish mechanisms to combat money laundering and provide professional training to their staff.  Such firms - as well as the financial sector - are also required to establish the identities of customers, ascertain the exact source of capital and probe the true purpose of transactions.  Large and suspicious transactions have to be reported to the anti-money laundering monitoring centre set up two years ago.

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Wayne Lineker, the brother of former England football captain Gary, has been jailed for two and a half years for a £220,000 tax fraud.  Wayne admitted conspiracy to defraud the Inland Revenue by using unsuspecting relatives and friends to ferry foreign currency to Britain from his Lineker's sports bars in Spain.  On top of the jail sentence, he was ordered to pay a £90,000 confiscation order or face a further two years in prison.  Two other men pleaded guilty to taking part in the conspiracy and were jailed for 20 months and 18 months.

The scam worked by sending bundles of pesetas and escudos from bars in Spain, Portugal and the Canary Islands into Britain using the unsuspecting "mules".  Once here, the money was laundered into pounds, first through a bureau de change and later using a series of money exchange deals.  The "clean" money was then returned to Wayne Lineker.  The foreign equivalent of £220,000 is thought to have been smuggled into Britain over three years, with the actual cost to the taxman estimated at £90,000, including interest.

Wayne Lineker lives in a mansion worth £2 million in Essex and owns eight pubs and has franchises on three others.  Sentencing the men, Judge Stephen Robbins said that defrauding the Inland Revenue was a "serious offence because it means defrauding the vast majority of honest taxpayers".  He compared the fraudsters to "burglars and thieves".

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The following story has appeared in leading Nigerian newspaper "Nigerian Tribune":

"Nigeria  may soon be delisted from the ranks of countries which are not complying with anti-money laundering directives as the International Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has announced its plan to conduct an on-site visit to the country.  The visit, scheduled for May 9 through 11 this year, is expected to lead to the delisting of the country from the list of non-cooperating countries during its June plenary in Paris, France.  The FATF had, at its February plenary in Cape Town, South Africa, moved Nigeria to the final stage of the delisting process, having been satisfied that the nation had made substantial and sustained progress in the implementation of its anti-money laundering and terrorist financing laws and regulations."
 

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A review of the way in which Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) are handled in the UK has been published by Sir Stephen Lander, Chair of the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA).  The review is in response to a request made in July 2005 by the Chancellor and the Home Secretary, who asked Sir Stephen Lander to review how the SARs regime could best be managed under SOCA.

Sir Stephen makes 24 recommendations to improve the system, primarily focussing on the role of SOCA as the regime’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) responsible for ensuring the effective functioning of the regime.  These recommendations include improving the underpinning IT, improving the training and guidance provided by the FIU and facilitating better dialogue between the regime’s participants.

To download the 56-page review, click here.

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Perhaps in response to the shocking rise in incidences of money laundering (see story below dated 6 April), the People's Bank of China (PBC) has proposed new anti-money laundering regulations aimed at the banking, insurance and securities sectors.  According to a series of drafts published on the central bank's website, the new regulations would require institutions in the banking and insurance sectors to report "block transactions" to PBC's anti-money laundering centre.

"Block transactions" are defined as cash transactions over 50,000 yuan [about £3,500] in a day.  Non-cash transfers between personal accounts and institutional accounts exceeding 200,000 yuan [£14,100] in a day, or transfers between two institutional accounts exceeding one million yuan [£70,900] in a day, will be also treated as block transactions.

Institutions and individuals are invited to provide feedback on the draft regulations before 8 May 2006.  The 21st Session of the Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress of China will review the draft regulations on 25 April.

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In a follow-up to a story published here on 10 March 2006, Zohaib Assad and Mohammed Ahmad have been jailed for a total of 13 years.  Assad was put behind bars for seven years, while Ahmad was jailed for six years.  The two were found guilty last month of laundering GBP 2.4 million, in the first successful prosecution under proceeds of crime laws in Scotland.  Both denied the charge, but were found guilty by jury of laundering the money through a legitimate money-transfer service at the travel agency they ran in Glasgow.

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Japanese banks displayed a 3.7% increase in the number of reported suspicions of money laundering in 2005, giving a record high of 98,935 reports.  Banks accounted for 86% of the reports, followed by 7% for other financial institutions such as credit co-operatives.  Financial institutions are required by Japan's Financial Services Agency to report transactions that may have been used to finance drug deals or offences by criminal gangs or terrorists.

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The Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) has opened its office for business.  FIU-IND is an independent agency tasked with collecting information about various financial transactions and reporting suspect cases to the relevant regulators and enforcement agencies.  However, the unit has a long way to go before it starts receiving a regular flow of information from various reporting agencies.  The idea is to gradually enhance the intelligence available with the unit, while the formats for reporting to the agency are being prescribed.

FIU-IND can exchange information with its foreign counterparts on the basis of reciprocity or mutual agreement.  It is the central agency responsible for receiving, processing, analysing and disseminating information relating to suspect financial transactions, and will gather and share financial intelligence in association with the regulatory agencies like the Reserve Bank of India, Securities & Exchange Board of India and Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority.  FIU-IND reports directly to the Economic Intelligence Council (EIC) headed by the finance minister P Chidambaram.

To visit the website of FIU-IND, click here.

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Australia's Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Bill 2005 proposes a major shake-up of money laundering laws, to bring the country in line with FATF requirements, and wants responses by 13 April.  However, key industry groups want more information about the proposed changes and more time to consider them.  While the government has released draft legislation for consultation, it has yet to release all the draft rules which will specify just what industry must do to comply.  Both the Australian Bankers' Association and the Investment and Financial Services Association said that they needed more time for proper consideration of what were complex and far-reaching changes.  Initially the reforms will involve the financial and gambling industries, bullion dealers, lawyers and accountants.  The government would then consider extending them to real estate agents, jewellers and others providing financial services.

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Zohaib Assad and Mohammed Ahmad have been found guilty of laundering GBP 2.4 million in the first successful prosecution under proceeds of crime laws in Scotland.  Both denied the charge, but were found guilty by jury of laundering the money through a legitimate money-transfer service at the travel agents they ran in Glasgow.  Undercover customs officers had the premises under surveillance and claimed they observed a customer visiting the shop with holdalls stuffed full of cash between February and September 2003.  Investigators recovered the sum of GBP 2,442,318.75 laundered by Assad and Ahmad and deposited in accounts at branches of the National Westminster and Clydesdale banks in Glasgow.  The pair were also found guilty of transferring GBP 2.25 million into foreign accounts in Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and China.  The judge granted a request to recommend a deportation order against Assad (a Pakistani national) and to confiscate nearly GBP 400,000 in cash found at the travel shop and at Assad's house.  He deferred sentencing until April 11 in Edinburgh and the pair were remanded in custody.

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A Spanish investigation has uncovered 4 million euros in bank accounts linked to former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who has been accused of hiding illicit money in several European countries.  Vicenta Tolda, a judge based in Valencia, froze accounts in Bancaja Bank which are linked to three companies (Petroline, Tempo Global and Petroline SRL) with connections to Bhutto.  Spanish investigators said Bhutto might have laundered money by buying and selling Spanish properties, including a villa in Marbella.  The investigation was launched in 2004 at the request of the Pakistani authorities.  Judge Tolda has contacted the British judicial authorities to request an interrogation of Bhutto, who currently lives in London.

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The Financial Action Task Force has published summary third round mutual evaluation reports on Ireland and Sweden.  The full reports will be published in about four weeks' time.

The main concern expressed about Ireland's AML/CFT regime is that "Trust and Company service providers are not covered by AML/CFT requirements as a separate DNFBP [Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions] category despite the presence of specialist providers in Ireland.  Casinos, including internet casinos, are illegal.  However, it was noted that a number of private gaming clubs operate casino like facilities that create an AML/CFT risk, but which fall outside the scope of the CJA (1994).  This lack of AML/CFT requirements for the trust and company service and gaming sectors was a matter of concern for the evaluation team."  To read the full summary report on Ireland, click here.

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The Financial Action Task Force has concluded its plenary meeting in Cape Town and issued a short statement about the meeting, which was held jointly with the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) and attracted 400 delegates.

There are plans to conduct a mutual AML/CFT evaluation of China later this year, as the next step on the road to FATF membership for that country.  India has confirmed that it too intends to apply for membership.  Third round mutual evaluations have now been completed on Ireland and Sweden, and full reports and summaries of those evaluations will be published soon on the FATF website.  The list of NCCTs remains static - only Myanmar and Nigeria are now on the list - and direct FATF monitoring of Indonesia, the Philippines and the Ukraine has been halted thanks to their "continued efforts".  Typology studies are underway into the money laundering vulnerabilities of new payment technologies, the misuse of companies and trusts, trade-based money laundering and complex money laundering schemes from a South American perspective.  The annual typologies report covering these subjects and more will be published in mid-2006.

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Russian government officials are planning a tax amnesty, according to reports in the local press.  Details are still sketchy, but in essence, those declaring assets to the authorities under the amnesty will escape prosecution in return for paying 13% tax on previously-hidden assets.  However, the amnesty offers immunity only from prosecution for violations of tax law; those who declare assets could still be liable for prosecution under foreign exchange laws or criminal law.  The Russian government is hoping to repatriate some of the US$160 billion that it has estimated has been salted away outside the country, and has warned that penalties for tax crimes uncovered after the amnesty finishes will be "very tough". 

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Banco Delta Asia, which was accused by the US of being a "willing pawn" for North Korea to channel money through Macau, has agreed to sever all links with the communist state.  The US Treasury accused Banco Delta Asia of helping to finance North Korean agencies and front companies over a period of twenty years, and it put intense pressure on the bank - which denied the accusations - to abandon ties with North Korea.  It threatened to restrict Banco Delta Asia's business dealings with US banks unless it took prompt action.  The scandal weakened Banco Delta's financial position, with customers withdrawing 10% of its total deposits after the allegations surfaced.  The Macau authorities stepped in to support the bank, pending an inquiry into its activities, and are now considering the bank's future.

Officials said on 16 February 2006 that the bank would end ties with North Korean clients and tighten its anti-money laundering procedures.  They confirmed that the bank would co-operate fully with the authorities and had appointed two firms of independent accountants to monitor its clients.

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Assets totalling £53,000 have been seized from two Sunderland women convicted of money laundering offences.  Nora Mitchel and her daughter Linda Mitchel were given jail sentences of 18 months and 12 months respectively, both suspended for two years.  The women were arrested during a murder inquiry into the death of a man who had a firework pushed through his door.  The pair were charged with money laundering relevant to the sale of cigarettes and fireworks from their home in Witherwack, and supplying fireworks to people under the age of 16.

DS Steve Wade, who led the inquiry, said, "I am very pleased with the sentences given by the court today and the seizure of £53,000.  This sends out a clear message to people thinking of selling fireworks, alcohol and cigarettes illegally.  There are now financial investigators in each area command and we will be looking very closely at people selling alcohol, cigarettes and fireworks which lead to anti-social behaviour."

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Samuel Burstyn, an attorney from Miami-Dade county in Florida, has been sentenced to 42 months in prison for scheming to obstruct a federal grand jury's investigation into his clients' drug-trafficking operations.  The judge also ordered Burstyn to permanently resign from the Florida Bar and to forfeit US$230,000.  With seven months already served, Burstyn is set to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on 31 March to spend the remainder of his sentence in a federal facility.

The case against Burstyn went public in March 2005 when agents from the FBI, Internal Revenue Service and local law enforcement roused him from his bed at his home on Miami Beach.  Their 12-count indictment included charges of conspiracy, money laundering and obstruction of justice.  Prosecutors said he acted as ''house counsel'' for a group of drug dealers, instructing them to lie or, in one case, flee from justice.  According to the government, Burstyn made a loan of $498,000 to marijuana smugglers Jeffrey Tobin and David Tobin; he then advised them to invest their drug proceeds in diamonds, instructed them to lie to the grand jury and even urged Jeffrey Tobin to flee from justice.  Prosecutors made their case against Burstyn by targeting the Tobins, who eventually provided incriminating information about the lawyer in exchange for lenient sentences.  The government said Burstyn required the Tobins to put up collateral for the loan.  That collateral was cash that came from drug proceeds, according to the government.  Central to the government's case was proving that Burstyn knew the origins of the collateral.

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Twenty people have been sentenced to a total of 121 years in prison for participating in a multi-million pound drugs ring across south Wales.  The final gang member was convicted on 1 February, lifting a three-year ban on reporting any details of the police operation.  The gang was led by Darren Owen, who made millions selling cocaine, amphetamines and cannabis and is now serving 16 years in jail.

The National Crime Squad (NCS) began investigating Owen in May 2001, and found him to be the front man for a drugs ring stretching across Cardiff, Bridgend, Port Talbot, the south Wales valleys and into the Midlands in England.  In total, 22 gang members either pleaded guilty to or were convicted of being involved in a drugs ring and money laundering.

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The sixteenth edition of KPMG's "Fraud Barometer" shows that fraud in the UK rocketed in 2005, with a surge in the second half of the year resulting in over £900 million of fraud – up nearly three times from the previous year and the highest recorded level since 1995.  Jeremy Outen, partner at KPMG Forensic, said, “There has been a worrying boom in fraud in recent months, although the good news is that we know this because the fraudsters are being successfully brought to book."

To read the full KPMG press release, click here.

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The Financial Services Authority has confirmed in a Policy Statement that it will press ahead with streamlining its anti-money laundering requirements for firms as part of its drive to simplify the FSA Handbook and remove rules and guidance that are no longer needed.  It will remove the existing detailed rules on anti-money laundering controls in their entirety (the Money Laundering Sourcebook), replacing them with high-level requirements for firms to have their own risk-based controls on money laundering.  This reflects the FSA's wish to provide firms with greater flexibility to meet their anti-money laundering obligations and an increased focus on senior management responsibility to do so.  The changes will come into effect at the beginning of March, but firms will have a transitional period until August 2006 to become fully compliant with the new rules.

Philip Robinson, the FSA's Financial Crime Sector Leader, said, "The changes in our Handbook do not mean we are going soft on money laundering; they are part of delivering a more proportionate and effective regime to counter money laundering.  We believe that firms will increasingly be able to target their resources where they will make the most difference in fighting crime."

To download the full 52-page Policy Statement, click here.

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The wife of professional golfer John Daly has reported to prison for a five-month sentence on a money laundering charge.  Sherrie Daly pleaded guilty in November 2004 to a charge of conspiracy to structure a transaction to evade the reporting requirement.  Daly will serve an additional five months of house arrest after she is released on 23 June.

Sherrie Daly and her parents, Alvis and Billie Miller, were indicted in Mississippi on charges relating to a drug ring and an illegal gambling operation.  Alvis Miller was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison, while his wife also received five months to serve and five months of home supervision.  Prosecutors have said the two-time major champion didn't know about his wife's activities, which took place between 1996 and 2002; John Daly met his fourth wife at a tournament in Memphis in 2001 and married her seven weeks later.

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Martin Tremblay, a Canadian national and President and Managing Director of the Bahamas-based investment firm Dominion Investments Limited, has been arrested and charged with participating in a long-term money laundering scheme.  The charges allege that from approximately 1998 to 2005, Tremblay conspired with others to launder US$1 billion in illegal proceeds for numerous Dominion Investments clients, all in exchange for a substantial commission.

Dominion Investments is an investment services provider and financial advisor incorporated in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas in 1994, licensed by the Securities Commission of the Bahamas, and a member of the Bahamas Financial Services Board.  Allegedly, Tremblay used Dominion Investment accounts to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in the proceeds of international narcotics trafficking, securities fraud scams, income tax evasion, mail and wire fraud schemes and bank fraud, among other crimes.  Tremblay then laundered the illicit funds by transferring them into United States bank accounts and offshore bank accounts in Canada, the Bahamas and elsewhere.  To further conceal the source and nature of these funds, Tremblay and his co-conspirators apparently created shell companies and fictitious entities.

Tremblay was captured as a result of an undercover sting operation conducted in 2005, during which Tremblay was videotaped agreeing to launder large amounts of money earned from narcotics sales.  If convicted on the money laundering charges, Tremblay faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of twice the value of the laundered narcotics proceeds.

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The Minister of Trade and Industry of Suriname, Siegfried Gilds, has resigned after being accused of involvement in money laundering and participating in a criminal organisation.  [Suriname is a small South American country sandwiched between Guyana and French Guiana.]  In the previous government from 2000-2005, Gilds held the position of Minister of Justice and Police.  He has strongly supported anti-money laundering activities and championed anti-money laundering laws, which were passed in September 2002.

Gilds said he was resigning in order not to hinder the investigation.  He is accused of having facilitated investments in Suriname by a relative who was recently convicted in the Netherlands of drug trafficking, participating in a criminal organisation and money laundering.  It is alleged that Gilds helped the relative to buy property in Suriname and start up a business involving hundreds of thousands of euros.

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A delegation of the Council of Europe Committee on the evaluation of anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing measures (MONEYVAL) spent the week 9-14 January 2006 in Lithuania in the framework of the Committee’s third evaluation round.  MONEYVAL experts met with a number of representatives from both the state authorities and the financial and non-financial private sector.  The delegation examined the current level of compliance of Lithuania with the international AML/CFT standards.  A full report containing the findings and recommendations to address possible shortcomings will be published later this year by MONEYVAL.

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