Anti Money Laundering Blog

According to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), football is being used as a vehicle for money laundering.

The report issued by the FATF warns the public that football is at risk from criminals who buy clubs, transfer players and bet on the sport.

Also, the agency’s report provides an insight into tax evasion in football in UK.

It should be noted that concerns over human trafficking, corruption, drug trafficking and tax crime in the sport were raised in the report. Two previously unpublished examples of tax evasion from footballers in the UK are provided in the report, and it is indicated that in both cases the clubs were complicit in the scam.

Alltogether, more than 20 cases of football-related money laundering were detected by the FATF. The report used the information based on responses to a questionnaire received in October 2008 from government and football authorities in 25 countries.

It is important that the report provides recommendations for how football can cope with risks of money laundering as well as highlights a risk that is associated with Internet gambling.

In accordance with Chris Mathers, founder of a Toronto-based consultancy Chrismathers Inc., Canada “talks a good game”  in the world of financial compliance, but it does little in order to enforce counter-terrorism financing and anti-money laundering regulations.

He particularly emphasized risk of Canada’s money services businesses (MSB) industry as it is prone to abuse by criminals who take advantage of regulatory gaps. Mathers also said that a terrorist organization - the Sri Lankan separatist group the Tamil Tigers - has been a compliance concern in Canada, where many of the group’s sympathizers reside.

KPMG, one of the world’s leading providers of audit, tax and advisory services, recently published a new report entitled The Indian Anti-Money Laundering Survey 2009.

In this report, KMPG indicated its positive attitude towards anti-money laundering regulations. According to the report, 79% of respondents believe the burden placed upon them is acceptable, 45% of respondents feel the existing requirements are sufficiently geared to address money laundering risks, while 34% think that it could be better focused on.

It should be noted that the results of the report seem to be in a way conflicting as far as the concept of anti-money laundering is still developing in India. However, the result are positive as regars organisations’ near-universal satisfactory adoption and implementation of the risk-based approach to fight money laundering in organisations.

A judge has ordered a non-resident Indian, who was convicted of money laundering after handling top of the range stolen mobile phones to celebrities, to pay back GBP 1 million of his assets gained in a criminal way. This was done after a 40-year-old Narinder Sandhu failed to prove that the money was obtained legally.

According to Police, Sandhu was ordered to pay GBP 999 713 at Isleworth Crown Court as the National Mobile Phone Crime Unit (NMPCU) investigators located the cash in an offshore bank account.

It seems to be not the 1st case for Sandhu, as in November 2007 he was convicted of money laundering at Isleworth Crown Court.

It is worth noting that the case is the largest confiscation order in a 5-year history of the NMPCU.

A former NFL and University of Georgia football player has been indicted on mortgage fraud charges by a federal grand jury in Savannah. Arthur James Marshall Jr. played 5 years in the NFL as a wide receiver with
the Denver Broncos and New York Giants and played at Georgia from 1988 to 1991.

Marshall faced a 22-count indictment in US District Court. He was charged with bank fraud, mail fraud and money laundering. The authorities arrested the former footballer in Miami.

According to prosecutors, Marshall defrauded 3 banks in the Augusta area of more than USD 1 million in real estate loans.

The UAE Central Bank has announced that it signed 19 Memoranda of Understanding with different countries. These agreements are aimed to coordinate the efforts against money laundering and terrorist financing.

The Memoranda of Understanding signed in May demonstrated that the UAE is committed to sharing financial information with its partners.

The 17 of the agreements were signed in Doha, Qatar. These are agreements signed with Armenia, Brazil, Bermuda, Belgium, Portugal, Serbia, Lebanon, Estonia, Monaco, Isle of man, Nigeria, Croatia, South Africa, Cook Islands, Macedonia, Malawi and the Philippines.

Recently, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (http://www.oecd.org/pages/0,3417,en_36734052_36734103_1_1_1_1_1,00.html) published its blacklist of non-cooperative tax havens that might be related to money laundering.

However, lately it announced that Andorra, Liechtenstein and Monaco have been excluded from this blacklist list.
According to the OECD, its Committee on Fiscal Affairs made this decision because of political commitment of these jurisdictions to implement the OECD standards of transparency and effective exchange of information.

Now Andorra, Liechtenstein and Monaco are considered to have committed to the internationally agreed tax standard, however  they have not yet substantially implemented it.

On May 26, the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) announced that an agreement has been signed an agreement between the ACAMS and Fudan University in Shanghai in order to jointly provide anti-money laundering training in the Mainland China.

This partnership addresses the need for educating and training anti-money laundering specialists in China. It is worth noting that anti-money laundering a relatively new issue for China as laws addressing money laundering were enacted in 2006 there. However, in accordance with an Anti-Money Laundering Report published by the People’s Bank of China, about 190 000 professionals are working in the anti-money laundering field in China’s banking, insurance and securities sectors and most of them are new to the field.

According to Shi Lei, an economics professor at Fudan University, “The cooperation is part of China’s efforts to strengthen anti-money laundering checks and monitor banks, securities and insurance companies to safeguard financial security.”

Ted Weissberg, Group Executive at ACAMS, expressed his excitement about the partnership with such a prestigious university and said that ACAMS’s presence in Asia has been growing very quickly over the past 2 years and it is expected that the new agreement will accelerate that growth.

Gaborone lawyer, Busang Manewe said that his clients were discharged regarding a P 2 million money laundering case as the state failed to prove the case.

The accused parties are a company Levico’s Building and Multi Services, Victor Mathumo, Daniel Ramosiane, Rodgers Lekgoba, Khumo Zaba and Taboka Zaba. They are represented by Manewe.

The accused persons allegedly have received and deposited a cheque of more than P 400 000 from proceeds of a crime. The cheque purportedly was written in favour of Jet Supermarket and deposited into a Standard Bank account held by Levico’s Building and Multi Services.

As to the 2nd account, Mathumo, Ramosiane, Lekgoba Khumo Zaba and Taboka Zaba are charged with money laundering involving P 1.8 million as they probably have known that such the money derived from illegal activities.

A ruling on the money laundering case will be given by Gaborone Chief Magistrate, Lot Moroka on May 28, 2009.

According to US officials, international drug criminals are laundering hundreds of billions of USD in profits through the schemes of trade-based money laundering.

A new report was issued by the United States’ State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. It indicates that trade-based money laundering schemes are at an all-time high. A Justice Department official noted that fighting black market cash laundering through intentionally undervaluing or overvaluing exports is a top priority.

At a recent anti-money laundering conference in Miami, principal deputy chief at the Department of Justice criminal division Lester Joseph said that trade-related laundering is one of the priorities of the Obama’s administration.

According to a professor of finance at Florida International University, John Zdanowicz, who analyzes trade data for abnormally priced products, the banking system is the front door of money laundering. He said that “the government has done a pretty good job of closing the front door, but the back door - international trade - is wide open”. Zdanowicz thinks that it is easy for criminals who work with overseas partners to intentionally undervalue exports and then to sell them for full price.