financial-secrecy consultants - Their Role in Terror and Trafficking

What follows is an article about Ho financiual secrecy consultants equipped and facilitated Arms Transfers from North Korea to Iran.

It's time to cataloge and Assess these firms and their business clients.

Shimron Issachar

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SINCE THAI POLICE SEIZED A plane smuggling 35 tons of explosives and anti-aircraft missiles from North Korea to Iran on December 12, investigators around the world have tried to peel back many corporate and human layers to find the arms traffickers who flouted the United Nations ban against North Korean arms exports.

Whoever the arms smugglers were, they availed themselves of the same network of shell companies as was flagged by a Wachovia Bank anti-money-laundering officer in his 2008 whistleblower claim that the bank squelched his reports of suspicious financial activities ("Blowing the Whistle -- and Paying the Price," March 9, 2009).

The Wachovia wire transfers and the North Korean arms shipment were conducted under the names of corporations owned by VicAm (Auckland) Ltd., a New Zealand corporation provided by financial-secrecy consultants

GT Group, based in the South Pacific island of Vanuatu. VicAm has also appeared recently in sales by the state oil company of Azerbaijan and in a public-corruption scandal in Romania.

GT Group says it has no knowledge of what clients do with GT's nominee services. No authorities have charged GT Group or VicAm with wrongdoing.

The founder of GT Group is a resourceful 66-year-old named Geoffrey Taylor, who's spent decades promoting tax avoidance and financial secrecy from New Zealand and Vanuatu. Along the way, he's offered himself as a corporate director sporting the 800-year-old title of Lord of the Manor of Stubbington; obtained knighthood from an ersatz principality in the Australian outback, and gotten a Ph.D. from an online university of which he is president.

Sir Geoffrey's many Websites have hawked "Grand Ph.D.s" from "Standford University," passports from the Principality of Hutt River, dummy corporations for privacy-minded "politicians" and "spouses," and Vanuatu-based mutual funds that he claims were top-rated by Lipper. You can admire these feats at www.geoffreytaylor.net.

Sir Geoffrey seemed less eager for publicity when Barron's asked about the North Korean weapons. "Why are you chasing me?" he replied by e-mail. "I resigned from GT Group in 2004. I have no wish to talk to you about something I know nothing about." Taylor has disclaimed ownership of the GT Group and the Lord Stubbington Nominee Service, which he operated until passing the baton -- and the feudal title -- to his sons Michael and Ian.

But New Zealand records showed him as controlling shareholder of VicAm Ltd. right up through Sept. 8. That was a month and a half after Geoffrey's son Michael registered a New Zealand corporation called SP Trading as a wholly owned subsidiary of VicAm.

SP Trading became news on December 12, when intelligence agencies urged Thai police to inspect an Ilyushin-76 plane that stopped to refuel in Bangkok en route from Pyongyang to Tehran.

The airway bill described the cargo as "oilfield equipment" but inside the 147 cartons were explosives, rocket-propelled grenades and computerized missile launchers.

The flight crew of Kazakh and Byelorussian nationals professed ignorance of their cargo contents.
So did the GT Group, when documents revealed that the plane had been leased to SP Trading.

Contracts obtained by the anti-arms-trafficking nonprofits TransArms and IPIS showed that SP Trading had leased the Il-76 on November 5 and agreed on December 4 to fly the North Korean shipment at the behest of a Hong Kong-domiciled company.

After newspaper inquiries, GT Group issued a statement from Vanuatu saying that it had formed SP Trading at the request of a "professional client" in the U.K., and outfitted it with VicAm as nominee shareholder and a woman named Lu Zhang as nominee director. SP Trading said it knew nothing of the armaments.

Speaking for its employees, associates and corporations, the GT Group said none had knowledge of SP Trading's activities and "are in no way involved with the shipment of any items of any kind, at any location and by any means."

When Barron's asked Ian Taylor to identify SP Trading's beneficial owner -- or the U.K. client who'd ordered up the shell company -- Taylor said that information was confidential and would only be disclosed to New Zealand authorities upon their request.

GT Group isn't responsible for the activities of its customers, said Ian Taylor in his e-mailed reply. "GT Group and all its employees and management take great care to identify clients and prevent any illegal activity," he wrote. "GT Group Limited is a service provider and not a detective agency."

A spokeswoman for New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the agency is trying to verify "whether there's any substance to the allegations reported in the media." New Zealand has become a worrisome jurisdiction to international organizations that combat money-laundering and the financing of terrorism. An October 16 evaluation by the OECD's Financial Action Task Force praised New Zealand's passage of new anti-money-laundering statutes. But the FATF report said the nation's loose incorporation laws risk abuse.

The little nation's corporations have had wide reach. The GT Group's nominee- shareholder unit, VicAm Ltd., popped up as the winner of a recent million-barrel oil auction by the Azerbaijan government. It has won lucrative public-works contracts in Romania and created a stir when newspapers suggested that government officials were getting a piece of the action, which the officials denied.

Directors of GT Group shells are citizens of Vanuatu or the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean. "Our owners and staff are all locals," says another Taylor Website. "We do not employ citizens of other countries who can be leaned upon when they return to their own countries." A Seychelles islander named Stella Port-Louis has hired on as director of hundreds of corporations -- even some domiciled in Wyoming, as U.S. Senator Carl Levin and then-Senator Barack

Obama noted two years ago in a statement that urged U.S. states to tighten up their own laws governing nominee shareholders.

Ms. Port-Louis turned up as director of a number of New Zealand corporations sponsored by GT Group, which caught the attention of Martin Woods, then a Wachovia U.K. compliance official. In June 2008 and March 2009, Woods sent whistle blowing memos to regulators about suspicious transactions featuring GT Group nominees.

He described how Wachovia had passed along some $40 million from the Latvian bank accounts of four New Zealand corporations, all with their named director being the Seychelles-based Stella Port-Louis and their shareholder being the GT Group's VicAm. Port-Louis did not respond to e-mailed queries. Woods eventually settled his employment suit with Wachovia, which offered no comment. None of the transactions has resulted in regulatory action.

"Perhaps a hardware store should not be allowed to sell bolt cutters," Ian Taylor joked in an e-mail.

-- Bill Alpert

The Rest @ Barrons Magazine, 1/4/2010

Valencia Convicted

The acting director of the DEA, Michele Leonhart said in reference to Jesus Eduardo Valencia Arbelaez that "we have put behind bars at one of the biggest drug traffickers, which has orchestrated massive smuggling operations." (AP)

Manhattan U.S. Attorney, Bhar Preet, reported that the head of a vast organization based in Colombia and Venezuela, had pleaded guilty and "now faces severe consequences of exploiting West African countries for their own enrichment .

Last September, Valencia, 45, was extradited to the U.S. from Romania charged with drug trafficking and money laundering, according to the prosecution.

The man was arrested in June 2009 in Bucharest, where he had traveled to study with other accomplices to establish a base for his band, which also offended in countries such as Bolivia, Spain, Netherlands, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Mauritania and United States.

In the two years prior to his arrest, Valencia and other accomplices tried to buy an airplane to transport tons of cocaine from Venezuela to several African countries, according to the prosecutor detailed in a statement.

Manuel Silva Jaramillo, organized several meetings in Madrid, New York and Virginia (USA), among other places, and prepared to finance the purchase of the aircraft through a Cyprus company.

In October 2007, Silva Jaramillo gave instructions to transfer more than 1.25 million euros in cash, from drug trafficking operations, to various accounts in the United States.

The prosecutor explained that one of the meetings held to arrange the purchase, Silva said the available band between 30 and 60 million euros in Spain to launder needed.

In November 2008, Valencia met in Madrid with a confidant of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Jaramillo Silva helped in the purchase of the aircraft. Valence said his organization could send shipments of cocaine from Venezuela to Guinea, where he had braces and a private airfield.

In January 2009 Valencia returned to meet with the undercover DEA, who explained that the band was considering to ship cocaine from Bolivia to West Africa.

Also made arrangements for the other person received 250,000 euros in cash as part of the aircraft acquisition process. Valencia was arrested a fifth member of this organization, as the prosecutor.

Bhar explained that Geraldo Quintana Perez Perez and Steve Harvey were sent from Sierra Leone to New York in April 2009, in what was the first collaboration of its kind between the two countries.

Later, Javier Caro was awarded in June of that year by the Togolese authorities to the U.S..


For his part, Silva Jaramillo was arrested that same month after visiting the Dominican Republic after he pleaded guilty, so is waiting to learn his sentence.

"International networks of drug dealing increasingly used over West Africa as a hub for their illegal activities," lamented today Bhar.

He said, however, "operating in several continents and try to increase the scope of their criminal activities, drug traffickers are most vulnerable to the efforts of cooperation between U.S. authorities and their partners."

The acting director of the DEA, Michele Leonhart, said in reference to Valencia Arbelaez that "we have put behind bars at one of the biggest drug traffickers, which has orchestrated massive smuggling operations."

The Rest @ Que en Espana.

Iranian State Reporter Arrested for Arms Trafficking

Italy frees Iranians 'jailed over arms trafficking'

Italian anti-terrorist prosecutor Armando Spataro (right) views a selection of the weapons that were seized in March 2010. Italy has freed two Iranians who were arrested on suspicion of trafficking arms to the Islamic republic, according to Tehran's ambassador to Rome.

AFP - Italy has freed two Iranian men jailed since March on suspicion of trafficking arms to the Islamic republic but is keeping them under house arrest, Tehran's ambassador to Rome said on Friday.

Ali Damirchi-Lou and state television reporter Hamid Masoumi-Nejad were released from jail on Thursday and "placed under house arrest," Ambassador Mohammad Ali Hosseini told Fars news agency.

The Rest @ France24

Masoumi-Nejad's release was announced Thursday on state television by Mohammad Sharif Malekzadeh, who is charge of expatriate affairs, but there had been no immediate word on Damirchi-Lou's fate.

Masoumi-Nejad was freed "after efforts by the expatriate Iranian's council, the presidential office and the foreign ministry," Malekzadeh said.

Iran's ambassador to Italy also said that a Milan deputy prosecutor told him that "Masoumi-Nejad will be able to resume his reporting job although he is under house arrest." He did not elaborate.
The Italian news agency Ansa on Thursday confirmed that Masoumi-Nejad had been released and placed under house arrest, adding however he would be allowed to go to work.

Masoumi-Nejad -- who worked as a reporter for state television in Rome -- was arrested along with Damirchi-Lou and five Italian businessmen in Turin in March on suspicion of trafficking arms to Iran in violation of UN sanctions.

Tehran insists that the Iranian men are innocent and has repeatedly called for their release.
"We will keep our efforts until we secure their innocence verdict and complete freedom," ambassador Hosseini told Fars news agency.

Italian anti-terrorist prosecutor Armando Spataro said in March that the pair worked for Iran's secret services and that two other Iranians, believed to be in the Islamic republic, were sought in the same operation.

Italian police said the businessmen, receiving orders from Tehran, bought weapons in Europe, mainly from Germany.

They allegedly transported the arms through third countries such as Britain, Switzerland and Romania before shipping them to Iran using other companies as cover.

Some shipments passed via the Gulf state of Dubai, according to Italian police.

The scheme fell apart following a simple check by a Romanian customs officials, who confiscated 200 gun sights. Another 100 were seized in London, the police said.

Al-Kassar Arms Trafficking Operation Exposed by Mediafax

This is a very rough translation of an article that appeared on the Romanina media network Mediafax on October 27, 2009. TBDA shows that they have been conducting an investigation for some time.

-Shimron Issachar

The contract between the company Romarm and used, according to UN publications, the arms trafficker Monzer Al-Kassar as a front for arms exports for brigades FARC has not been finalized, said Tuesday evening, the AFP, general manager of Romarm John whip.

Contract for supply of weapons to FARC alleged destination was not executed (Image: Archive Mediafax Foto)

"I can tell that Romarm a contract with the company Trowl Services Limited, which aim to contract the supply of products for police in Nicaragua. This contract, like all contracts that we conclude, it enters into force, according to a clear terms, I would say the primary, only after it received an export license to the National Authority for Control of Exports (ANCEX).

Although this agreement was an export license issued by ANCEX, it was immediately withdrawn and while it was valid was not made any delivery and has not received any money under this contract ", they said by phone, whip, agency AFP.

Director Romarm could not specify what were the reasons for which the license ANCEX was "immediately" withdrawn, adding that institutional relations between the institution endorses Romarm and exports "not involve the provision of explanations or additional information.

Whip's statements come in the context of the emergence of a magazine article published in the UN Institute for Disarmament, which shows that Monzer al-Kassar, a leading international arms trafficking network condemned by the U.S.,  has negotiated with Romarm Romanian company in 2007, buying arms which was to reach the Colombian group FARC.

In February, Monzer al-Kassar has been condemned by the District Court in New York to 30 years in prison for having agreed to provide arms Colombian terrorist group FARC.

 "Monzer al-Kassar was convicted following a "sting?"organized by the U.S. Anti-Drug Agency (DEA), which had received large sums for the purchase of weapons, including sophisticated surface-to-air missiles.

The weapons were to be purchased from the Romanian company Romarm , which, as the evidence on record, did not oppose the sale, showed the article published in the magazine UN Institute for Disarmament Research in the field (UNIDIR), available on the website www.unidir.ch.

 In response to those related by UNIDIR, whip said that no representative Romarm concluded any agreement with Monzer al-Kassar and it never provided any price list.

 Also Tuesday, the Director of National Agency for Conventional Arms Exports Control said by telephone to the agency AFP, that the transaction which reported UNIDIR was never completed, leaving to understand that an institution that has not ever endorsed such export.

"Anyone can enter any contract, but this kind of business document contains a clause on consent from us, from ANCEX. Ask those from Romarm if they received any notice for that transaction," said ANCEX official, refusing any further comment.

"Probably to mislead the authorities in Romania", al-Kassar has used an intermediary to purchase arms and ammunition from Romarm. The intermediary was Milan Djurovic, the company Trawl Services Limited, registered in Britain but which is based in Belgrade, write the authors document UNIDIR.

Several instruments found in possession of al-Kassar shows that Milan Djurovic was used in business transactions (with) Transtrade GmbH. The UNIDIR report (said ) and export license C32.7515 was issued (May 16, 2007) between Romarm and Trawl Services Ltd, a copy (of)the contract between the two companies were found on Al-Kassar.

Previously, Nicolae Iancu, marketing director of Romarm, said to AFP that the number cited by UNIDIR is a contract, not a license to export the ANCEX.

It can be a very legally binding contract with a firm, but that has not received notice ANCEX. Maybe just as well be talking about a fake contract, and such cases we have seen in almost 30 activities to Romarm" Janco said.

Iancu, who was director of Romarm and 2007, when Kassar, under UNIDIR publication should be negotiated with the institution, argued that evidence from the authors expected the UN publication and, referring to the fact that the publication maintains that information is contained in testimony of one of U.S. agencies involved in its monitoring of Kassar said that testimony in the courts "may be false.

"The fact that the transaction was never made means that it is not approved by ANCEX without notice any weapon can be delivered across borders or understanding between Romarm and British company has not reached the stage of obtaining export license, "concluded Iancu, adding that the program is not allowed to study the document UNIDIR and does not remember the names of firms or persons involved in the alleged contract.

 According to Iancu, the information presented in the publication UNIDIR are "speculation" and are part of a series of attacks aimed at destabilizing trade Romanian defense industry.

"In recent years (reports occured) in the international press (that there were) items with the wrong destination, real attacks aimed at destabilizing the Romanian defense industry," said Janco, Tuesday evening, (to the) agency AFP, stressing that in his opinion, and information about (the) contract that involved Monzer al-Kassar, a leading international arms trafficking network in the U.S. convicted, would enter into the same category.

Asked how it was possible to conclude such a contract by Romarm, Janco said that an opinion is a pre-export phase and that, in principle, may be concluded "many ways" of contracts, but (th coontracts) do not run until after supplies are approved by ANCEX.

"We are a state company, everything is checked. Work legally, so it hurts me when I see all these defamations" he concluded, adding that Romarm could take an official position "if you consider (it)appropriate".

Al-Kassar had received over $ 400,000 to purchase weapons, funds that would provide money (for use?) by the FARC in drug trafficking but were actually funds the U.S. Anti-Drug Agency (DEA) to organize flagrantului.

Al-Kassar had repeatedly link edarms with companies from Bulgaria and Romania and traveled to both countries to complete arrangements to purchase weapons, "explained DEA agent William Brown in U.S. court which tried the al-Kassar, his testimony was the main source UNIDIR document.

The American agent quoted by UNIDIR, the operation provided by the FARC (to)purchase the following weapons to al-Kassar:

• 4350 AKM assault rifles,
• 3350 by AKMS assault rifles,
• RPK 200 assault rifles,
• 50 rifle with telescope Dragunov,
• 500 Makarov pistols,
• 2,000,000 7.62 mm caliber bullets
• 120 grenade launchers RPG,
• 1650 PG-7V grenade and
• 2,400 hand grenades RGO-78.
  

 "Substantial amounts began to be sent undercover agents of the DEA (to?) accounts controlled by al-Kassar, and, according to U.S. court documents, he was able to negotiate successfully with Romarm company and other companies to purchase, in addition, (Surface to air ) missiles-air SA-7, SA-16 and SA-18.

Al-Kassar told us that he was in Bulgaria and would arrive the next day in Romania, of the arms contract. He was to meet on May 11, 2007 with representatives of the arms industry in Romania. We useed airline data to confirm that al-Kassar went to Romania on May 10, 2007, 'says DEA agent William Brown, quoted by the authors UNIDIR publication.

During the visit to Romania and Bulgaria, al-Kassar (brought)a table of prices of the companies Romarm (Romania) and Armitrans (Bulgaria), stresses the document, which he cites DEA agent William Brown said that "some of the weapons had been purchased Al-Kassar from Romarm.

Milan Djurovic intend to buy from Romarm

• 2,000 AKM assault rifles
• 2250 AKMS assault rifles,
• 200 RPK rifles,
• 50 rifles with Dragunov telescope

The total contract value of $607,000.

The weapons were to be bought by al-Kassar with 920,000 dollars and the price demanded (of) the FARC would be 2,005,000 dollars, according to the report UNIDIR.

Trawl Services Company, cited in Article UNIDIR, (was to) provide safety equipment and police protection and commercial organizations (suuport) worldwide.  The company's website (says it) provides armored cars, gas masks, metal detectors and other products.

 The contact is a mailbox in Salisbury, Wiltshire.

UN Institute for Disarmament Research in the field (UNIDIR) was established in 1980 by the UN General Assembly and operates as an autonomous entity within the UN structures

The Rest @ Mediafax

International Criminal -Terrorist World Business Network

The DEA and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York have unveiled a new indictment for drug trafficking that shows just how truly transnational and intertwined with terrorists, aircraft merchants, and little-scrutinized company registries these groups have become.


The case centers on Jesus Eduardo Valencia-Arbelaez, aka "Padre," aka "Pat," who was extradited from Romania to stand trial for drug trafficking and money laundering. I think these two paragraphs sums up the huge challenges faced with these organizations that have now grown tentacles around the world. Plotting this on a map would help give the true dimensions of the enterprise.


Valencia-Arbelaez was a leader of a sophisticated international cocainetrafficking organization (the Organization) based in Colombia and Venezuela that operated worldwide, including in Bolivia, Spain, Holland, Sierra Leone, Guinea Conakry, Mauritania, Mali, Cyprus, and the United States.

• Beginning in September 2007, members of the Organization sought to purchase a cargo airplane for the purpose of transporting metric tons of cocaine from Venezuela to West Africa.


• Between September 2007 and March 2009, Manuel Silva-Jaramillo, a member of the Organization arrested earlier this year, conducted meetings in connection with the Organization's efforts to acquire the airplane in, among other places, Madrid, New York and Virginia.


• Silva-Jaramillo arranged to finance the purchase of the airplane through a corporation based in Cyprus and to register it in Sierra Leone.

It would be incorrect to assume the Organization has an organic structure in each of the countries named. Rather, it has carved out important links to existing criminal organizations there, and have key operatives in the country or region to keep an eye on the operations and collect or pay money, as necessary.


But it does show a remarkable integration across four continents and the ability to manage multiple moving pieces. It also shows how mobile the Organization's key personnel are.

• Valencia-Arbelaez was arrested in Romania, where he had gone to further discuss the purchase of aircraft for his organization.


• Unfortunately, Viktor Bout, denied bail yesterday by a Thai judge, was unavailable for business.

This case follows closely on another one where the DEA, using the tried and true uncover tactic of pretending to be buying weapons for the FARC in Colombia, captured a former Syrian military officer in Honduras, purporting to have weapons obtained from Hezbollah to sell on the international market.

• Jamal Yousef, aka "Talal Hassan Ghantou," an international arms trafficker, was charged with participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy.

What is interesting about the case is that it was to be a transcontinental weapons for cocaine trade. While such trades are reported anecdotally, there has been little first-hand evidence of this type of activity among designated terrorist organizations.

So, we have a Syrian in Honduras offering to sell Hezbollah weapons stashed in Mexico, reportedly stolen from Iraq.

Again, the geographic space in the operation is significant and, until fairly recently, an insurmountable obstacle.

The silver lining in this is that the arrests were made. It is a part of the shifting tactics of the DEA and others to target the "shadow facilitators" like Yousef who have access to different criminal and terrorist networks and broker the deals that are profitable to all.

But the scary part is just how far-flung and inter-active these groups have become. Globalization and market forces at their best.

Douglas Farah is the president of IBI Consultants and a Senior Fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center. He is a national security consultant and analyst.

In 2004 he worked for nine months with the Consortium for the Study of Intelligence, studying armed groups and intelligence reform. For the two decades before that, he was a foreign correspondent and investigative reporter for the Washington Post and other publications, covering Latin America and West Africa.

The Rest @ Douglas Farah by way of Rightside News

Good work, Doug

Romania interested in Impounded Ukrainian Aircraft in Nigeria

According to TBVD, Romanian Special Communication Service Seems to be looking for what happened to an aircraft from the Ukraine, which was impounded at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Lagos on June 16th in Nigeria while carrying 18 crates of weapons and ammunition. Specfically, tail number " mem 4 060 " . It was thought at the time that the aircraft was on its way to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.

I am wondering if there is a DR Congo connection here....

-Shimron Issachar

Iran Bank Tejarat, Romania Bank ProCredit

Iranian Bank Tejarat may have tried to establish a relationship with Romania SC ProCredit Bank SA.on or around 16 July 2009. Bank Tejarat is on the OFAC List

Romania Arms Fueling African war and Jihand

During the Cold war, Romania was the Ninth Largest Arms Exporter in the World.

Currently, there are nine (9) companies in Romain that produce Small arms and Light Weapons. These include Assault Rifles, grenades, grenade launchers, explosives and pistols.

A Number of Romanian Government officials have been implicate in illicit arms transfers, most coming out Otopemi Airport in Bucharest. Romanian arms have been found in Kosovo, Liberia, Rwanda, as as well as the Afghan Taliban.

Romanian arms supplied UNITA Rebels in Angola via Togo and Burkina Faso to, according to a 2004 Report.

Romania is under pressure to bring their arms dealings under control as they seek to join NATO.

The Romanian National Agency for Export Controls ( ANCEX ) licenses and regulates these exports. The Inter Ministerial Council ( IMC ) is the investigating agency, with representative from security and intelligence groups inside Romania. They meet monthly to approve or disapprove arms export permits. and there is evidence of regular infighting.

Source: Small Arms Control in Romania

Message and media traffic suggests that Romanian Arms are being sent to Somalia through Eritria. The weapons sales certificate, if checked by Romania, probably suggests that the arms are being bought by Eritria for its own use, however, the volume and frequency of the shipments show this is not true.

-Shimron Issachar