International Money Laundering
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Written by tolumi
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Friday, 05 December 2008 10:50 |
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International Money Laundering A spoof spy caper is currently being played out by the tiny Alpine principality of Liechtenstein and the vast might of euro zone superpower Germany. It involves allegations of drugs money shipped by shady Colombian cartels under the guidance of the Russian Mafia and the suing of Germany’s intelligence agency by the former prime minister of Liechtenstein. The unusual public row over the contents of a secret spy report comes after the former prime minister of Liechtenstein, Hans Brunhart, now head of the small Verwaltungs und Privat Bank, said that he was suing the German BND spy agency for defaming him and his bank. International Money Laundering & The German Weekly News Magazine The dispute started last year when the German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel printed details from a leaked BND report on money laundering in Liechtenstein. Part of the report said Brunhart’s bank had been used to launder considerable sums of drugs money and that he had played a central role. The report also said that Russian criminal gangs and a Colombian cocaine cartel were funnelling profits through the mountain tax haven.
The publication caused a storm of indignation in the tiny principality’s government and among its 13 banks, hundreds of trustee companies and the 32,000 subjects of the country’s ruler, Prince Hans Adam II.
In September, Brunhart met German intelligence and government officials to deny the allegations. The German government conceded that a summary version of the report by an outside investigator from Austria, appointed by Liechtenstein to analyse the case, did not prove the allegations against Brunhart. International Money Laundering & Kurt Spitzer That investigator, Kurt Spitzer, found in August that Liechtenstein was not a hotbed of money laundering for organised crime, although he criticised several flaws in its fight against so-called hot money.
But last month BND spokeswoman Lydia Rauscher said: “We are an intelligence agency, not a public prosecutor, If we have suspicions, but are not 100 per cent sure, we must tell the German government.
“If the report was not correct, then Liechtenstein would not have taken action in response.” After the row, Liechtenstein moved to implement stricter laws in order to fight money laundering. In announcing a suit against the BND, the Verwaltungs und Privat Bank said that the agency had not exercised due caution when using the allegations without saying that they were based on anonymous documents containing no verifiable evidence.
VP Bank, founded in 1956, has assets worth some US$5.5 billion and employs about 600 people. 
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 06 January 2009 14:15 |
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