Dan Ackman, 11.11.04, 9:40 AM ET

NEW YORK - What are the odds that a tiny nation like Antigua and
Barbuda could take on the United States in an international dispute
and win?



Though it seems a long shot, that's what has happened so far as the
World Trade Organization (WTO) expounded yesterday on its March ruling
that the U.S. violated international trade treaties by prohibiting
Americans from gambling over the Internet. It ordered the U.S. to
bring state and federal law into conformity with its international
commitments.

The U.S. says it will appeal the ruling, which is based on a densely
worded 273-page opinion--not counting exhibits--on the grounds that
Internet gambling is a threat to its sovereignty and an invitation to
organized crime. "Gambling has been one of the staple activities of
organized crime syndicates," the U.S. says. "Law enforcement
authorities in North America have seen evidence that organized crime
plays a growing part in the remote supply of gambling, including
Internet gambling."

Thus, the U.S. law on gambling may be summarized as follows: Americans
may gamble in state-sponsored lotteries nearly everywhere; they may
gamble at racetracks; they may gamble on slot machines installed to
subsidize faltering racetracks; they may gamble nearly everywhere in
Nevada, especially Las Vegas, and in Atlantic City; they may gamble on
Indian reservations and on permanently docked riverboats and on
cruises to nowhere. (See: "America: The Casino Nation.") But they must
not gamble through the Internet because that activity would promote crime.

Under U.S. law, Americans are not allowed, for instance, to place bets
with online casinos in the tiny island nation of Antigua and Barbuda.
Antigua says this is an unfair trade barrier; the U.S. calls it a
legitimate exercise of state and federal lawmaking.

Under normal circumstances it's hard to imagine Antigua as a threat to
the U.S. To say Antigua is small minimizes the point. If Antigua (pop:
68,320) was a state, it would be North Dakota--divided by 10, but
considerably sunnier. If it were a corporation, its $750 million gross
domestic product would make it on the level of Fukuoka City Bank (No.
1708 on the Forbes 2000) or Banco di Sardegna (No. 1979). Its
landmass, according to the CIA Factbook is 2.5 times the size of
Washington, DC. Oddly enough, though, the same CIA Factbook says its
economy is based first on tourism and second on agriculture--and does
not mention at all its burgeoning online casino sector.

Antigua itself claims in its legal briefs to the WTO that in 1999 it
had 119 licensed casino operators, employing around 3,000 and
accounting for about ten per cent of GDP. By 2003, the number of
operators had declined to 28, employing fewer than 500, it says. Its
government believes that "material factors in the decline of the
industry are the increased standards of regulation in Antigua and an
increasingly aggressive strategy on the part of the United States to
impede the operation of cross-border gaming activities." Thus, it
asked the WTO to intervene.

Its charge is, at least in part, based on U.S. hypocrisy. Antigua
submits that commercial gambling is an enormous industry and that in
1999 U.S. gamblers wagered more $630 billion in state-sanctioned
gambling activities and lost $50 billion in the process. It says that
in 1998, 68% of Americans gambled at least once.

Antigua adds that since 1999 state-sanctioned gambling in the United
States has continued to explode, saying it is available in 48 states,
covering activities including bingo, horse race betting and other
sports gambling, commercial casinos and state-operated lotteries. "The
omnipresence of fully lawful, state-sanctioned gambling makes the
United States the largest national gambling market in the world,"
Antigua concludes.

Large U.S. casino companies like Mandalay Bay Resorts (nyse: MBG -
news - people ), MGM Mirage (nyse: MGG - news - people ), Park Place
Entertainment (nyse: PPE - news - people ) and Harrah's (nyse: HET -
news - people ), and slot-machine manufacturer International Game
Technology (nyse: IGT - news - people ), all have a piece of the
action, as does America's leading icon of business, Donald Trump.
Richard Branson, Britain's answer to Trump, says he wants in.

The American Gaming Association, a lobbying group, says legalized
gambling is a $73 billion industry as measured by gross gambling
revenue (the amount wagered minus the winnings returned to gamblers,
as of 2003.)

If Antigua could capture just 1% of that total, still an ambitious
goal, it could conceivably double its GDP. Of course, if Antigua wins
the WTO ruling, it would likely face more intense competition from any
number of nations, or even the U.S. itself.

http://www.forbes.com/services/2004/11/11/cx_da_1111topnews.html

AccountingWEB.com - Nov-4-2004 - For the second time in two weeks, a
federal court has handed the Internal Revenue Service a major setback
in its fight against abusive tax shelters.

Coltec Industries Inc., which makes aircraft-landing systems, used a
strategy that involved transferring a $375 million promissory note to
a subsidiary that was set up to take on liabilities associated with
asbestos litigation. Coltec sold stock in the subsidiary to banks and
law firms handling the litigation, producing a huge loss.

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington ruled that Coltec
deserved an $82.8 million refund, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The decision by Judge Susan Braden said that the actions did not
represent sham transactions, as the IRS had claimed. The IRS said that
they lacked economic substance even though they technically followed
the tax code.

Braden wrote that "where a taxpayer has satisfied all statutory
requirements established by Congress, as Coltec did in this case, the
use of the 'economic substance' doctrine to trump 'mere compliance
with the code' would violate the separation of powers" clause of the
U.S. Constitution.

If Braden's ruling stands, the "contingent liability" transactions
that the IRS listed as abusive tax shelters may be negated.

The Justice Department hasn't decided whether to appeal. The ruling
was similar to one involving Black & Decker, which will receive a $57
million refund after another federal judge ruled against the IRS.

Black & Decker used an accelerated contingent liability strategy,
which allowed the company to immediately deduct costs in one year
rather than over several years.

Coltec's tax strategy was devised by Arthur Andersen.

"This case emasculates the judicial economic substance doctrine and
explicitly invites Congress to codify the doctrine," said Lawrence
Hill, a partner at the New York law firm Dewey Ballantine LLP, which
had represented Andersen.

http://www.accountingweb.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=100034

The National Association of Securities Dealers leveled charges of
manipulation and fraud at Park Capital Securities, a now-defunct
Manhattan-based broker-dealer.
The former NASD-member company, now defunct, along with its two
owners, two of its traders, and eight salesmen, were accused by the
regulators in a Friday press release for using "classic, boiler-room
techniques" to fraudulently sell over $3.5 million in shares of Cordia
Corp. stock to customers.

http://www.crainsny.com/news.cms?id=9190

RIGA - Offshore Russian funds could make up some 30 percent of Latvian
banking assets, according to Latvian and Russian financial experts who
say the Baltic state's banks serve as a transit area for the money.
At this year's Banking and Finances in the Baltics conference,
Latvijas Tirdzniecibas Banka Vice President Andrejs Surmans said that
offshore funds passing through Latvian banks are of "Russian origin."

The funds would be equal to some 2.1 billion lats (3 billion euros),
considering that Latvia's total banking assets as of late August stood
at 7.02 billion lats.

The Russian Institute for Social and Economic Projects' main partner,
Leonid Baron, said that his estimate was close to Surmans'.

Although the use of offshore funds could be related to money
laundering, Baron thinks that ill-considered tax policies are a more
likely cause.

Surmans said that no such cases of money laundering or terrorist
funding have been discovered in his bank, therefore "there's nothing
to discover."

Bankers supported his claim as they had no information on a single
case of money laundering having been detected in Latvia.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, Baltic and
Russian banks have started paying special attention to the prevention
of legalizing criminal proceeds and the flow of terrorist money.

This focus on security comes at a time when Russia's banks are
considering international expansion, including branches in Europe and
possibly Latvia, said Anatoly Milukov, vice president of Russia's bank
association.

He added that the stronger Russia's banking system becomes, the more
interest it finds in representation abroad.

"Business will find its way," said Milukov.

Of Latvia's 23 operating banks, only a couple are Russian-owned, among
them Latvijas Biznesa Banka and Latvijas Tirdzniecibas Banka. Russia's
Eastbridge Bank also has a branch in the Baltic country, while several
of Latvia's banks have representation in Russia.

http://www.baltictimes.com/art.php?art_id=11256

CALGARY, Oct. 27 /CNW/ - Thomas Kim Seto is scheduled stand trial

May 12-13, 2005 for allegedly breaching an earlier ASC order which
included
prohibiting him from trading in securities until 2005. Mr. Seto
appeared in
Edmonton Provincial Court today and entered a plea of "not guilty" to
eight
counts of breaching the Securities Act.
     In 2000, the ASC ordered that Mr. Seto cease trading in securities, be
denied the use of exemptions from securities laws, and not act as a
director
or officer for 5 years, for his part in unlawfully establishing an
Internet
stock exchange. ASC staff alleges that Mr. Seto broke the conditions
of the
cease trade order when he traded in securities of Genoray Ltd. in
2002. Staff
further alleges that Mr. Seto was acting as a director and officer of two
Alberta corporations, which also breach the conditions of his sanction for
earlier Securities Act violations.
     Three other counts of breaching securities laws are also alleged - one
each of misrepresenting that Genoray Ltd. would be listed on a stock
exchange
at a given price, advising an investor to purchase securities while not
registered to do so and misleading ASC staff during the investigation.

     The Alberta Securities Commission is the industry funded regulatory
agency responsible for administering the Alberta Securities Act. Its
mission
is to foster a fair and efficient capital market in Alberta and,
together with
the other members of the Canadian Securities Administrators, develop and
operate the Canadian Securities Regulatory System.

For further information: Joni Delaurier, Communications Coordinator,
Tel: (403) 297-4481, Cell: (403) 829-8385

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/October2004/27/c5517.html

October 27, 2004

By Ronnie Morris

Cape Town - Banks across the world are spending more on systems to
combat money laundering than ever before, according to a study by
professional services firm KPMG.

Recent estimates suggest that between $500 billion (R3.1 trillion) and
$1 trillion is laundered annually by drug dealers, arms traffickers
and other organised criminals.

Of the 209 financial institutions interviewed over three years, 83
percent said they had invested more in combating money laundering.
Spending was up by 61 percent on average.

The survey said most banks expected to increase spending by over 40
percent in the next three years, demonstrating that much remained to
be done to enhance anti-money laundering controls.

Petrus Marais, a regional chairman of KPMG Forensic, said increased
regulation and fears over financing of terrorist groups had boosted
investment in anti-money laundering measures.

Banks had rightly identified transaction monitoring and training as
key areas.

"Get these right and you build yourself a corporate radar system
highly attuned to money laundering risk. This not only helps protect
the bank from serious damage to its reputation, but also helps protect
civil society against its many enemies," he said.


While many banks continued to rely solely on staff vigilance and
exception reports, a lot of these institutions were planning to
implement more sophisticated systems, the survey found.

Nearly two-thirds of senior compliance officers interviewed across 41
countries said that their banks had global anti-money laundering
policies in place and that greater scrutiny was being applied to their
customer bases.

Over 80 percent of banks said they varied the information they
required from customers at account acceptance, depending on the risk
profile of the customer.

Two-thirds of respondents indicated that they had generated a greater
number of suspicious activity reports over the past three years, due
in large part to better systems for detection and reporting.

In turn, this had created a challenge for national law enforcement
agencies in deploying the resources necessary to process and act on
reports.

Brendan Nelson, the global chairman of KPMG's financial services
practice, said the survey showed that measures against money
laundering were still very much "work in progress".

http://www.businessreport.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=&fArticleId=2275643

By Mark Jewell, AP Business Writer  |  October 25, 2004

BOSTON -- Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin on Monday
charged Franklin Templeton Investments with fraud, accusing the
company of violating a consent order by not admitting to wrongdoing in
a settlement of mutual fund trading allegations.
ADVERTISEMENT


The civil complaint accuses San Mateo, Calif.-based Franklin Templeton
of filing "false and misleading statements" with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.

Galvin said Franklin Templeton was requried under terms of the
settlement to admit that it had broken the law, but violated those
terms when a filing it made with the SEC said it did not admit or deny
wrongdoing in the case. Galvin called on Franklin Templeton "to cease
and desist from false statements and to pay an administrative fine, as
yet to be determined."

"An important element in correcting abuses in fund trading is that
violators be required to admit their wrongdoing," Galvin said in a
news release.

Franklin Templeton issued a statement that seemed to suggest there was
a misunderstanding over two sections in the consent order, signed
Sept. 20 with the Massachusetts Securities Division, that covered
statements of fact and violations of Massachusetts securities laws.

The company said it "admitted the facts in the statements of fact.
Franklin did not admit or deny that those facts constituted violations
of Massachusetts securities laws."

The statement concluded, "Franklin looks forward to working with
Secretary Galvin to resolve this issue."

The company said last month that while it did not admit or deny any
wrongdoing, it decided "to settle this issue now and move forward."

At issue is a settlement in which subsidiaries Franklin Advisors Inc.
and Franklin Templeton Alternative Strategies Inc. agreed to pay $5
million to settle a Massachusetts complaint alleging the firm allowed
a big hedge fund investor to make inappropriate mutual fund trades.

September's settlement came a month after the investment firm reached
a $50 million settlement with federal regulators concerning similar
allegations.

Franklin Templeton is among the major fund complexes that have agreed
to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to settle charges in an
inudstrywide scandal that erupted last year over improper trading.

The two Franklin Templeton units had been accused in a February
complaint that alleged they allowed market timing even though the
fund's prospectus language prohibited such practices. Market timing is
a type of rapid, in-and-out trading that is not illegal, but widely
restricted by many funds because it skims profits from long-term
shareholders.

Massachusetts regulators alleged Las Vegas securities broker Daniel
Calugar moved $45 million in and out of the Franklin Small-Mid Cap
Growth Fund. Senior Franklin executives allowed the market timing in
exchange for Calugar's $10 million investment into the FT Hedge Fund
in September 2001, the complaint alleged.

Galvin said Monday that Franklin's SEC filing last month "omitted to
state that Franklin admitted to statements of fact set forth in its
settlement." That "material omission," Galvin said, violates
Massachusetts' Uniform Securities Act.

Galvin's fraud charge was announced after shares of the units' parent
company, Franklin Resources Inc., fell 26 cents to close at $57.01 on
the New York Stock Exchange.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/10/25/galvin_accuse\
s_franklin_templeton_of_failing_to_admit_wrongdoing/

Fulbright & Jaworski's chair serves on Riggs Bank's board. Why didn't
he stop frozen assets' transfer to an ex-dictator?

Paul Braverman
The American Lawyer
10-22-2004


In January 2003, Steven Pfeiffer was elected chairman of Fulbright &
Jaworski. Pfeiffer, a partner in the firm's Washington, D.C., office,
became the first person outside Houston to hold the position. The
firm's press release also noted his position on the board of Riggs
National Corp., the parent company of Riggs Bank.

A few blocks down Pennsylvania Avenue from Pfeiffer's office, U.S.
Senate investigators were already looking hard at Riggs because of
reports that money deposited in the bank had been used by the 9/11
terrorists. The probe would soon include charges that the bank had
evaded an international freeze when it sent millions to client Augusto
Pinochet, the former Chilean dictator.

Last summer, the Senate issued a report on the Riggs/Pinochet
connection, which noted the role Pfeiffer played in the payments. One
eager reader was Baltasar Garzon, Spain's crusading magistrate-judge,
who has pursued Pinochet for years. In September, Garzon issued a
criminal complaint against Pfeiffer and others for money laundering.
Garzon asked the U.S. Department of Justice to freeze Pfeiffer's
assets until he posts a bond and answers questions about the payments.
(By mid-October Justice had not responded to the request.) In
addition, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C., has opened a
criminal inquiry into the Riggs matter, and Pfeiffer has been named in
a shareholder derivative suit.

The relationship between Pinochet and the soon-to-be-defunct Riggs
dates to the 1970s, when Riggs made "vast sums" by financing
Pinochet's arms deals, says Peter Kornbluh, author of "The Pinochet
File." The Senate report, by its subcommittee on investigations,
details how Riggs' leadership "accepted millions of dollars in
deposits from him with no serious inquiry into the source of his
wealth ... set up offshore shell corporations ... altered the names of
his personal account to disguise his ownership ... [and] concealed the
existence of the Pinochet accounts" from federal regulators. The
report lays out a chronology:

• In 1998 Garzon indicted Pinochet for genocide and torture, and froze
his bank accounts throughout the world. At the time, Pinochet had as
much as $8 million on deposit at Riggs.

• In May 2001, acting on that order, a Bermuda bank froze its Pinochet
accounts. That same day, Riggs withdrew $500,000 of Pinochet's money,
and sent him 10 cashier's checks for $50,000 each by overnight delivery.

• A few days later a Riggs executive asked Pfeiffer, an international
finance specialist, to look into the bank's obligations regarding the
Pinochet accounts. Andres Rigo, a senior adviser with Fulbright, wrote
a memo that discussed Pinochet's legal troubles throughout the world.

• Pfeiffer forwarded Rigo's memo to the bank's general counsel with a
letter describing it as an overview of "attempts to freeze and/or
seize General Pinochet's assets," as well as efforts by Garzon to
locate Pinochet's assets in the United States. Pfeiffer told Senate
investigators that he didn't tell the other directors, and didn't
raise any concerns with bank officials because he assumed that due
diligence had been performed when the accounts were opened. But the
bank had already been cited by the OCC because high-risk accounts
"were not being appropriately identified, documented, and monitored."

• Several months later, Riggs again sent Pinochet 10 cashier's checks
for $50,000 each, and again in April 2002.

• In March 2002 the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC),
the Treasury Department agency charged with enforcing money laundering
and bank secrecy laws, learned about the Pinochet accounts. It began
to investigate and pressured Riggs to close the accounts. In June the
bank again queried Pfeiffer: If we close the accounts, can we send the
money to Pinochet, or does it have to be turned over to a court?

Pfeiffer's answer is unknown. He refused to answer questions from
Senate investigators, and he declined to speak to The American Lawyer,
both times citing attorney-client privilege. But a month later,
according to the Senate report, Riggs closed Pinochet's accounts and
sent him the balance -- more than $5 million. "If he knew that the
bank had violated an international asset freeze, he had, at the very
least, an obligation to both resign from the board and withdraw from
the legal representation," says Deborah Rhode, professor of legal
ethics at Stanford Law School. Pfeiffer is still on the Riggs board,
and the bank still uses Fulbright for IP work.

That dilemma is only one facet of the ethical quagmire in which
Pfeiffer is now mired, much of it caused by the ambiguous position he
occupies -- as both a lawyer for Riggs and as a member of its board.
(He now heads the corporate governance committee and chairs Riggs Bank
Europe Limited.) In an e-mail declining an interview with The American
Lawyer, Pfeiffer wrote that lawyers "regularly" hold both positions.
But while once common, the practice has become much less so. Today
most firms either ban or strongly discourage the practice.

Consider the potential conflicts that confronted Pfeiffer. Riggs had
spent years accommodating Pinochet, and refusing to return his money
after it closed his accounts would harm the relationship. "If I'm on
the board of directors, it's harder to give objective advice," says
Susan Koniak, professor of legal ethics at Boston University School of
Law. "I've got another interest to worry about, namely my own."

If Pfeiffer put the bank's interests aside and decided the assets were
frozen, was he obliged to ensure the bank complied with the freeze?
"As a lawyer, no. As a director, maybe," says Charles Elson, professor
of corporate governance at the University of Delaware. "A director is
a monitor of management and has a fiduciary duty to follow up on
things that could have a material effect on the company." Elson adds
that the potential for compromise cuts both ways. Fulfilling the
director's role of vigorously challenging management could cost the
lawyer his client.

As a bank, Riggs had a duty to make a complete disclosure to
regulators, says Charles Intriago, publisher of moneylaundering.com.
But the Senate report concluded that "Riggs appeared to take
affirmative steps to hide the relationship," a relationship Pfeiffer
knew about since at least 2001.

As for Pfeiffer, if the OCC decides he violated money laundering
rules, it could start proceedings to ban him from the banking
industry. Federal criminal charges are a possibility if the violation
was "knowing or through willful blindness," says Intriago. Pfeiffer is
represented by Howard Shapiro and Russell Bruemmer of Wilmer Cutler
Pickering Hale and Dorr, in the various investigations, and by
Sullivan & Cromwell in the civil suit. Sullivan & Cromwell didn't
return phone calls seeking comment, and Wilmer declined to do so.

The director-lawyer conflict is reflected in the American Bar
Associations Model Rules of Professional Conflict, which say that a
lawyer must resign from a board if there's a "material risk" to his
independence. The ABA has even weighed banning the practice.
Malpractice insurers don't like the dual role because it increases a
law firm's liability exposure, particularly at a time when firms are
sometimes named as co-defendants along with their clients. "It's a
higher hazard area because there's no clear line to define what
function the lawyer is performing," says Anne Marie Davine, who works
with law firms at Marsh Inc., an insurance brokerage subsidiary of
Marsh & McClennan Companies, Inc. She adds that some carriers insist
on language excluding coverage for clients that have members of the
law firm on their board.

Garzon's case against Pfeiffer seems to be lost somewhere over the
Atlantic. As for the complaint, a copy of which was obtained by The
American Lawyer, a Justice spokesman wouldn't comment on whether it
was received, saying only that the department would respond "as it
considers appropriate," if and when it does.

Garzon might not like the response. His complaint against Pfeiffer,
like his complaint against Pinochet, is based on "universal
jurisdiction," the principle that some crimes are so heinous that
perpetrators are subject to prosecution anytime, anywhere. It's
doubtful that Justice subscribes to the doctrine, say experts on
international law, and any acceptance of it would likely be limited to
crimes such as genocide and torture, not money laundering.

But that doesn't clear Pfeiffer. Senate and U.S. Attorney
investigations continue. In April, Pfeiffer was named in a shareholder
suit brought by Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach (now Milberg
Weiss Bershad & Schulman). The suit alleges the bank's reputation (and
market value) suffered because Pfeiffer and other directors ignored
warnings that some Riggs clients were connected to al-Qaida, as well
as warnings about Riggs' shoddy money laundering controls. Milberg
wants Pfeiffer and the other directors to return the compensation they
received while they were allegedly in breach of their fiduciary duties.

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1098217036489

By Associated Press

Suspecting drug money may have been laundered through the state's
toughest prison, officials at the Department of Corrections have
frozen the inmate trust accounts of 14 Mexican Mafia members, a
newspaper reported Sunday.

The Sacramento Bee said the action followed an audit released in
early September in which investigators found that two members of the
Mexican Mafia housed in Pelican Bay State Prison's Security Housing
Unit (SHU) each had more than $20,000 in their accounts. Two others
had more than $10,000, and seven more had accounts ranging from
$1,700 to $5,200. The SHU houses about 1,100 of the most dangerous
inmates at the Crescent City-based prison.

Officials believe the 14 got the money from drug gang members who
often give a slice of their earnings to prison mobsters.

"The evidence indicates that the money is definitely coming from a
tainted source," said Pelican Bay spokesman Lt. Steve Perez, who
added that FBI investigators had visited the prison last week.

Established by the Department of Corrections for all 164,000
prisoners in the state, inmate trust accounts are set up for friends
and relatives to deposit small amounts of cash for inmates to use to
purchase items from the prison canteen. Most accounts contain no
more than a few hundred dollars.

Investigators said the Mexican Mafia inmates typically send the cash
back out to friends and relatives in amounts ranging from a few
hundred to several thousand dollars.

Some experts say the money laundering alleged is just the latest
example of the growing power of the Mexican Mafia, which many
consider to be the leading organized crime organization in
California.

Prison officials say many gang members who fear meeting the Mexican
Mafia bosses in prison will do their bidding on the street, selling
drugs or extorting money and then paying a percentage of the profits
back to the bosses behind bars.

But a lawyer who has represented some Mexican Mafia members in
lawsuits over conditions at the Pelican Bay prison say the
Department of Corrections is overreacting.

"I think the department is hypersensitive and somewhat paranoid when
it comes to any innocuous communication or transfer of money between
inmates," attorney Charles Carbone said, adding that the Mexican
Mafia's strength has diminished in recent years.

http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20954~2474965,00.html

ubject:  ANYONE LIKEN THIS TO DUMBER & DUMBER - NIGERIAN SCAM
Posted By: JackRipper550 - Registered User
Posted At: (10/18/04 8:15 pm)
Reply

04-341 Melbourne financial planner pleads guilty to fraud over
alleged $1m Nigerian investment

Monday 18 October 2004


Mr Robert Andrew Street, of Mitcham in Victoria, has pleaded guilty
in the County Court in Melbourne to fraud to the value of $1,039,910
following an investigation by the Australian Securities and
Investments Commission (ASIC).

Mr Street, a former financial planner, pleaded guilty to five
charges of obtaining a financial advantage by deception between
September 2001 and August 2002.

At the time the offences took place, Mr Street was an authorised
representative of a licensed securities dealer. Mr Street deceived
some of his clients by telling them he needed funding to complete a
number of investment projects he was developing, including an
electronic system of tracking stolen cars and a bank scheme to
reduce mortgage repayments. Mr Street promised his clients that
investments in his projects would be risk free and would provide
good returns in a short time. As a result, the clients gave Mr
Street a total of $1,039,910.

In fact, Mr Street had been involved in a 'Nigerian Scam' where he
had been led to believe that a person purporting to be a
representative of a Nigerian government committee had offered to
transfer US$65 million to Mr Street, upon payment of certain up-
front fees.

Mr Street transferred the majority of the clients' funds to various
overseas destinations, believing it would be used to pay the up-
front fees, after which time he would receive US$65 million.

Mr Street also used $10,000 of the clients' funds to purchase a
number of mobile telephones which he arranged to be delivered to an
address in Nigeria.

None of the clients' money has been recovered.

ASIC had previously obtained orders in the Federal Court, appointing
liquidators to Mr Street's companies. ASIC has also accepted an
enforceable undertaking from Mr Street permanently excluding him
from the financial services industry.

The matter has been adjourned to 4 November 2004 for sentencing.

http://p067.ezboard.com/fdiligizerduediligence.showMessage?
topicID=19645.topic

In a thundering defense of the Bill of Rights, a federal judge
Wednesday threw out provisions of the Patriot Act the FBI had used to
force airlines and Las Vegas hotels to turn over names, addresses and
personal identification information on about 350,000 passengers and
guests -- and subsequently to order those airlines and hotels to keep
a lid on the whole thing.

The American Civil Liberties Union had challenged the law in federal
court in April. In a hard-hitting 120-page ruling, U.S. District Judge
Victor Marrero struck down those sections of the Patriot Act as
unconstitutional.

And the ruling blocks the government from doing it again -- at least
during a 90-day stay while the government decides whether it will appeal.

When Las Vegas casino executives were ordered to turn over the records
during last year's Christmas holiday season, many balked at the demand
and first insisted the FBI obtain national security letters compelling
the release. After the letters were presented, the casino companies
said they complied with the disclosure orders. But they also said they
felt coerced into doing so.

The judge ruled that such national security letters, bypassing the
usual procedure of acquiring court-approved subpoenas, are indeed
coercive and deter court challenges to the propriety of the demands
for information.

The process violates the Fourth Amendment because such judicial review
is essential in protecting the constitutional rights of the companies
against unreasonable search and seizure, Judge Marrero ruled.
Furthermore, the permanent ban on the companies talking about the
information provided constitutes a prior restraint of free speech,
which is forbidden by the First Amendment.

Judge Marrero, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of
New York, has gotten it right -- courageously, and with a vengeance.

Jameel Jaffer, lead ACLU attorney in the case, said the ACLU used the
Freedom of Information Act to obtain from the Justice Department a
six-page list identifying all the companies the FBI compelled to
produce such customer information in their giant fishing expedition --
but all the information had been blacked out.

The broad search authority has been used in dozens, and perhaps
hundreds, of cases, attorney Mr. Jaffer said.

Defenders of the Patriot Act may argue such a broad-brush approach is
necessary to prevail in the war against terrorists who disguise
themselves among everyday travelers and tourists.

As a practical matter, it seems unlikely the operatives of an outfit
as adaptive as al-Qaida would still be traveling under their proper
names today. And even if they were, the Sept. 11 terrorists happily
showed their photo IDs before boarding the doomed aircraft. The onus
should be on the Peeping Toms to explain what good all this
superficial data-mining does -- and what safeguards prevent operatives
from making inappropriate use of any unrelated data that may crop up.

Beyond that, though, there is a principle here that outweighs the mere
convenience of law enforcement, even if some usefulness to this
grab-bag approach were to be demonstrated.

Judge Marrero cites a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that held even
a "state of war is not a blank check for the president when it comes
to the rights of the nation's citizens." Courts must apply "particular
vigilance to safeguard against excess committed in the name of
expediency," Judge Marrero noted.

About time.

America has survived mightier enemies than this in her 200-year
history -- without giving up the liberties and constitutional
safeguards that make us what we are.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Oct-04-Mon-2004/opinion/24890280.htm\
l

Rachel Shabi
Monday October 11, 2004
The Guardian

American authorities have shut down 20 independent media centres by
seizing their British-based webservers.

On Thursday a court order was issued to Rackspace, an American-owned
web hosting company in Uxbridge, Middlesex, forcing it to hand over
two servers used by Indymedia, an international media network which
covers of social justice issues and provides a "news-wire", to which
its users contribute.

The websites affected by the seizure span 17 countries.

It is unclear why, or to where, the servers have been taken. The FBI,
speaking to the French AFP, acknowledged that a subpoena had been
issued but said this was at the request of Italian and Swiss authorities.

"It is not an FBI operation," said its spokesman, Joe Parris.

Rackspace told Indymedia that it had been served with a court order
under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, under which countries assist
each other in investigations such as international terrorism,
kidnapping and money laundering

It is unclear why such a treaty would apply in this context. A UK
Indymedia journalist said: "The authorities may just be using this as
a trawling exercise. We don't know."

It is also unclear if the Home Office was involved.

The Metropolitan police said it was not aware of the move.

The UK Indymedia site is now working, because it was backed up on
another server, unlike others which are still shut down.

One of the servers was to be used to stream web radio coverage of the
European Social Forum conference in London next week.

Aidan White, the general secretary of the International Federation of
Journalists, condemned the "intolerable and intrusive" action .

Tim Gopsill of the NUJ said: "If the security services of the UK or US
can just walk in and take away a server, then there is no freedom of
expression."

http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=04/10/10/7770822

BASEL - Banks must be ready to shut down operations in a foreign
country if they cannot obtain key security information on customers
there because of local secrecy or data protection laws, the top
international banking supervisory body said.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, which groups central banks
and regulators from 10 countries under the aegis of the Bank for
International Settlements, urged states to remove legal obstacles
hampering the flow of crime-busting confidential information within
banking groups, in an advisory paper released here.

"If a bank is unable to access information on customer accounts held
in foreign branches or subsidiaries as the result of insurmountable
legal impediments, it should carefully consider whether it wishes to
continue to operate in the jurisdictions concerned," said Committee
chief and Spanish central bank governor Jaime Caruana.

The Basel Committee wants headquarters of international banks to
maintain global oversight over customer information throughout their
group instead of relying on individual surveillance in each country.

Where local "know-your-customer" rules differed between head offices
and subsidiaries, banks "should apply the higher standard of the two",
it added.

Regulators have targeted banking secrecy rules in some offshore havens
in the Caribbean, Pacific and Europe in recent years.
But the Basel Committee's measure could also concern data protection
rules in a wider range of western countries, or in the US state of
Delaware, which might be invoked to prevent the transfer of
information, experts said.

Banks have a legal duty in many countries to identify the
beneficiaries of accounts and to keep tabs on any suspect
transactions, in order to detect money laundering or international crime.

The Committee's move bolstered compliance officers in banking groups
who might have trouble gaining information from an offshore branch
exploiting a legal grey area, experts said.

Many countries have built "gateways" into data protection or banking
secrecy laws to ensure that internal bank surveillance cut through red
tape, the Basel Committee said.

http://www.businessday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,1721069-6078-0,00.html

KRISTEN HAYS

Associated Press

HOUSTON - When Enron Corp. entered its halycon year of $100 billion in
revenues in 2000, its then-treasurer - now a convicted felon - said he
feared dubious deals and accounting meant impending disaster.

"In 2000, I started to believe that the company was headed for very
serious financial straits," Ben Glisan Jr. testified Wednesday in the
ongoing conspiracy and fraud trial of four former Merrill Lynch & Co.
executives and two former midlevel Enron executives.

Glisan is the first ex-Enron executive to serve time after pleading
guilty to conspiracy a year ago.

Enron crashed in December 2001, leaving thousands out of work and
touching of a string of corporate scandals that roiled Wall Street and
generated tougher white collar crime penalties.

"I felt it was my job to help Enron look stronger than it was," the
articulate 39-year-old former CPA told jurors.

U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein compelled Glisan to testify after
granting him immunity from prosecution for other crimes he may have
committed at Enron.

Glisan, who was indicted in May 2003 for conspiracy, fraud and money
laundering, is serving a five-year sentence at a federal prison in
Bastrop near Austin. He wore his prison-issue dark green jumpsuit and
blue canvas shoes in court.

Glisan said Enron increasingly relied on shady deals and financing
methods to cover for bad investments or manufacture income to meet
impossibly lofty earnings targets and maintain its status as a Wall
Street favorite.

One of those deals, he said, was Enron's purported sale of three
electricity-producing barges moored off the coast of Nigeria to
Merrill Lynch at the end of 1999 to book a critical $12 million pretax
profit.

He bolstered the government's contention that the deal was really a
loan because Enron - specifically, his predecessor as treasurer,
Jeffrey McMahon, and former Enron finance chief Andrew Fastow - had
promised the brokerage would be bought out within six months. The six
defendants contend Enron was never obligated to do so.

Glisan said he thought the barge deal was "blatantly wrong" because
the buyback promise erased risk for Merrill's investment. Also, he
thought it odd that Enron worked so hard on a deal that garnered such
a small profit.

But Glisan embarked on ensuring Enron kept its promise after he
replaced McMahon as treasurer in March 2000 so Enron would avoid a
reputation for failing to keep its word among Wall Street's titans.

"I felt that we were obligated based upon Mr. McMahon's guarantee,
which I understand was ratified by Mr. Fastow," Glisan testified.

He sent an e-mail to Enron's barge deal team in May 2000 that said,
"To be clear, (Enron) is obligated to get Merrill Lynch out of the
deal on or before June 30. We have no ability to roll the structure."

When an outside buyer hadn't surfaced as the deadline neared, Glisan
said he asked one of the defendants, former Merrill executive Robert
Furst, if Merrill would keep the barges a little longer.

"He didn't think that was such a great idea," Glisan said.

LMJ2, a Fastow-created partnership that helped Enron hide debt and
inflate profits, bought the barges at a premium for $7.5 million in
late June 2000. However, LJM2 got a similar buyback promise with a
January 2001 deadline, Glisan said.

Glisan noted he told Richard Causey, then Enron's chief accounting
officer, that LJM2 would get the "same terms" as Merrill had received.
Causey has pleaded innocent to charges in a separate case with fraud,
conspiracy, insider trading and money laundering and is awaiting trial.

Glisan swiftly said "No" when asked if he believed in 1999 that he was
working for one of the best companies in America.

"I viewed it with less tainted eyes than I do now," he said.

Glisan said Enron was packed with smart people embroiled in an
aggressive culture. But from 1997 on, many "very deep and difficult"
financial problems surfaced from long-standing bad deals and poor
investments. By the time he became treasurer, he said he was
constantly "masking those issues."

Glisan started at Enron in 1996 and received $100,000 in salary and
what he called a "modest" bonus of $20,000. By 2000, he earned up to
$200,000 in salary and an $800,000 mixture of a bonus and stock options.

Also that year he invested more than $5,000 in one of many
partnerships and deals Fastow orchestrated and pocketed a $1 million
return within weeks. Fastow pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy
in January and is cooperating with the government.

But Glisan declined to name anyone as having corrupted him.

"We're all responsible for our own actions and I'm taking
responsibility for mine," he said.

Earlier Wednesday, jurors viewed a string of June 29, 2000, e-mails
that referred to how one of the defendants, James A. Brown, an LJM
investor, would benefit from LJM2's acquisition of Merrill's interest.

The e-mail, sent to Brown from another Merrill defendant, William
Fuhs, noted the money for Merrill's interest had been wired to a
Merrill account "and the doors are closed. So it is completely
eliminated from your book of exposures. Enjoy the barges on the other
side of the trade and good luck."

"Thanks, Bill," Brown replied. "Wanna buy a barge?"

"Only if I can have a guaranty of make-whole at par + return in case
of civil unrest/war," Fuhs replied. Before Merrill stepped up,
political and civil unrest in Nigeria contributed to troubles in
finding other buyers to do the deal by the end of 1999.

In addition to Brown, Furst and Fuhs, the defendants in the barge case
are former Merrill executive Daniel Bayly, former Enron finance
executive Dan Boyle, who was on Fastow's staff and and former in-house
Enron accountant Sheila Kahanek.

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/business/9852915.htm

Stock scams continue to plague the Internet, as promoters utilize the
information superhighway to spread misinformation, disinformation and
blatant lies. The evidence of these schemes can be seen daily, in
hundreds of spam e-mails hyping the prospects of obscure companies and
dozens of "financial sites" promoting companies with marginal
prospects.

The sheer volume of these scams virtually guarantees that many - if
not most - of these scams will elude enforcement. Securities
regulators simply lack the resources - funding and manpower - to
effectively monitor and deter all of these schemes. While federal
regulators bring dozens of actions against securities violators each
month, they cannot possibly address every illegal scheme, and all too
often enforcement actions do not even begin until investors have
suffered substantial losses. Consequently, investors must form their
own first line of defense by turning a wary eye to Internet hype that
is not supported by detailed facts and verifiable financial data.

Still, regulators continue to target Internet schemes, and the results
of those efforts are reported daily on the SEC's website,
http://www.sec.gov/news/digest.shtml. One recent decision indicates
that some federal courts are actively joining these efforts to quash
Internet fraud. On Aug. 30, 2004, Judge Harold Baer Jr. of the U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of New York granted the SEC's
motion for summary judgment against two individuals - Peter Roor and
Ronald Templin - citing their participation in an Internet scam that
fraudulently promised astronomical returns on so-called "risk-free"
investments.

In issuing his decision, Judge Baer found that, from December 1998
until May 1999, Roor, a Dutch citizen who resides in the Netherlands,
made myriad misrepresentations in connection with an investment scheme
called the "Oxford Savings Club." According to the Court, Roor used
his website and related promotional materials to promise "what can
only be described as phantasmagorical returns on purportedly risk-free
investments."

The Court found that Templin made similar misrepresentations on his
own Oxford website. In a related criminal proceeding, on May 13, 2003,
Templin pled guilty to two counts of federal securities fraud, and
subsequently was sentenced to 5 months in prison and ordered to pay
$40,000 in restitution

That $40,000 figure seemed low. Roor and Templin each obtained at
least $1 million by deluding investors. Judge Baer addressed that fact
in his summary judgment decision, ordering Roor and Templin to
disgorge $1 million and $1,502,265.04, respectively. Roor also
received a $100,000 civil money penalty. Finally, the Court ordered
that over $900,000 in previously-frozen funds associated with Templin
and/or Roor be turned over to the SEC. Both men were enjoined from
future violations of the securities laws.

The case is not yet over. The Court also issued a warrant for Roor's
arrest in the event he enters the United States.

Now what are the chances of that happening? After all, he can be
"virtually" present in the U.S. 24/7 - thanks to the Internet.
(9/14/2004)

http://www.stockpatrol.com/radar/toc.html#091404

Tuesday October 5, 2:32 pm ET

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- United States Postal Inspectors
unleashed a two-pronged attack on fraudulent telemarketers,
particularly those who target older Americans. The nation's Chief
Postal Inspector Lee Heath announced the results of a law enforcement
clampdown on scammers, "Operation Roaming Charge," and the unveiling
of a new consumer protection campaign, "Dialing for Dollars."

"Every year, thousands of consumers lose from a few dollars to their
life savings to various types of swindlers," said Heath. And these
scams show no signs of slowing down. U.S. Postal Inspectors responded
to 80,000 mail fraud complaints in 2003. This year, they have already
responded to 78,000.

But Heath said that these two efforts will start to stem that trend:
"Swindlers who use the telephone, computer, and the mail to defraud
America's consumers are getting their own wake-up call." Joining with
the Department of Justice, FBI, FTC, State Attorneys General, and
Canadian authorities, Postal Inspectors contributed to the
multi-agency round-up of fraudsters with 75 investigations, of which
43 were domestic and 32 were part of a cross-border initiative with
Canadian authorities. U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigations
resulted in 64 arrests and 64 convictions, resulting in sentences
ranging from 5 months to 12 1/2 years. Nearly one million victims
suffered losses exceeding $650 million.

      * In a Florida case, 10,000 older Americans lost more than
$700,000 to a

        telemarketing scheme that solicited contributions to benefit
law
        enforcement agencies, firefighters, and veterans'
organizations. The
        organizations never received any of the "benefits." The
operators will

        be spending the next 10 years behind bars, thanks to the
efforts of
        Postal Inspectors.

      * A gold and silver coin scam operating out of Minnesota
defrauded 100
        investors out of $550,000. The operators have been indicted and
their
        bank accounts frozen. Postal Inspectors determined that the
president
        of the company incorporated under a second business name and
allegedly

        defrauded victims of another $100,000.

      * A business-to-business telemarketing fraud scheme in New
Jersey,
        involving kickbacks and bribes, resulted in a 30-month prison
sentence

        for the operator. Postal Inspectors discovered that the
operator sold
        packets of plastic gloves, valued at 33 cents, to hospitals
through the

        country and billed the hospitals $80 for each packet.

      * A cross-border investigation by Canadian law enforcement
authorities
        and Postal Inspectors of an advance-fee scheme came to a
successful
        conclusion when the operator was arrested crossing the border
at
        Niagara Falls. The operator, a Canadian national, offered loans
to over

        500 victims in the United States. Not one loan was provided to
victims,

        who suffered losses in excess of $1 million. The operator was
convicted

        in Pennsylvania and sentenced to 10 years in prison.


But arresting the con artists is not enough. American consumers lose
more than $40 billion a year to telemarketing fraud, according to the
National Consumers League. And they usually don't get their money
back, even when the criminals are brought to justice. Investment
frauds, or "get rich quick" schemes, are a favorite of fraudsters who
target older Americans-people over 50 years of age who want to secure
their financial futures. "Making consumers aware of these scams and
providing them with tips to prevent them from becoming victims are the
second part of our "one-two punch" of enforcing the law and preventing
crime," said Chief Inspector Heath.

"Although we made 1,453 arrests for mail fraud last year and shut down
37 illegal telemarketing operations, our most effective weapon in
preventing consumers from becoming victims is education. That's why we
created the new "Dialing for Dollars" consumer protection campaign,"
said Heath. Partnering with the Department of Justice, the Federal
Trade Commission, and the non- profit advocacy group Call for Action,
the "Dialing for Dollars" campaign features an extensive awareness
campaign that includes ads in newspapers and magazines, such as
Reader's Digest, the AARP magazine, and the premiere reissue of Life
magazine. The ads warn of the dangers of telemarketing fraud and
provide protection tips for consumers.

     Also featured in the campaign:

      * A new DVD on telemarketing fraud, available for free by calling
1-877-
        987-3728, or by visiting www.usps.com/postalinspectors.

      * Media and consumer-awareness events with Call for Action
affiliates and

        congressional members.

      * A video news release featuring a victim and telemarketing
operator.


Working in conjunction with the campaign, the Senate Special Committee
on Aging sponsored a resolution designating October as "Protecting
Older Americans from Fraud Month." Committee Chairman Senator Larry
Craig said the first line of defense against all types of fraud is to
promote public awareness of the dangers of such crimes, the types of
schemes in which criminals are likely to engage, and what consumers
can do to report suspected fraud. "This campaign is a perfect example
of the kinds of things we need to be doing to help older Americans
protect themselves from this type of fraud," said Senator Craig.

Although most telemarketers are legitimate, Postal Inspectors advise
consumers to be wary if they receive a pitch by phone, computer, or
through the mail that promises you'll get rich quick, receive high
returns with a low risk, or urges you to invest now. Chief Inspector
Heath offers this advice: "Watch out! Get rich quick schemes can cost
you plenty. Be skeptical of any offer that makes these promises."

     Postal Inspectors offer these tips to protect you:

      * Take your time in making a decision-don't rush into accepting
these
        "high profit, low risk" offers.

      * Get all information in writing before you consider investing.

      * Check out the firm by calling the Better Business Bureau, state
        Attorney General, or consumer protection agency.

      * Put your number on the National Do Not Call registry at
1-888-382-1222

        or at http://www.donotcall.gov

"We're hoping to prevent consumers from becoming victims and send a
message to fraudsters that "crime doesn't pay," said Heath.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041005/dctu055_1.html

--- In offshoretrust@yahoogroups.com, "crpragma047" <crpragma047@y...>
wrote:
>
>
> How will I benefit with an offshore trust and which will be the
best
> way of having one.


That is a great question.  Here is the answer.

FOREIGN SITUS TRUSTS

Foreign situs trusts are not a new concept; what is new is their use
by U.S persons to protect assets from future potential creditors as
part of an IEP. This use is an extension of older protective purposes
(e.g., to safeguard against threats such as monetary exchange
controls, the forced repatriation of assets, confiscatory tax rates,
etc.).

Why use a foreign-situs trust instead of a domestic trust as part of
an IEP (Integrated Estate Planning)? In an effort to attract U.S.
trust business that would otherwise go offshore, Alaska enacted
statutory asset protection trust (APT) provisions, followed by
Delaware that same year and Nevada and Rhode Island in 1999. Why not
use an Alaska trust? A settlor has this option; however, a better one
may be for the settlor to appoint an Alaska trustee as the domestic
trustee in a multi-jurisdictional IEP. This is discussed below under
"Selecting the Appropriate Jurisdiction(s)," There are numerous
reasons why a foreign situs trust is widely regarded in wealth
planning circles as more protective and flexible than a domestic
trust.

    1. Increased Ability of Settlor to Retain Benefit and Control -
Domestic trust law generally restricts the trust benefits and control
that the settlor can retain following trust settlement. This is due to
a general rule under American trust law against self-settled
spendthrift trusts. Under the law of most states, a trust is
"self-settled" if the settlor is a beneficiary, controls the trust or
has a general power of appointment over it. A spendthrift trust
prevents the beneficiary's creditors from accessing trust assets to
satisfy the beneficiary's obligations. Thus, while such a trust
created for the settlor's benefit is valid, it is ineffective as to
his creditors. The laws of Alaska, Delaware, Nevada, Rhode Island (and
to a lesser extent, Colorado) contain exceptions to the general rule
against self-settled spendthrift trusts; the trust laws in a number of
offshore financial centers (or, "OFCs") are even more permissive.

    2. Not Automatic Targets - A domestic trust remains subject to the
jurisdiction of the U.S. court; thus, it can be reasonably be expected
to be a target in litigation against the settlor if it holds a corpus
of any significance. A properly drafted, implemented and administered
foreign-situs trust is not as likely to be an automatic defendant; the
reasons relate to the practical barriers described below.

    3. Erect Practical Barriers - The mere presence of the foreign
element in a foreign-situs trust will have a definite effect on a
creditor's decision to either institute suit or pursue assets. The
following factors will likely deter a creditor from pursuing IEPT
assets:

          1. No Comity -- Many OFC trust laws provide that judgments
foreign to the OFC are not to be given force and effect. Thus, a new
trial on the merits under the OFC's law may be required to adjudicate
the settlor's liability and the trust liability for the settlor's
separate debt.

          2. Burden of Proof -- The trust law in a number of OFCs
provides that the burden of proof in challenging asset transfers to a
trust is always on the party making the allegations, and does not
shift to the transferor.

          3. Standard of Proof -- The trust law in a number of OFCs
provides that the standard of proof that must be met by the party
making the allegations is the American criminal standard of "beyond
reasonable doubt."

          4. Statute of Limitations -- The trust law of many OFCs
provides that the statute of limitations (SOL) for challenging asset
transfers to the trust begins to run from the date of transfer. Unlike
American law, there is no separate SOL that begins to run from the
date the transfer is "discovered" by someone with a claim against the
transferor. Additionally, a number of OFCs have SOLs shorter than the
typical four-year statute found under American law.

          5. Costs and Fees -- It is expensive to pursue a claim out of
state, let alone in a foreign country, particularly when there is no
comity (i.e., recognition of foreign judgments or court orders) and
the exchange rate favors the foreign jurisdiction. In addition, there
may be a requirement to post a large bond before proceeding.

          6. Psychological Barriers -- The psychological barriers of
dealing with foreigners and foreign legal systems, the added
uncertainty of prevailing under foreign law, the increased time
factor, the geographical factor and the like serve to substantially
enhance the protection of trust assets should a threat against the
settlor one day materialize. It is one thing to obtain a judgment, and
quite another to collect it. The procedural quagmire created by a
foreign-situs trust just makes the collection process more difficult.

    4. Foreign Trusts Ultimately More Protective - The trust law of
certain foreign jurisdictions is simply more specific and protective
than U.S. state trust law; accordingly, even if a creditor is not
dissuaded by the many hurdles erected by a proper foreign-situs trust,
protective foreign statutes make it difficult to pierce a trust to
satisfy the settlor's separate debts. A proper foreign-situs trust
will ultimately succeed because it is legally sound, not because of
secrecy. An overview of protective features available through the
trust law of select OFCs is discussed below under "Selecting An
Appropriate Jurisdiction(s)."

    5. Sovereign Status; No Preemption Principle - While most of us do
not expect to experience bankruptcy, Federal investigation or the
like, reliance on the trust statutes of Alaska, Delaware or Nevada may
result in otherwise protectable assets being exposed. In the absence
of a treaty or similar agreement, while Federal law preempts state
law, it does not preempt foreign law.


    6.  The best way to take advantage of these benefits is setup a
trust.  Setting one up is as easy as calling our offices.  We can be
reached at 800-498-5052 or you can visit our website at
www.redseamangement.com

How will I benefit with an offshore trust and which will be the best
way of having one.

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London 29 September 2004

Two of the world's largest reinsurance firms, Munich Re and Swiss
Re,
are expected to pay out around $1.2 billion in claims related to the
succession of hurricanes that have struck across the Caribbean and
south eastern United States.

According to reports, Munich Re's losses are expected to total
some
$615 million, whilst Swiss Re will shoulder costs of around $600
million.

These claims are likely to grow over the coming weeks with yet another
Hurricane, Jeanne, striking the Bahamas and eastern Florida.

Meanwhile, the Nassau Guardian reports that The Bahamas' largest
property casualty insurer, Bahamas First General Insurance Company
Ltd, already expects to pay claims of up to $250 million as a result
of Hurricane Frances.

Other firms are also bracing themselves for heavy payouts, including
RoyalStar Assurance and Summit Insurance which have estimated losses
connected to Frances at $50 million and $85 million respectively,
according to the Guardian.

With the total cost of insurance claims in the region running into
tens of billions of dollars, a rise in reinsurance rates next year
would seem a certainty

http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=17436

I take the position of Richard Pryor in Brewsters Millions.  "Just Say No"


--- In offshoretrust@yahoogroups.com, "johnablountiv"
<johnablountiv@y...> wrote:
>
>
> who is the better choice for the longevity and preservation of
"offshore" business as we
> know it???

by Leroy Baker, Tax-News.com, New York 10 September 2004

After Costa Rica's long awaited and much troubled tax reform bill
was
declared dead by certain lawmakers last month, the proposals may yet
be approved by the end of the year after receiving the kiss of life
from the country's Constitutional Court.

In July, the passage of the Fiscal Reform Package was halted after the
Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court, Sala IV, accepted an
action by two deputies who accused the former president of the
Legislative Assembly, Mario Redondo, of violating the Constitution by
acting with secrecy and without the required approval of two-thirds of
lawmakers in an attempt to accelerate the debate on the tax plan last
March.

However, according to a report in the Tico Times, Sala IV has rejected
all of the actions brought by the deputies, clearing the way for the
proposals to be put before a Legislative Assembly vote.

It is an amazing turnaround of events, especially after the Patriotic
Bloc legislative deputy Humberto Arce, a member of several of the
commissions that have studied and modified the plan, last month
declared that "the fiscal plan is dead."

"The situation for the fiscal reform looks promising,"
Redondo,
congressman for the ruling Social Christian Unity, told the Times,
adding that the proposals may be voted on during the first half of
October and approved by the end of November.

The former Finance Minister Alberto Dent, a supporter of measures who
recently resigned, was quoted as observing: "We took a plan that
was
completely stalled, completely dead, and have practically steered it
to its final phase."

"The fiscal reform will bring the country years of
stability," he
continued.

"I believe it's worthwhile because it not only allows for fair
taxation by ensuring those who have the most pay the most, it also
stabilizes the country by practically eliminating the (fiscal)
deficit," argued Dent.

The Permanent Fiscal Reform Plan was first conceived two years ago to
bolster the government's tax revenues, pay off the country's
growing
foreign debt, and reduce the deficit to 2.65% of GDP through a series
of tax hikes and improved collection methods.

http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=17244

by Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com, New York 21 September 2004

Speaking during a four city US tour which aims to stimulate debate and
dialogue regarding online gambling in the United States, chief
executive of BetonSports, David Carruthers called last week for the
legalization of the industry for US consumers.

Currently, the practice of internet gambling is illegal in the US
under the Wire Act, and the government has employed all sorts of
tactics in order to stem the increasing interest in online betting,
including pressuring credit card companies not to honor payments to
such websites, and urging broadcasters and publishers not to run
adverts for internet gambling firms.

However, speaking to reporters in Washington last Wednesday, Mr
Carruthers explained that despite the ban, the majority of
BetonSports' customers are American, and observed that:

"We'd love to create jobs and pay taxes in the United States. The
government is losing an opportunity to generate enormous revenue.
There's more than $100 billion bet on the streets of the United States
every year."

The head of the Costa Rica-based online betting company went on to add
that:

"The internet offers tremendous opportunity for regulation. The more
information you have, the better job you can do."

He concluded:

"As an emerging form of entertainment, online gambling is growing
exponentially and is here to stay in the US. Efforts in Congress to
develop legislation have stalled and are otherwise polarizing people.
The Department of Justice's approach is also counterproductive."

http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=17336

who is the better choice for the longevity and preservation of "offshore"
business as we
know it???

After more than two years of debate by the country's lawmakers, Costa
Rica's fiscal reform package has finally reached the floor of the
legislative assembly, although there remains much work to be done
before the tax reforms are passed, the Tico Times reports.

The reform package proposes to make some fundamental reforms to the
country's taxation system in order to bolster the government's tax
revenues, pay off the country's growing foreign debt, and reduce the
deficit to 2.65% of GDP.

Under one of the plan's major proposals, income tax in Costa Rica will
cease to be levied on a territorial basis, meaning that a resident's
worldwide income will fall under the tax net.

The top income tax bracket would also be raised from 25% to 30% along
with a general overhaul of income tax thresholds.

Another major change will see the 13% sales tax transformed into a
value-added tax, extending the levy to services such as legal fees and
medical services in addition to payment for goods. However, private
education services would be exempt.

Corporate income tax under the plan would gradually be reduced from
30% to 25%, and special tax breaks would also apply to small and
medium-sized businesses in the hi-tech sector or located in
under-developed areas.

The tax-reform bill would also make permanent taxes on casinos and
online gambling firms, and attempt to improve tax collection methods
in general.

A decision by the Constitutional Court earlier this month to reject a
legal challenge by two lawmakers opposed to the plan appeared to give
its supporters fresh impetus when all seemed lost.

However, as the Times reports, lawmakers now have to trawl through and
review 1,182 reform motions that were rejected by the legislative
commission responsible for drafting the bill, before it can be approved.

This in itself could cause fresh conflict amongst lawmakers.
Supporters of the plan have reportedly said that they are working on
ways to speed up this process within accepted legal boundaries.
However, those opposing the plan counter that any attempt to force
through the reforms would be "undemocratic."

http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=17407

Thursday, September 30, 2004

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts: St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister and Minster
of Finance, Dr. Denzil Douglas said Tuesday that the global economic
system continues to throw up new and extremely formidable challenges
to small states that quite often threaten the very survival of such
nations.

He told delegates to a Meeting of Ministers of Finance from the
53-nation Commonwealth being held in St. Kitts, that the countries of
the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), which all have
relatively open economies and, "the volumes of trade, investment
and
tourist arrivals have swayed back and forth in response to the
uncertainties and gyrations in the international economy, especially
in the US economy."

"The new trading regimes such as the World Trade Organisation
(WTO),
the Financial Action Task Force (FTAA) and COTONOU arrangements have
not helped us in combating these problems. Instead, they have
adversely affected our export prospects and threaten to undermine the
already slender revenue base of our economies. These problems are
being exacerbated by the fact that our currency is pegged to the US
dollar and the misalignment of major currencies in recent years has
been a major source of concern for us here in this part of the
world,"
said Prime Minister Douglas.

He said that the geopolitical climate and the impact of terrorism have
high explicit and implicit costs for small countries. He cited the
costs of potential negative impacts on the tourist industry, the major
foreign exchange earner and the increase in the price of oil, the
major import commodity.

"The explicit cost of increasing the level of security at our
airports
and harbours, and of putting regulations in place to combat terrorist
financing and money laundering, also increase the huge burden that
small islands states must now bear. Of course, it can be argued that
all countries – large and small - must incur such costs, but these
costs include a huge fixed component that does not vary with the size
of the country so that the burden borne by small states is grossly
disproportionate to size and population," said Prime Minister
Douglas.

http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/2004/09/30/challenges.htm

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By David McGlinchey
dmcglinchey@...
The IRS and the Treasury Department's inspector general for tax
administration have taken preliminary steps to evaluate the Section
1203 process, a series of 10 regulations that are designed to protect
taxpayers from improper actions by IRS employees.

The Government Accountability Office released a report (GAO-04-1039R)
about the rules, dubbed the "10 deadly sins" by IRS employees, on
Tuesday, but the watchdog agency declined to make specific
recommendations, instead citing the steps already being taken by the IRS.

Section 1203 was created as part of the 1998 IRS Restructuring and
Reform Act. The 10 infractions, include providing a false statement
regarding a taxpayer, intentional failure to get proper signatures
before seizing a taxpayer's property, failing to file a tax return on
time and threatening to audit a taxpayer for personal gain, and can
result in an IRS employee being fired.

After Section 1203 was implemented, however, lawmakers and IRS
officials worried that the regulations could intimidate tax
enforcement officials and prevent them from performing their jobs
effectively. In its latest report, GAO found that the agency has taken
initial steps to measure the effect of the rules, but has not launched
a comprehensive effort.

"This survey is important to IRS management to periodically get an
indication of how Section 1203 affects IRS employees' willingness to
enforce the tax laws," GAO said in a letter to Reps. Bill Thomas,
R-Calif., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and Amo
Houghton, R-N.Y. "IRS has not yet committed to regularly surveying IRS
employees, in part because of the time and effort of doing surveys."

The report noted, however, that the IRS is considering such a survey.

IRS Commissioner Mark Everson said the agency already ensures an
independent review of all Section 1203 allegations and has goals in
place for processing those cases in a timely manner. The IRS is
developing "a balanced set of goals and measures for evaluating the
Section 1203 process," according to Everson.

"We will continue to look at ways to measure our current processing
and to improve service to taxpayers and employees in implementing
Section 1203," Everson wrote in a response to GAO's report.

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0904/092904d1.htm

The European Union asked the United States on Thursday for a new
delay in the implementation of biometric passport regulations, saying
its member states would not be ready in time.

"Member states of the EU will not be ready to start issuing biometric
passports until the end of next year," EU home affairs commissioner
Antonio Vitorino said at a joint news conference here with US Attorney
General John Aschcroft.

"We welcome very much the decision of the US congress to postpone the
biometric passports from October this year to October next year. We
are still pushing ahead, asking our American friends for a new delay,"
he added.

The press conference followed an informal meeting of EU home affairs
and justice ministers at Scheveningen, near The Hague, which Ashcroft
attended.

Biometric passports contain indicators -- such as a digitally encoded
record of the bearer's face and possibly fingerprints -- on a computer
chip.

They are to become a requirement for visa-free visits from the 27
countries currently enrolled in the so-called Visa Waiver Program.

Initially, the EU had asked Washington for a two-year delay and this
was backed by the Bush administration but voted down in Congress.

The current deadline gives the 27 countries until October 26, 2005 to
issue biometric passports so their citizens remain eligible for travel
to the United States without visas.

Countries that take part in the visa waiver program are: Andorra,
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Britain, Brunei, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein,
Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal,
San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Citizens of those nations are allowed to enter the United States for
up to 90 days without a US visa.

As of Thursday, Europeans travelling to the United States without a
visa will have to give fingerprints and have a photo taken when they
enter the US. The information will help authorities cross-check the
visitors with a list of wanted criminals.

Ashcroft on Thursday dismissed the suggestion that the new measures
would tarnish the US image with European tourists.

"Using biometric identifiers is not new... it is not a substantial
change," he said, explaining that a digital photo on a driving licence
was essentially also a biometric identifier.

http://www.eubusiness.com/afp/040930104501.nzxvzv6v