-------- Forwarded message -------- Date: Sat, 12 Aug 1995 13:37:24 est From: Gary Livermore <gary.livermore@p4.f507.n300.z1.aen.org> To: Multiple recipients of list CHAT <CHAT@AEN.ORG> Subject: How to launder money (internationally) How dirty drug money is laundered internationally: [From National Geographic, Vol.183, No.1 Jan.1993, pg105] Titled: The Power of Money, by Peter T White, Asst. Editor, quoting his sources as the "Centre for International Documentation of Organized and Economic Crime, located in Cambridge, England. [begin this section] ================================================================== This as a real-life example: A U.S. organized crime group with a lot of hot cash forms a cozy relationship with the central bank of a British Commonwealth country. Diplomats of that country carry the cash out of the U.S. If it's $10,000 or more, they are supposed to report that to U.S. Customs, but they don't; they "externalize" the cash. It goes into the central bank and then into various dummy companies in different countries in return for shares in those companies. The money is thus "agitated," so it'll be just about impossible for investigators to follow. Then, to "repatriate" the money, dummy companies in the U.S. sell their worthless shares to investors in Britain - who are in fact in on the scam - and behold, the money is back in the U.S., clean! Now it buys legitimate businesses, banks, political power. An operation like this, involving highly placed officials, and businessmen, will cost quite a bit, maybe 35 percent, but once the system is in place, people will want to use it - not only drug profiteers but also arms dealers, terrorist organizations, intelligence agencies... A prime haven for such shady customers was BCCI, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, headquartered in Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands with branches in 72 countries. It is said to have secretly controlled the First American Bank of Washington, D.C. After BCCI collapsed in 1991, having defrauded depositors of several billion dollars, it became known as the Bank of Crooks and Criminal International. ================================================================= [End, this section] Can you say Mena - Clinton - Whitewater, 3 times real fast?!? In the very next section, there is an interesting little number used by the bank/finance crowds, it's number "72". [begin this section] =========================================================== - the rule of 72. No one is certain who first developed the rule, but the principle is quite simple: Divide any number into 72 and the answer tells how long it will take for a sum to double in financial terms. Are you charged 18 percent interest on the unpaid balance of your credit card account? Eighteen goes into 72 four times - so the debt would double in four years. Say your annual raise is 6 percent; that number goes into 72 twelve times, so in twelve years your salary will double. The same holds true of any investment. And what if inflation runs at 6 percent a year? Then after a dozen years your money will be worth half as much, so in a sense you'll be back where you started. =============================================================== [end this section] Gee, now I wonder if the money-changers figured this into setting annual inflation rates! Kind of keeps the middle class down, and stuck in a rut. *****My footer********************************************************* "We conclude that the Reserve Banks are not federal instrumentalities for purposes of the FTCA (Federal Tort Claims Act), but are independent, privately owned and locally controlled corporations" Lewis v. U.S. F.2d (1982) *********************************************************************** ... Those who follow like sheep deserve to get fleeced. --- PPoint 1.92 * Origin: Arizona's West Coast. My Point, Exactly! (1:300/507.4) SEEN-BY: 102/975 106/64 108/155 124/4014 132/209 133/1007 138/179 147/3032 SEEN-BY: 203/8888 231/110 511 955 236/48 260/104 300/507 704 356/3 369/85 372/5