Offshore Finance and First World Sized Scandals

The a previous article we outlined the history of Offshore finance that all attorneys in Belize need to understand to better serve their customers in these financially difficult times.  This article is Part 2 and covers some of the recently financial scams that have been perpetrated in developed nations.

A US citizen was recently accused of swindling wealthy, refined and well advised developed world citizens around sixty-five billion dollars. His ventures were to be foundsited not “offshore”, but right in the US. He was supposed to be regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and even the famous and various departments did not investigate. These include the tax services, the FBI and the international policing agency that were all supposed at the time to be tracing “dubious” banking actions and money laundering activity based on the formerly crammed down Patriot Act. It can be said that at least $65 billion of unlawfully obtained funds, were thus “laundered” right under the watchdogs’ noses.
 
A US citizen named Allen Stanford, has been the poster child for “offshore” scams. His primary operations were situated in Texas and only is his bank was located offshore. Further, being a citizen of the America, the US authorities had extra territorial jurisdiction over him wherever he was located. He still functioned with impunity right under, from and with, the US, American citizens and worldwide investors. His friends were even in Belize soliciting customers at one point in time, but luckily, the few Belizeans were a bit more financially savvy due to their offshore exposure.
 
Also Lone Star State based, was the large Enron that was the model of how to falsify accounting records. Some other examples of creative accounting include now reputable companies like Xerox, AOL, Bristol Myers Squibb, Duke Energy (once an investor in BECOL/BEL), Freddie Mac, Halliburton (of Iraq/Afghan war fame), Kmart, Merck, Merril Lynch, Qwest, Tyco International, Worldcom, Chiquita and AIG. These were all perpetrated to a large extent by one of the following accounting firms: Arthur Andersen & Deloitte & Touche.  Though some are no longer existent in their former states due to the scams they participated or rather, structurally advised.
 
Then there was the European trader Jerome Kerviel that caused loss to Societe Generale laundering billions through the (then) respected Bank of New York. Bear Sterns and Lehman Bros. BCCI and Northern Rock WAMU and Bear Sterns are just a few of the more better known fiascoes. Their products included derivatives and swaps and the list goes on.

This history would help all Belize attorneys or Belize lawyers better explain why the Offshore industry in companies like Belize should not suffer undue regulation since financial scams can be and have been implemented in all countries of the world.