Baninter & Money Laundering

DCfred

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Jun 19, 2003
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Hey people: moneylaundering.com will be a valuable resource on money laundering, as the Baninter mess moves into a big US federal investigation that may bring down some powerful Dominican government officials. According to the NYtimes, the US is using the technical resources available under the Patriot Act to trace where the funds were laundered. The USA my indict former president Aleman from Nicaragua and ask for his extradition. According to the Times, Nicaragua and Dominican Republic are the two countries being investigated.
 

Pib

Goddess
Jan 1, 2002
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www.dominicancooking.com
While several investigations involve officials who have fallen out of power, the task force is also pursuing accusations of laundering and white-collar crime against a high-ranking official who is in office in an undisclosed Latin American country, officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said. It is unusual for the United States to open a criminal investigation into a sitting foreign official, and United States officials refused to identify the official, citing the diplomatic sensitivity of the case.

Only three names come to mind.
 
Apr 26, 2002
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If it's the Hippo, the Bushees will be in a quandry. On the one hand, Bush is the truest of true believers in the war on drugs (it fits his IQ about right). On the other hand, Hippo is part of Bush's coalition of the purchased - he sent troops to Iraq for money. Wouldn't send the "appropriate" message to other members of the "coalition"; i.e., send troops, get busted.

My prediction: The Bushees tell DOJ to put a sock in any investigation of Hippo, at least until after the next election.
 

Tony C

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Jan 1, 2002
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Porfio,

Tell me the truth! Do you see a "right wing" conspiracy behind every Bush?
Maybe we should blame the DR's problems on the Democrats. After all, Hippo got elected with the Blessing of the CLINTON administration.

BTW: As I have said many times...I expect the President of the U.S. to act in the best interests of the U.S.! The rest of the world comes a distant 2nd.
 
Apr 26, 2002
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Tony C said:
conspiracy behind every Bush?

Tony C., nice pun.

You and Criss miss my points completely, though. First of all, the topic is the impact of a US policy on the DR, and not on whether or not I approve of a US president. I wouldn't care if it were Eleanor Roosovelt in the White House. I'm going to be snide wherever I see hypocracy - which is everywhere - all parties - all politicians - nobody is spared. Bush just happens to be in power.

Hippo is ostensibly "left of center" and you sure as hell don't hear me saying nice things about him.

Finally, please tell me where you disagree or where I am wrong, rather than getting upset because someone poked fun at your boy in the White House. If you don't think that Bush is a political animal who will put up with drug trafficking or money laundering by an ally of his for the sake of his number one policy initiative - i.e. Iraq - you are truly misguided. He'll do it for as long as he thinks it's politically expedient and not likely to become a scandal. There ain't never been no Mother Theresas in the White House.

Think of all the mass murderers with whom Reagan did business in the name of the Cold War (or, as Cordell Hull said about Trujillo, "he's a son of a bitch, but at least he's our son of a bitch").
 
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Tony C

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Jan 1, 2002
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Porfio,

We see the same thing but with a different set of eyes.

If the President of the U.S. decides to let some tin-horn politician(Hippo) from a pissant country(The DR) slide on some shady dealings for the sake of legitimate U.S. interests I have no problem with that.

While I don't doubt that Hippo and his gang have been involved in Drug money laundering that is far from the main problem affecting the DR. The U.S. has much bigger fish to fry when it comes to Drugs. Besides the big boys in this Hemisphere, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, their are many others who are more of a current threat. Expect big news relating to Haiti in the comming months.
Lets say that President Bush could snap his fingers and end all Drug money laundering in the DR. Guess what? The DR economy, which is teetering, would collapse faster than you can say "Argentina." Then what? Anarchy. Mass illeagal immigration. All that would accomplish is more reasons for people like you to complain about the U.S.

Just remember of all those hundreds of millions of people who are now living in freedom because of Reagan's & Bush Sr.'s policies. Eastern Europe, Nicaragua, Grenada, El Salvador. Add Afghanistan and Iraq to that list now. Much more soon to come.
 
Apr 26, 2002
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Tony,

First and foremost, your post reminds me that the sitting government under investigation is most likely Haiti. That would kill two birds with one stone for the Republicans who hate Aristide anyway. Our discussion would be totally moot were it not for the fact that there is no shortage of money laundering politicians in the DR too.

You and I agree that the US government's only legitimate interest should be in that which benefits the US government. But we disagree on whether the constant propping-up by the US of the corrupt political and military classes in Latin America furthers that interest. This political class, with the help of US foreign policy and development banks and IMF/World Bank money, simply administers poverty with the few dollars that they don't steal. This policy is amoral - which you don't care about - but also, I suspect, is not good for the US in the long run.

Would it not be better for the US were the DR, Venezuela, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras growing markets for US trade? Wouldn't policies that create a consumer class (i.e. middle class) benefit US business more than the few public works projects that US companies now get from these countries from US government backed development banks. If yes, then supporting people like Hippo will never achieve it. The likes of Hippo should be starved out with no international financial assistance for the DR.

Tony, the Cold War is over. The US does not even arguably have to support criminal regimes anymore.

Your post implies that money laundering is good for the DR, and I agree that it is a big part of the current economy. An end to the war on drugs and the US policy of propping up criminals would mean short term pain (money laundering dollars drying up) and long term gain (political stability, reduction of criminals in goverment, diversion of resources to legitimate business, reduction in crime) to the DR.

Finally, as you saw in Cuba and Iran, and now in Venezuela, this policy forments spite against the US and when it fails it really fails big.
 
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Formosano2000

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Mar 5, 2003
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New York Times article

Here are some excerpts:
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U.S. Wants Foreign Leaders' Laundered Assets
By ERIC LICHTBLAU


ASHINGTON, Aug. 22 ? Federal officials have developed a plan to seize financial assets laundered into the United States by foreign leaders whom they suspect of public corruption, with a jailed former president of Nicaragua as the first target.
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The article specifically singles out Nicaragua and DR in the ongoing investigation.

For full article, go to:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/23/politics/23CORR.html?pagewanted=all&position=