- Thread starter Robert
- Start date
NALs and PICHARDO, say it ain't so!
Consensus has shown that transferring funds from one bank to another is much easer and hassle free, because after all, it is perceived that the bank sending the cash has done its due diligence, thus the funds being transferred are not from illicit gains.
Now I suggest an experiment, why not have a family member wire you the same amount and let's see if you'd feel the same way towards person to person wire transfer.
My family membner would use the bank.
You're talking Western Union or some other third party method.
WU has its own rules to follow and forms to fill out.... unlike banks.
The underlying problem here appears to happen with these 3rd party transfers.
Yes, they're trickier.
I have been a WU agent.... they audit you to ensure the paperwork is valid and current.
They also ahve a lower threshold for reporting..... low 000's , if I recall
You're talking Western Union or some other third party method.
WU has its own rules to follow and forms to fill out.... unlike banks.
The underlying problem here appears to happen with these 3rd party transfers.
Yes, they're trickier.
I have been a WU agent.... they audit you to ensure the paperwork is valid and current.
They also ahve a lower threshold for reporting..... low 000's , if I recall
What would be the purpose of this propaganda?
Shouldn't we talk of paranoia better?
Yes, I think we should talk of paranoia better
Which is typical for a money laundering process. Very clever, especially if she did it with the same financial institution in the states.
The quote above refers to cash smuggling and wire transfers.
Just an example: how many dollars will you hide in a suv? Once in the DR, you can sell the suv with a loss, no problem... Not to talk of a spare parts 45ft container...
And this is not propaganda, I guess you know that.
Barnab?
The propaganda has its purpose, sort of like a magic trick, look at my waving right hand while I hide the proverbial card with my left hand. It's called diversionary tactics. Much like the same propaganda in which the US of A puts out a list of countries not fighting the war on drugs, while never adding themselves to said list. After all, we all know that if the US truly wanted to end drugs consumption it could stop the flow of drugs from entering the country.
This subject has been beaten to a pulp on this forum. It's all propaganda, not one ounce of paranoia.
If your inferring that the 65 plus year old lady and her husband are money laundering, then your too far out on left field, to even be worthy of a comment. The money this proud and honest Dominican woman wired me, is the product of hard factory work from well over 35 years of living in the states.
I really don't know what to make of this, after all, I've never dealt with 45 foot long containers filled with spare parts.
I am just saying that splitting money transfers like she did is typical. This is called "structuring" in AML terms (and usually MTOs have software tools to detect this, hence my "very clever" comment).
Honestly she might be Pablo Escobar's mom I wouldn't care.
Barnab?
Trust me, she's not, she's a very sweet lil old lady whom lost her only son in a very tragic automobile accident in NYC. As I mentioned a few post back I cunstructed her house in 2004, I know everything about this woman.
My point is, so many people on this forum will argue that the product of the DR's growth is in fact due to the amount of money being laundered here, when in fact, anyone transferring money person to person has to go through a maze of paper work. This is why I question the State Department's quote in your post.
Don't get me wrong I know money laundering happens here in DR, I just find it hard to believe that it's being done at the scale with which one would need to do it to construct the entire Santo Domingo sky line.
Agreed......... this is laundering on HUGE scale for projects that we talk of.
But then, all the amounts are enormous.......... millions and millions
It IS big business.......... professional style.
And here we are bunch of rank amateurs with pea shooters making comments.
I can't speak for the rest of the Mensa community, but I for one, have no idea how they dispose of that kind of cash.
Remember the 60 minutes episode that showed the 'hard cash' problem in So FLA?
The Fed had to rent warehouse space to store skid after skid of $5 and $10 bills the banks were collecting... something to do w/ 'Dime Bags' maybe.
All the deposits were > than $10k.............. full time deposit people.
Its all unfathomable to me - the physical cash part of it.
Remember - no credit card business here........... all cash, no receivables
But then, all the amounts are enormous.......... millions and millions
It IS big business.......... professional style.
And here we are bunch of rank amateurs with pea shooters making comments.
I can't speak for the rest of the Mensa community, but I for one, have no idea how they dispose of that kind of cash.
Remember the 60 minutes episode that showed the 'hard cash' problem in So FLA?
The Fed had to rent warehouse space to store skid after skid of $5 and $10 bills the banks were collecting... something to do w/ 'Dime Bags' maybe.
All the deposits were > than $10k.............. full time deposit people.
Its all unfathomable to me - the physical cash part of it.
Remember - no credit card business here........... all cash, no receivables
Who is saying it's the entire skyline?
"Dollars r Us"
We have 100's of couriers going back and forth to the USA that are happy to wash your cash for X percentage
You have 20 million you need cleaned, no problem, for 20% on the dollar we will be more than happy to buy enough construction materials to build an apartment building on the Malecon. We can throw in a shopping mall if you have friends. We are also branching out into used cars, construction equipment and appliances. Can we do a package deal for you!!! We have a poster on this board that will remain anonymous that works for a major USA based bank that is part of the fraud investigation team, looking at transactions between the DR and the USA. It's not being washed via US$9,999 WU transactions or bank transfers, they are MUCH smarter than that.
Like everybody on this board I don't know what is built and what is not by drug money.
The drug money is not only in towers. You probably have big shot launderers working for drug networks and you have individuals that are selling retail in the US and elsewhere. The money from these people will be invested in solares, casas, possibly in the neighborhood where they come from, in cars, small buildings, negocios, etc.. Not in the towers.
Two years ago they caught a Dominican network in Madrid, they had set up a remittance operation. The police studied close to 300.000 transfers and finally found about 140 million euros from drug money sent to DR for washing (apart from the legitimate operations). This is the equivalent of 4 torre atiemar for this small network.
How can you do that? Just use the ID of a real customer to transfer money. That was what they were doing. As long as the customer is from DR and you're transferring to DR also limited amounts each time, nothing will look strange on the emitting side. Of course you'll need an organization in DR to have people receiving the money. Not such a big deal to find guys that will make some pesos each time they will receive a remesa for the network.
This is an example for transfers. Cash smuggling is way more efficient, in the sense that once the cash is smuggled you have no "footprint". If you can buy merchandise in the US with your cash, that you export to DR, still better. But it may become difficult nowadays.
The AML regulations are relatively recent. Before 1988 they were next to nothing. Since 2001 things have accelerated and more in the last few years. Launderers, big or small, are businessmen adapting to a changing world. With big profit margins they have resources to find new channels, and they are probably moving faster than the authorities.
Dr is a cash economy, there is corruption, this is (within) a transit area for the drugs from Latin America, there are Dominican involved abroad in wholesale or retail drug operations, there are many imports, it is easy to enter the country: many reasons for money laundering operations to be active in the country.
Pichardo wrote: not more than 2-3% of the GDP. I don't know where the figures comes out from, but it makes 2 billion Us$ a year. If it is invested in real estate, it will show.
Barnab?
I think it will be tough to control the laundromat in the DR since it appears that the brass of the army is involved in it. How many of you know a general or a colonel who is not from a rich family, is supposed to make less than RD$100g per month and owns million dollar properties?
oddly enough, I know one such general, and have always wondered 'how'd he do that' lol. I guess I'm a lot more tonto than I thought. but really, how did he do that!? he's always holed up in the army base and doesn't have any time for business?!?
Now that you mention it....he always has military staff driving his mother around to personal errands, or doing his yard work. haha. I just thought he was paying them 'on the side'. another proof of how stupid I am.
Anyways, having thought about this over night, CC (original poster), I was thinking - SO WHAT? let's just say the money is 'illegal' and being laundered....so what?
Maybe when the economy goes down, the money laundry business can keep things afloat?
I mean if a torre goes up that's using washed up money, that's still employing legit workers. That's still paying for legit equipment. That's still employing legit real estate agents. And they all get their 'pound of flesh'....
Is this really so different than what happened in Miami in the 70's and 80's? That didn't work out so bad for Miami did it?
Anyways, having thought about this over night, CC (original poster), I was thinking - SO WHAT? let's just say the money is 'illegal' and being laundered....so what?
Maybe when the economy goes down, the money laundry business can keep things afloat?
I mean if a torre goes up that's using washed up money, that's still employing legit workers. That's still paying for legit equipment. That's still employing legit real estate agents. And they all get their 'pound of flesh'....
Is this really so different than what happened in Miami in the 70's and 80's? That didn't work out so bad for Miami did it?