NZ Herald says NZ companies linked to $21b money laundering scheme-Shewan Inquiry findings clearly unreliable; NZ Govt collusion with the Lows & their 1MDB theft not unlikely

by Ganesh Sahathevan

John Shewan is a tax and accounting veteran. 

In April 2016 the Government Of New Zealand apparently reacting to 

the Panama Papers expose,ordered an inquiry into its foreign trust regime.

The inquiry was led by John Shewan (photo above) who submitted his report 

in June.Commenting on his work he said:

"There has been no direct evidence of illicit funds being hidden in New Zealand 

foreign trusts, or of tax abuse".


As previously reported on this blog:
How did New Zealand's Shewan inquiry miss the Low family's 1MDB theft?

More about Khadem Al Qubaisi's 1MDB related trust that NZ's Shewan Inquiry managed to miss:Evidence from bankers of funds stolen from 1MDB laundered via nightclub investments

And now this story in the NZ Herald:

NZ companies linked to $21b money
laundering scheme;

which makes the work done  by John Shewan and his Shewan Inquiry unreliable , and raises  questions about the Government of New Zealand's not unlikely collusion with the Low Family, helping them conceal their 1MDB theft.

This is not a fantastic or conspiratorial conclusion, it follows  from this judgement by a New Zealand court  that enabled the Low Family its escape:

NZ judge Kit Toogood who allowed Low family its escape has a colourful history that demands NZ Government intervention in the matter

END 

NZ companies linked to $21b money laundering scheme

1:33 PM Wednesday Mar 22, 2017

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The 21 shell companies in New Zealand, Britain and Cyprus sent 26,746 payments from various accounts to 96 countries, including to some of the world's biggest banks. Photo / 123RF

Companies based in New Zealand were part of a criminal scheme to move large sums of money, including the transfer of US$21 billion out of Russia, according to a group of anti-corruption reporters.

The Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project said that reporters from the group and the Novaya Gazeta newspaper in Moscow obtained bank records showing that funds were transferred worldwide via 112 bank accounts in Eastern Europe. They shared the details of the scheme, dubbed Laundromat, with investigative reporters in 32 countries.

Members of the group say in a report published late Monday that they now know where the funds ended up and that banks allegedly refused to shut it down, despite warnings.

Organisers of the scheme created a core of 21 companies based in New Zealand, Cyprus and Britain, run by hidden owners and used by several Russian companies to move their money abroad.

All of the core companies appeared to be owned by proxies standing in for hidden owners, with fake directors and shareholders, though the reporters provided no evidence to back the claims.

"Law enforcement agencies in Moldova, Latvia, Britain and Russia continue to investigate Laundromat, but attempts to bring those responsible to justice and to recover the money have been hampered in part by the reluctance of Russian officials to cooperate," the group said on its website.

Between 2011 and 2014, the 21 shell companies in New Zealand, Britain and Cyprus sent 26,746 payments from various accounts to 96 countries, including to some of the world's biggest banks, such as HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Bank of China, Bank of America and Emirates NBD.

Laundered money ended up at several big name companies, including South Korea's Samsung, Swedish telecom company Ericsson, toolmaker Black & Decker and Total Golf Construction Inc., which says it has renovated a Donald Trump golf course in the Grenadines.

Companies contacted over the report denied wrongdoing, saying such business methods were common with Russian clients and added that they had stopped dealing with them. They declined to identify the clients.

Using company records, the investigative reporters said they tracked some clients, many rich and powerful Russians who made fortunes from dealing with the Russian state, including a businessman in the inner circle of Russian President Vladimir Putin and IT distributors in Russia, including for Apple, Samsung and Asus.

Some US$1.2 billion was allegedly funneled through the Estonian branch of Denmark's largest bank, Danske Bank, which acknowledged a "case of possible international money laundering" with illegitimate transactions at its Estonian branch in 2011-2014.

Danske Bank spokesman Flemming Pristed said security procedures had been "insufficient" but now had been improved. Other banks, including Deutsche Bank, have since been fined for lax controls on money laundering schemes.

Reacting to the news, Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen on Tuesday called the money laundering a disgrace. "It makes me sad and angry," he told Denmark's TV2.