Hiding Assets Through Gatekeepers With Accounts Across The Globe

The bottom of p. 5 of this Wolfsberg Group Statement says money laundering risks include financial “[a]ccounts for ‘gatekeepers’ such as accountants, lawyers, or other professionals for their clients where the identity of the underlying client is not disclosed to the financial institution.

It is therefore no surprise that assets hidden through laundering or otherwise, can end up in a gatekeeper’s account across the globe.  For example, a 2007 forfeiture complaint filed in United States, v. Proceeds of Crime Transferred to Certain Domestic Financial Accounts, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Index # 07-CV-21791, implicated gatekeeper / accountant Mr. Pierfrancesco Munari in an alleged conspiracy to launder hundreds of millions of dollars.

Although the hundreds of millions of dollars had reportedly originated from a judicial bribery scheme in Italy, these monies were allegedly washed by way of business entities and / or financial accounts in the United States; the British Virgin Islands; the Cayman Islands; Guernsey; Jersey; Switzerland; Luxembourg; Liechtenstein; Singapore; the Cook Islands and Costa Rica.

A November 16, 2007 settlement agreement indicated that Mr. Munari consented to the forfeiture of four of these financial accounts which were respectively maintained at Merrill Lynch and Citibank.  Blog posts which additionally mention gatekeepers are:

  1.  A Doctor, A Lawyer & Bricks Of Cash In Switzerland
  2. An Ex-Watch Manufacturer & His Nominee Bank Accounts
  3. Concealing Assets In More Than 150 Trusts?
  4. Asset Search News Roundup: February 6, 2012
  5. Asset Search News Roundup: February 19, 2012
  6. Red Flags In One Of Washington State’s Largest Bankruptcies
  7. Seattle’s Ubiquitous Asset Protection Lawyer, Ms. Mary Simon

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