Nicaragua

The prospect of offshore financial services provider Marc Harris being charged with perjury to go along with 13 counts of money laundering was raised during his first court appearance in Miami today after being arrested and deported from Nicaragua yesterday. The clerk at Miami Magistrates Court reminded the prosecution of this option after drastically different accounts of Harris' occupation and finances were given during a hearing which lasted less than five minutes.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Nicaragua into Byron Rodolfo Jerez Solis, Arnoldo Aleman Lacayo, Alfredo de Jesus Fernandez, Esteban Benito Duquestrada Sacasa, Jorge Solis Farias, Ethel Gonzalez de Jerez, Valeria Jerez Gonzalez, Alvaro Aleman Lacayo, Mayra Estrada de Aleman, Arnoldo Antonio Aleman Estrada and others for alleged corruption, fraud and theft.

ARGENTINA: Investigator investigated; CHILE: A major financial scandal erupts; COSTA RICA: More controls for Costa Rica; GUATEMALA: USA resumes aid; Congress Chair in trouble for alleged corruption; MEXICO: The PRI fined; Divine bank accounts; NICARAGUA: Bolaños presents policy; PANAMA: Portillo's account in the open; REGIONAL: Eleven jurisdictions of "concern" in Latin America and the Caribbean; URUGUAY: Controversy! What controversy?; and VENEZUELA: Chavez under scrutiny.

ARGENTINA: Still, debate about Menem's feasibility as candidate; BOLIVIA: Big trouble in La Paz; COLOMBIA: Operation against Cali cartel's leader; GUATEMALA: Acquisition to save Banoro; Blacklisted again; NICARAGUA: Centeno Roque brothers sentenced; PARAGUAY: President González Macchi under investigation; and PERU: Montesinos' silence.

ARGENTINA: Banker goes to prison; Escobar's widow on trial; BOLIVIA: Six people sentenced in bankruptcy case; CHILE: Former minister jailed in scandal; COLOMBIA: First Colombians extradited for money laundering; ECUADOR: New president in Ecuador; INTERNATIONAL: Pardon for taxpayers hiding income; MEXICO: Anti-corruption raids; NICARAGUA: Immunity removed for Alemán; PANAMA: New anti money laundering measures; PARAGUAY: Money laundering and frauds on the rise; PERU: Perturbing news from fugitive Fujimori; PUERTO RICO: Paper bags and inaccurate reports; and URUGUAY: The Central Bank investigated.

ARGENTINA: The long Argentinean "culebrón"; COLOMBIA: Life insurance as laundering instrument; COSTA RICA: Frauds unlimited; NICARAGUA: Lehman Brothers investigated; Money laundering surge; PANAMA: Fraudulent bankruptcies galore; and PERU: Lasnaud's "Montesinos" connection.

ARGENTINA The bankers' parade Michael Smith, of HSBC, declared before judge Claudio Bonadío that bribes were somewhat customary in Argentina. Smith—a British citizen who has been only months in the South American country—was testifying in a new case of alleged

In the wake of action taken by Swiss authorities against the Zurich based Sovereign Finance Group, which is being investigated for money laundering involving Russia and the Caribbean, regulators in St. Vincent & the Grenadines are taking action against Sovereign

ARGENTINAMenem off the hook, for the moment Judge Julio Speroni concluded there is not enough evidence to indict former President Carlos Menem in the case of the illegal arms sale to Croatia and Ecuador. Judge Speroni added, though, that Menem

ARGENTINA: Menem in deeper trouble; Funny operations to save BISEL; Duhalde criticized; COLOMBIA: New President; LATIN AMERICA: Enron tentacles in Latin America; NICARAGUA: No visa; Alemán, formally accused; PARAGUAY: New financial scandal; and URUGUAY: Little Uruguay sneezes, Latin America is already sick.

New evidence obtained by OffshoreAlert shows that THREE convicted drug dealers are beneficial owners of the British Virgin Islands-registered parent of The Harris Organization financial services group. The traffickers all own preferred shares, which purport to pay annual interest of 10% in the case of Wallace Stull and James Somerville, and 7% for Lawrence Boulanger.

Banks, brokers and other companies are advised that offshore financial services provider Marc Harris is now operating under the new name of 'Mitchell Astor Gilbert Trust Co.'

COSTA RICA: List of 15 alleged recipients of bribes causes outrage; ECUADOR: Finance Ministry's officials to be arrested; Arms trafficking and Corruption; EL SALVADOR: Investigation of a state company's sale; HONDURAS: INTERFINSA's founder arrested; Another "black list"; MEXICO: US Banker falls in Mexican crackdown; Mexicans take over cocaine business; NICARAGUA: Tangled money; PANAMA: Panama investigates illegal money linked to Nicaragua; PARAGUAY: Bancosur's executives convicted; and URUGUAY: Rohms' dealings in Uruguay; The downfall of "Uruguay's owners"; Banking system in bad shape.

Hendrik Rienstra, 73, the principal of sham Panama-registered insurer New England International Surety Co. Inc., has died.; OffshoreAlert has uncovered three new names associated with the business activities of crooked financial services provider Marc M. Harris, who has moved his operations to Nicaragua after running up massive debts in Panama, leading to an application from a creditor to wind up his company and an eviction notice issued by his commercial landlord; Police in the UK have charged a fourth person, Francois M. Verkaeren, with conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with an investigation into the business practices of Merrion Reinsurance Company, which is located in Dublin, Ireland; The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has announced that two residents of the Turks & Caicos Islands - Michael Witt, 45, and his partner, Tina Grenier, 41 - have been arrested and charged with various narcotics, money laundering and possession of crime offenses and their US$1 million property restrained in an operation codenamed 'Oilsheik'; and Local newspapers in the Bahamas have suddenly become excited over a criminal indictment that was issued in the United States as long ago as June 15, 1999.

ARGENTINA: BGN fiasco unfolds; COLOMBIA: Perception of corruption increases; ECUADOR: Failure in international bid; GUATEMALA: New regulations in Guatemala; "Twin  banks" investigated since 1996; MEXICO: The honeymoon is over in Mexico; NICARAGUA: $2 million lost in Nicaragua; The high life of a president; …And Taiwan wants its money back; and PANAMA: Welcome to Panama.

The Harris Organization financial services group has been evicted from its offices in Panama City for non-payment of rent; The revocation of the banking license of Baltic Bank Ltd. earlier this year by the Offshore Finance Authority of St. Vincent and the Grenadines has been stayed by Justice Brian Alleyne, sitting in the local High Court, according to a source familiar with the action; The battle for control of $6.5 million of frozen assets of a now-defunct, Dominica-based Ponzi scheme known as Stock Generation is dragging on through the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts; Grenada Prime Minister Keith Mitchell and several other members of his Cabinet have received an award of $200,000, plus legal costs of $10,000, after winning a libel action brought against local journalist Stanley Charles, businessman and radio talk show producer Eddie Frederick and Grenada Broadcasting Network; The Central Bank of Belize has issued warnings about two entities that may be incorrectly holding themselves out to be licensed financial institutions: Trinity Savings Bank and Goldman & Stein; A Bermuda resident has accused the island's biggest law firm, Conyers, Dill & Pearman, of charging exorbitant fees for taking two trustees off her will, reported The Royal Gazette newspaper; A new date of July 15, 2002 has been set for the resumed hearing in the Bahamas of the appeal brought by the directors of Suisse Security  Bank & Trust Ltd. against the decision of the Central Bank revoking SSBT's licence; and The lack of concern shown by the operators of the Financial Times web-site for the financial well-being of its visitors continues.

Corruption in Argentina Since it was founded in 1999, the Argentinean Anti Corruption Office has handled 1,784 cases that generated 489 complaints but none of them has produced a sentence. The last index by Transparency International — which classifies countries

OffshoreAlert has received a letter from an Arizona based client of Grenada licensed Cornerstone International Savings and Investment Bank, which was taken over by the Grenada authorities on April 25, 2002 - AFTER the bank's principals had already disappeared without

COLOMBIA: News of a kidnapping; GUATEMALA: A tale of embezzlement; HONDURAS: Funny transactions in Honduras; A law against money laundering; NICARAGUA: New charges against Interbank executives; PANAMA: New dirty links between Peru and Panama; Portillo tarnished by accusations; URUGUAY: BCCI's death throes; and REGIONAL: Waves from Washington; Latin America EXTRA.

Menem's secret accounts in Switzerland; Mexico still cleaning up after the Salinas family; Alemán's hidden money; Disappearing money in Bolivia; and Huge investigation in El Salvador.

Investigator finds links among different cases of corruption in Argentina The head of an anti money laundering commission in Argentina, Legislator Elisa Carrió, has linked apparently unconnected cases of corruption that have occurred during the past 15 years in a

September 11 side effects on already slowing regional economy The attacks on the United States on September 11th will have profound economic effects, further slowing a world economy already growing at its lowest rate in a decade and speeding up