AmSouth

ARGENTINA & VENEZUELA: Laundering and Politics; CARIBBEAN: The heat from the USA PATRIOT Act; COSTA RICA: Investigating Banco Popular; Costa Rica, Head of GAFIC; Remittances on the rise; GUATEMALA: Lottery under scrutiny; MEXICO: Chairing the OAS Anti-Laundering Group; and PERU: Fujimori sentenced.

A business associate of the now-closed Overseas Development Bank & Trust Ltd., of Dominica, has pleaded guilty to 20 felony charges, including securities fraud, money laundering and wire fraud.The charges relate to a multi-million dollar fraudulent trading program that Terry L. Dowdell operated through his Bahamas-registered firm, Vavasseur Corporation, starting in 1998.