Diamonds

Dan Gertler International group, President. “Grandson of Moshe Schnitzer, first President and co-founder, in 1947 of the Israel Diamond Exchange,[3] and the winner of the Israel Prize in 2004.” Opened his diamond mine business in 1997 in theDemocratic Republic of the Congo.                Panama Papers       Magnitsky Act Sanctions    HSBC Swiss Leaks

  • Financial Crimes
  • Money Laundering -Diamonds  are  great  vehicles  for  money  laundering  because  they  are  high  value  in  a  small  space  and  can  be  painted  black  to  devalue  them  at  customs.  Watch The Dubious Friends of Donald Trump: King  of  Diamonds about Lev Leviev. “Diamonds have a long history of being linked to conflict and violence,” said Michael Gibb of the international human rights group Global Witness. “The ease with which diamonds can be converted into tools of war, when not sourced responsibly, is astonishing.” ICIJ
  • The UN’s anti-conflict diamond effort is the Kimberley Process, cofounder Ian Smillie.
    • Natural Resources
      • Clean Water  Paraguay, Earth’s largest aquifer
      • Minerals & Rare Earths
      •  Aziza Kulsum “2001 United Nations report also said that Kulsum was a key player in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the illicit trade in coltan, a strategically important mineral used in electronic devices…HSBC referred to Kulsum as a “businesswoman (stone and noble metals)” and the owner of a cigarette factory. Another questionable account appears under the name of Katex Mines Guinee. According to a 2003 report by the United Nations, Katex Mines was a front company used by Guinea’s Ministry of Defense to traffic arms to rebel soldiers in Liberia during fighting in 2003. Inexperienced child soldiers were fighting on both sides; hundreds of people were killed and more than 2,000 were injured. The account is shown with $7.14 million in it three years after UN reports about Katex Mines were made public.” ICIJ  Semion Mogilevich is into cigarettes, by the way.
    • Mining
    • 2008–HSBC employee-turned-whistleblower –Arms Trafficking expose
    • Diamonds
      • Russians Richard Davidovici, Kenneth Lee Akselrod and Mozes Victor Konig, Interpol fugitives for Russian crimes: fraud, smuggling and tax evasion. HSBC
      • Omega Diamonds: Sylvain Goldberg, Robert Liling, and Ehud Arye Laniado laundered arms money in DR Congo & Angola, 2006, Belgian 2013 settlement for a $195 million tax dispute for falsely valuation of Congolese and Angolan diamonds & shifting profits into a Dubai account HSBC
      • Emmanuel Shallop, Côte d’Ivoire convicted of blood diamond dealing from a Dubai account April 20, 2011. HSBC
      • Mozes Victor Konig and Kenneth Lee Akselrod – Interpol Most Wanted list – diamond dealers at HSBC
      • Erez Daleyot, a Belgian-Israeli diamond tycoon “reportedly under investigation by Belgian authorities for money laundering and tax evasion” NYC Partner Lazare Kaplan International claimed plaintiff defrauded of money from Daleyot in HSBC MEDIS group accounts that funded $20 million bribes Antwerp Diamond Bank officials ~2005
        • Arkadi Gaydamak, a Russian-Israeli convicted in 1990s “Angolagate” sometimes partnered with Daleyot ICIJ   HSBC Warrant for arrest December 2000 but fled to Israel
    • Arms Trafficking
    • Angolagate aka Mitterrand-Pasqua Affair -40+ Indicted. Iinternational political arms scandal between French President Mitterand’s son Jean-Christophe Mitterand (JCM) and met a relative of French arms company Thomson CSF in Scottsdale named Pierre Falcone. JCM contracted La Compagnie Générale des Eaux in May 1992. Falcone organized a prepaid oil deal with Angola, and became the supervisor to supply food, medicine, and the troops with arms from Slovakia. Angola bought $47 uSD of arms from Slovakian arms company ZTS_OZOS on November 7, 1993, followed by fighter aircraft and tanks up to $633m USD by April 1994. JCM & Falcone were arrested in December 2000.
      • Shailesh Vithlani, “an alleged middleman who arranged for the British arms company BAE to secretly pay $12 million into an unspecified Swiss bank account in return for the Tanzanian government buying an overpriced military radar system. HSBC staff advised him on investing in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania..”The Guardian reported in 2007 that Vithlani, who is listed as a beneficial owner of one account, who could not be reached for comment, told The Guardian in 2007 that he did not pay money from Switzerland to officials in Tanzania.”ICIJ 
      • “Fana Hlongwane, a South African political adviser and businessman.  The U.K. Serious Fraud Office said in statements submitted to South African prosecutors in 2008 that Hlongwane received money from BAE through a disguised chain of offshore intermediaries in order to promote arms deals…In a 2014 affidavit made to an ongoing inquiry into the arms contracts, Hlongwane denied “any evidence implicating myself and/or my Companies in any corruption or wrongdoing.” Hlongwane is listed as the beneficial owner of an account, Leynier Finance SA, that contained $888,000. Two other accounts that held $12 million at one point in 2006/2007 do not specify his exact role.”ICIJ 
      • Military Industrial Complex
      • Elias Murr, “president of the board of Interpol’s Foundation for a Safer World, an organization aimed at fighting terrorism and organized crime. Murr, who was a prominent businessman before entering politics, was interior minister of Lebanon in 2004 when an HSBC account owned by him was held through a company called Callorford Investments Limited. By 2006-2007, the account would contain $42 million. A spokesman for Murr said his client’s wealth and that of his family is public knowledge, and his family has held accounts in Switzerland since before he was born.” HSBC Swiss accounts
      • Antwerp, Belgium-world  headquarters
      • Beny Steinmetz–Nephew Raz invests with Kushner in Trump Bay Street Jersey City Diamonds–Israel‘s richest family with business in Angola, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, and a Guinea lawsuit. Nephew Raz invests with Kushner in Trump Bay Street Jersey City, paid Rudy Giuliani large sums before his 2007 presidential run from the Steinmetz’s Sage Capital Growth VC firm. Congolese Diamond Dealer, Israeli Dan Gertler  & Beny’s brother Daniel are beneficial owners of Concordia Marketing Group Inc., a British Virgin Islands firm. Pentler Holdings bribed following a Soros & UK probe. HSBC Swiss Leaks Pentler Pacific Ltd
        • Trump Organization
        • Donald Trump
          • Trump Mafia
          • Trump Lawsuits
          • Trump Properties
          • Deutsche Bank
            • VTB Bank-Putin’s  bank  backed  around  $2billion  in  Deutsche  Bank  loans  to  Trump
            • Trump Organization
            • Trump Family
            • Jared Kushner,Donald Trump Jr., Steve Bannon, Sam Clovis, Erik Prince: Criminal referral for prosecution by the Senate Intelligence Committee to the DC US Attorney‘s Office under Jessie Liu, who was fired and replaced by Trump AG Bill Barr‘s associate Tim Shea (charged in the “We Build The Wall” scam), who then reduced  Roger Stone‘s sentence & dropped the case  against Mike  Flynn on May 7, 2020, who already pleaded guilty twice.  Fmr. DC US Atty.Glenn Kirschner Explains ItNY AG Leticia James v.DONALD TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP, IVANKA TRUMP, ERIC TRUMP, THE DONALD J. TRUMP FOUNDATION founded in 1987 November 7, 2019; Ordered to pay $2 million “(1) breach of fiduciary duty and waste under New York’s Not-for- Profit Corporation Law (“N-PCL”) against the Individual Respondents; (2) failure properly to administer Foundation assets and waste under New York’s Estates, Powers and Trusts Law (“EPTL”) against the Individual Respondents; (3) wrongful related party transactions against Mr. Trump as defined in the N-PCL and EPTL; (4) dissolution of the Foundation under the N-PCL §§ 112 and 1101; (5) dissolution of the Foundation under the N-PCL §§ 112 and 1102; and (6) an injunction pending resolution of this proceeding.” Des Moines, Iowa on January 28, 2016 Donald Trump for Vets.com video Mike Huckabee: Fundraiser for military veterans was actually a campaign organized and planned event. The campaign contributed $2.8 million to the Trump Foundation. The following day, named donors C-Span. Donald Trump
              • Donald Trump Jr.– Referred for criminal prosecution by the Senate Intelligence Committee to the DC US Attorney‘s Office
              • Jared Kushner– Referred for criminal prosecution by the Senate Intelligence Committee to the DC US Attorney‘s Office
              • Eric Trump – NY AG Leticia James v. THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION, INC.; DJT HOLDINGS LLC; DJT HOLDINGS MANAGING MEMBER LLC; SEVEN SPRINGS LLC; ERIC TRUMP; CHARLES MARTABANO; MORGAN, LEWIS & BOCKIUS, LLP; and SHERI DILLON 68-Page Memo to Force Compliance with Remitting Taxes & Corp. Documents August 24, 2020
              •  Ivanka Trump – Under FBI Counterintelligence Investigation for Trump for the brand-licensed Trump International Hotel and Tower in Vancouver that opened a Ivanka Trump™ Spa in February 2017 & developed by Malaysian billionaire Joo Kim Tiah’s Holborn Group for $360 million after Tiah befriended Donald Trump Jr.. in 2013 & pitched Ivanka on October 21, 2015 at a “Trump Luxe” VIP condo service launch  in the YVR London Aviation Centre . Holburn is backed by Tony Tiah Thee Kian, chairman of TA Enterprise, who has securities laws violations and  made “false statements to the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange”CNN.  Trump International Hotel Vancouver operator files for bankruptcy Daily Hive Urbanized Kenneth Chan. August 28, 2020 “Records obtained by Daily Hive Urbanized from the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada show TA Hotel Management has total liabilities of $4.8 million and total assets of $1.1 million.”
                Trump International Hotel & Tower Baku, Azerbaijan-Never opened (2008 conception), 2009-10 US Embassy cables exposed by WikiLeaks; May 2012 developer contracts with former maintenance engineer turned parliamentarian Elton Mammadov & Baghlan Group‘s Baku XXI Century ($2.5m), 2014 hotel announcement with architect Pierre Baillargeon & Mace of London, Backers: “notoriously corrupt” Ziya Mammadov, Azerbaijani Transportation Minister & an oligarch, supposedly using son Anar’s company and a Trump license, the family shell zqan. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (F.C.P.A.)-(Trump’s SEC Chair, Jay Clayton, wrote a 2011 paper against it. In 2000, 3 cases, in 2016, 54): US Companies cannot reward a foreign government officials in exchange for material or immaterial, preferential benefit. even unknowingly by avoiding discovery of a partner’s corruption (closing the “head in the sand” loophole; see Frederic Bourke of Dooney & Bourke sentenced 1 year in prison for Azerbaijani deal, 2009 ; Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRG)– When TIH&T Baku was conceived (2008), Ziya gave the 2008-incorporated construction company Azarpassillo millions in contracts for the Baku-Iranian Astara highway & more, chaired by Keyumars Darvishi who was head of the construction company, Raman, owned by the IRG‘s main financial arm, the Islamic Revolution Mostazafan Foundation. Keyumars has been the acting director of brother Habil’s Tehran Metro Co. & was a Sardar/Sr. Official of the IRG, and brother Kamal runs the IRG-controlled & 2007 US-sanctioned for Iran nuclear missile development co., Nasr that makes ballistic missile guidance systems. The Trump Org. knew by 2015.  The US considers the 150,000 independent theocratic military IRG a terrorist organization involved in Drug Trafficking & Money Laundering, and supports Hezbollah New Yorker
              • Trump Organization-NY AG Leticia James’ 68-Page Memo
                • Allen Weisselberg – Trump Organization CFO, Prepared Taxes for Decades Testified & granted immunity in Michael Cohen payoff to Stormy Daniels & Karen McDougal to protect the Trump Campaign
                • Alan Garten, Executive Vice President & Chief Legal Officer
              • Trump Campaign

              Michael Cohen– Trump is co-conspirator Individual 1 in Campaign Finance Violations and Tax Fraud

          • Trump Inaugural Committee– Illegal Foreign Contributions
            • Elliott Broidy

Diamond Dealers in Deep Trouble as Bank Documents Shine Light on Secret Ways ICIJ Belgium, the center of the world’s diamond trade, has charged HSBC’s Swiss Private Bank with fraud. And it’s not just Belgium – many dealers are under investigation around the globe. By , , , and February 9, 2015 “In the spring of 2005, Erez Daleyot, a Belgian-Israeli diamond tycoon with some dubious connections, paid a visit to his Swiss bankers at HSBC Private Bank, where he would soon have up to $38.5 million in accounts tied to shell companies in the British Virgin Islands….He’d recently obtained a tax ruling from Israel allowing him to pay just 5 percent in taxes on $85 million in earnings… Now Daleyot is reportedly under investigation by Belgian authorities for money laundering and tax evasion, though he has not been charged.  And the New York-based diamond firm Lazare Kaplan International, a former business partner, alleges that Daleyot participated in a criminal conspiracy to defraud it of $135 million by laundering diamond proceeds, largely through his HSBC accounts, which were also the source of $20 million in bribes paid to bankers at Antwerp Diamond Bank, according to a civil lawsuit filed by Lazare in U.S. federal court in 2011…Amid a flurry of investigations, HSBC decided to shutter its MEDIS group, which included its diamond clients, in the middle of 2013, according to testimony to Belgian authorities by its chief legal officer, David Garrido.

With Daleyot, the bank looked past his questionable business connections, the most notorious of whom was reportedly Arkadi Gaydamak, a Russian-Israeli businessman convicted in absentia by France for his role in the 1990s “Angolagate” arms-trafficking scandal (some of the charges were overturned on appeal). Daleyot also reportedly financed Yakov Arabov, known to hip-hop stars like 50 Cent and the Notorious B.I.G. as Jacob the Jeweler. Arabov later went to prison in 2008 for lying to U.S. federal agents about laundering money for the Black Mafia Family, a Detroit drug ring. Daleyot did not respond to ICIJ request for comment.

Another HSBC client, Emmanuel Shallop, had earned a mention in a 2001 UN report for doing business with the rebels in Sierra Leone’s vicious civil war. HSBC bankers noted in 2005 that he was “very cautious currently because he is under pressure from the Belgian tax authorities who are investigating his activities in the area of diamond tax fraud.” HSBC continued to serve him. In 2010, a Belgian court convicted Shallop of facilitating the trade of blood diamonds in Sierra Leone, seizing $59 million in diamonds and real estate and sentencing him to six years in prison. “We do not want to give any comment on this issue,” John Maes, Shallop’s attorney, told ICIJ. “My client does not want his name to be mentioned in any article because of reasons of privacy.”

Or take Fisi Daskal, a German-Belgian diamond dealer who in 2005 was about to run into a problem with European tax authorities. “Re: ESD [European Savings Directive] customer confirms that [he] will proceed to open a Panamanian corporation (in 7 days) to solve this problem,” an HSBC banker noted on Daskal’s account. A few months later, HSBC noted that one of his accounts had been blocked, “affected indirectly in a criminal case.” Daskal did not respond to a request for comment.”