L/E just uncovered Madoff hid some assets in Gibraltar. Madoff's accounts at New York Mellon Bank are being looked at ....... investigators say the accounts appear to have sent and received money from offshore locations.
Note well that the SEC received complaints only from Madoff's competitors. Not one Madoff investor ever filed a complaint.
The legal principle of “condonation” --- meaning implied forgiveness for certain behavior should foreclose any ideas that taxpayers are gonna bailout these mega-millionaires (who most assuredly have money stashed offshore). The so-called investors implicitly “condoned” Madoff’s actions over a period of time--sometimes for decades---- willingly acquiescing to Madoff's activities in several ways:
(1) Sending Madoff enormous sums of money, sums that were spread out over time (some families invested for generations), even AFTER they had the opportunity to assess their investments;
(2) Referring other investors to Madoff (if the investment was so bad, why did they bring in other investors?);
(3) Taking profits out of the investment, rolling it over, or putting more money in;
(4) Writing PERSONAL checks to Madoff's subrosa spinoff vehicle that was not listed on the SEC (which could be construed as a tax evasion--money laundering scheme).
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6/23/00
Israel on black list of money launderers
Ha'aretz (Israeli newspaper)
By Dov Alfon, Ha'aretz Correspondent
PARIS - On a list of 15 countries "encouraging money laundering" published yesterday by a special investigative committee originally set up by the G-7, Israel features prominently and may face international sanctions in the coming months.
The publication of the list was preceded by three days of intense negotiations between the United States, Japan and the European Union, and was leaked to the French daily Le Monde which published it yesterday. It is still unclear if the 26 nation Finance Action Task Force (FATF), as the investigative committee is known, initiated the leak or was forced to hasten the list's publication, which was originally scheduled for Monday.
In addition to Israel, the "black list" includes Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Russia, Panama, the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, the Cook Islands, Dominica, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Panama, the Philippines, St. Kitts and the Grenadines. The exclusive list was chosen with diligence from a "gray list" which included 31 suspect states, among them Cyprus, Gibraltar, Monaco, and Antigua.
The difference between the two lists is that the "gray" one includes countries whose banking laws are tougher than those of countries on the "black list."
According to a spokesman for the FATF, Israel is on the list of 15 because it lacks legislation to counter the laundering of crime monies, including the fact that it does not require the declaration of cash deposits, and also because of "controversial" figures given by commercial banks.
The spokesman added that Israel informed the committee that it planned legislation on these issues for the next month - a month too late for the FATF. (Note: Orthodox political parties balked at the legislation.)
A source in the French Ministry of Trade told Ha'aretz that the list in which Israel has found itself is "the worst club in which to be a member in the international economy today (circa 2000).