Posted on 05/13/2002 7:10:49 PM PDT by Ivan the Terrible
Substantial sums of hard currency provided to Saddam Hussein from the sale of Iraqi oil allowed under United Nations sanctions have been laundered through banks around the world by a Russian Mafiya boss described in an MI5 report as "one of the world's top criminals." Despite that, Israel continues to allow Semyon Yukovich Mogilevich to travel openly on one of its passports. Even more remarkable, the MI5 description was reinforced by an investigation by Mossad. Its report concluded that Mogilevich is a "major criminal - but has taken great care to commit no crime against Israel."
His supply of arms to Iraq has come from the former Soviet Unions vast stockpile of weapons.
Mogilevich has made several trips to Iraq since the M15 investigation led to his being declared persona non grata after his money-laundering activities in London and the Channel Islands were discovered.
Two years ago his Israeli passport was renewed by its embassy in Switzerland. It is not known if he has used it to visit Israel. Its Foreign Ministry refuses to discuss the matter. But Israel's own tight-lipped banking system might find itself caught up in Mogilevich's financial scams that are now rocking the West's financial world.
One of America's largest and oldest banks, the Bank of New York, was caught up in a maelstrom of money-laundering orchestrated by Mogilevich. It was in the records of the conservative and, until now, well-regulated institution, that the first clues emerged about the secret deal Saddam had struck with the Mafiya baron.
The Bank of New York was the end of a "laundering" journey to make sure it could not be traced back to its source. Once "clean," the money was used by Mogilevich as payment against the Soviet arms he had - says one source close to the investigation - almost certainly stolen in Russia - and shipped to Iraq through the Islamic Republics of the former Soviet Union.
The Saddam deal is only a small part of an unprecedented money laundering operation.
Banks as far apart as Germany and Australia are being investigated to establish their position in the laundering chain Mogilevich created. The investigators do not discount that he may have funneled some of the cash from his deal with Saddam through Israeli banks.
A source close to the investigation told Globe-Intel: "We are just in the early stages, but it looks as if a lot of people in a number of countries are going to have to answer some very awkward questions from us. What we have here is a massive penetration of the global financial market by Russian organized crime."
The hapless Bank of New York suspended two employees. Both are senior officers in the bank's Eastern European division and are married to Russian businessmen, one of whom is believed by investigators to have controlled the various accounts Mogilevich ran through the bank.
Money laundering is a legal catch-all that refers to the criminal practice of taking ill-gotten gains and shifting them through a chain of bank accounts around the world. Each move along the chain "washes" the money so that ultimately it looks like genuine profits from legal businesses.
It was this method, investigators now believe, that Mogilevich used to "launder" Iraq's currency. The money was intended to buy medical supplies and other humanitarian aid for Iraq.
Intelligence sources say that Mogilevich has the resources available to him through his global criminal network that equals that of a medium-sized nation. An FBI report on organized crime in Russia states that "when the Soviet Union ceased to exist, many Russian generals sold their weapons to Mogilevich who sold them to Iraq."
Investigators in New York and London are now urgently trying to establish how far the Iraqi deal had gone before they discovered it. Already they have established that this year Saddam's aides met with Mogilevich's brokers in Geneva.
But the deal with Saddam has been described "as a drop in the sand" compared to Mogilevich's other activities. He entered the Western financial world in 1988 when the Bank of New York began to aggressively seek business in Russia. Their contact man in the former Soviet Union was Bruce Rapport, a Swiss banker. Born in Haifa, Israel, the 50-year-old Rapport ran an investment brokerage out of a modest office in Geneva. He operated in, among other places, Oman, Liberia and Haiti before setting up in New York.
Within five years he had established himself, through investments, as one of the Bank of New York's biggest individual stockholders, Using that position he offered to open doors for the bank in Russia. At some point Mogilevich saw his opportunity to use the Bank of New York for money laundering.
Investigators have now traded close to $5 billion that was laundered through one account in a short period this year. They believe that, all told, over $10 billion may have come and gone through the account.
One member of the investigating team told Globe-Intel: "It could end up around the $30 or even $40 billion mark. It is the most frightening evidence of how far Russian organized crime has been able to manipulate and infiltrate the West's financial markets."
Like a number of Russian criminals, Mogilevich is barred from entering the United States or Britain.
Meantime, he continues to travel between Moscow and Budapest. It is in the Russian capital that the first evidence of his criminal activities came. In the 1980s, as Jews prepared to leave the Soviet Union for Israel, he told them they would need hard currency in the West. He took their art, jewelry and other valuables and sold them. He only handed back half the money.
It was the precursor to the deal he would strike with Saddam Hussein.
Of course. He no more special than Pat Roberston,or any of the other charlatans.
He often refers to Jews as 'the chosen people, His chosen people,' etc.
Don't you think that in the spirit of "oneness",he needs to stop lumping people in groups?
On his Israeli passport. So, now the "world Zionist conspiracy" is running the world through organized crime?
Where did I say that,Buchwheat? The fact that these people are Jewish is incidental.
But I run the world Zionist conspiracy! You're telling me that I don't know how my own conspiracy works?!
That's right. Try to post some nonsense to divert attention,in the hope people will ignore what you ridicule.
How is it that anti-Semites always think they can make better Jewish jokes than Jews?
That's right Jesse,play the race card.
David Duke had a peice run in the Arab Press recently. I'm sure you would like it.
Sneakypete responded
Sounds to me like you are a anti-Gentile. You should be ashamed of yourself,bigot.
Seti 1 was off on a rant about Jewish control of the country. I pointed out the similarities to David Duke.
I'm not sure what this has to do with being anti-gentile. However, I have found that those in the White Seperatist movements believe that any opposition is race treason. I hope your logic is not along those lines.
I am in no way anti-Christian.
It's not.In fact,what I am protesting against is the hyprocisy expressed by some Jewish posters who only see bigotry when anybody says anything even remotly critical of any Jew,anywhere,at any time. LOTS of Re-verse bigotry going on out dare.
I am in no way anti-Christian.
I am anti-organized religion,but I am neither anti-Jewish or anti-Christian.In general, I object to the process,not the people.
I'm not really sure what you were trying to say.
Well, blow me away. I still read online articles from NR now and then, and on rare occasion, from the Standard. But I can't for the life of me see how anyone could ever have admired Bill Kristol (as a writer or editor) or Rich Lowry.
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