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Singapore-based Company And Deutche Bank (Singapore Branch) Involved In Offshore Shadowy Money and S

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posted on Apr, 7 2013 @ 07:12 AM
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Singapore-based Company And Deutche Bank (Singapore Branch) Involved In Offshore Shadowy Money and Secrecy



In Summary:

■ Singapore-based Portcullis TrustNet has helped tens of thousands of people set up offshore companies, trusts and hard-to-trace bank accounts.
■ Thai government official Nalinee Taveesin, with links to an infamous African dictator used Singapore-based TrustNet to set up a secret company for herself in the BVI, the records show.
■ Deutsche Bank: helped its customers maintain more than 300 secretive offshore companies and trusts through its Singapore branch.
■ Ferdinand Marcos’ daughter, Maria Imelda Marcos Manotoc, tied to offshore Sintra Trust commissioned by Singapore-based Portcullis TrustNet



More than 100 customer consultants at Deutsche Bank Singapore helped create or manage 309 offshore entities for its customers in the British Virgin Islands and other tax havens, according to secret records obtained by the news organizations.

Most of the companies carry fantasy names like “Thrilling Returns Incorporated,” “Amazing Opportunity Limited” or “Market Dollar Group Limited.” Public sources don’t show any business activities for most of these companies.



Much of ICIJ’s reporting focused on the work of two offshore firms, Singapore-based Portcullis TrustNet and BVI-based Commonwealth Trust Limited (CTL), which have helped tens of thousands of people set up offshore companies and trusts and hard-to-trace bank accounts.



A Thai government official with links to an infamous African dictator used Singapore-based TrustNet to set up a secret company for herself in the BVI, the records show.

Nalinee Taveesin.Nalinee Taveesin.The Thai official, Nalinee “Joy” Taveesin, is currently Thailand’s international trade representative. She served as a cabinet minister for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra before stepping down last year.

Taveesin acquired her BVI company in August 2008. That was seven months after she’d been appointed an advisor to Thailand’s commerce minister — and three months before the U.S. Department of Treasury blacklisted her as a “crony” of Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe.



A bulk of them however — roughly 45,000 of about 77,000 — come from China, Taiwan, Singapore and other East and Southeast Asian nations, a sign of the growing importance of that region as a source of shadowy money.

The main product that TrustNet sells can be summarized in one word — secrecy.

The firm helps ensure names, finances, business interests and political links remain hidden. It does this using a variety of methods, such as creating maze-like layers of companies and financial trusts in multiple countries and in many cases helping clients open overseas bank accounts in the names of anonymous companies rather than in their own names.



It is not known what assets they hold, but one Sintra Trust document refers to a bank account with United Overseas Bank Limited, a financial institution headquartered in Singapore.


The Sintra Trust was created in June 2002 with the help of a Singapore-based offshore services firm called Portcullis TrustNet.

The documents indicate that in her role of financial advisor, Imee Marcos had powers to direct the investment of trust assets held by banks and other financial institutions.

The so-called “settlor,” “trust protector,” and “master client” listed in the documents is Mark Chua, a Singapore-based businessman said to be Imee’s new boyfriend.

Although the Sintra Trust is located in the British Virgin Islands, another PCGG official – the commission tasked with recovering the Marcoses’ assets – said he does not find it surprising that its servicing company, Portcullis TrustNet, is based in Singapore, which has one of the toughest financial secrecy regulations in the world. It ranked No. 6 in the 2011 Financial Secrecy Index of the Tax Justice Network, a London-based group that campaigns against tax havens.

“We’ve had a hard time getting cooperation from Singapore in our requests for international mutual assistance on criminal matters,” said the PCGG official, who asked not to be identified because of the confidential nature of his work for the agency.



Deutsche Bank (Singapore Branch) Helped Customers Maintain Hundreds of Offshore Entities - International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
docs.google.com...
www.icij.org...

Secret Files Expose Offshore’s Global Impact - International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
docs.google.com...
www.icij.org...

Leaks Reveal Secrets Of The Rich Who Hide Cash Offshore - UK News - The Guardian
docs.google.com...
www.guardian.co.uk...

Ferdinand Marcos’ Daughter Tied to Offshore Trust in Caribbean
docs.google.com...
www.icij.org...

www.icij.org...
www.icij.org...


edit on 4/7/2013 by wisdomnotemotion because: more details



posted on Apr, 7 2013 @ 08:47 AM
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Ferdinand Marcos’ daughter, Maria Imelda Marcos Manotoc, tied to offshore Sintra Trust commissioned by Singapore-based Portcullis TrustNet




Newly uncovered documents link Maria Imelda Marcos Manotoc, the eldest child of the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos and now a senior political figure in her own right, to two secretive offshore trusts and an offshore company.

The hardworking and popular provincial governor — widely known as Imee Marcos — was one of the beneficiaries of the Sintra Trust, which was formed in June 2002 in the British Virgin Islands, financial records uncovered by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) show. Other beneficiaries were Imee Marcos’ adult sons with estranged husband Tomas Manotoc: Ferdinand Richard Michael Marcos Manotoc, Matthew Joseph Marcos Manotoc, and Fernando Martin Marcos Manotoc.

It’s unclear whether the trust remains active. The records obtained by ICIJ show the trust was still active at least as recently as 2010.



The documents show that Imee Marcos was also a financial advisor for the Sintra Trust as well as for a company in which the Sintra Trust was a shareholder, ComCentre Corporation, which was formed in January 2002 in the BVI and is still in operation. The records also show she was a “master client” for the M Trust, formed July 1997 in Labuan, Malaysia, and closed July 2009. Philippines law requires government officials to disclose their assets no matter where they’re held, and Imee Marcos’s disclosure statements do not list the three offshore entities. It is not known what assets they hold, but one Sintra Trust document refers to a bank account with United Overseas Bank Limited, a financial institution headquartered in Singapore. Another record related to ComCentre refers to an account at HSBC.

The Philippines’ Presidential Commission on Good Government is eager to find out if the entities connected to Imee Marcos might contain some of the estimated $5 billion that her father allegedly amassed through corruption. He too held offshore accounts, which the Philippine government has sought to freeze.



The Sintra Trust was created in June 2002 with the help of a Singapore-based offshore services firm called Portcullis TrustNet.

The documents indicate that in her role of financial advisor, Imee Marcos had powers to direct the investment of trust assets held by banks and other financial institutions.

The so-called “settlor,” “trust protector,” and “master client” listed in the documents is Mark Chua, a Singapore-based businessman said to be Imee’s new boyfriend. The settlor refers to the person who creates the trust by transferring a certain asset that he or she owns to the trustee, who then assumes legal ownership of the assets on behalf of the beneficiaries.

Chua has not replied to PCIJ’s questions on his role in Sintra Trust.

In June 2005, Imee was named investment adviser of the Sintra Trust, according to a document uncovered by ICIJ. As investment adviser, she can direct any financial institution in the purchase, sale, liquidation and investment of the trust assets. Chua also became an investment advisor for the trust in 2006.

Although the Sintra Trust is located in the British Virgin Islands, another PCGG official – the commission tasked with recovering the Marcoses’ assets – said he does not find it surprising that its servicing company, Portcullis TrustNet, is based in Singapore, which has one of the toughest financial secrecy regulations in the world. It ranked No. 6 in the 2011 Financial Secrecy Index of the Tax Justice Network, a London-based group that campaigns against tax havens.

“We’ve had a hard time getting cooperation from Singapore in our requests for international mutual assistance on criminal matters,” said the PCGG official, who asked not to be identified because of the confidential nature of his work for the agency.


docs.google.com...
www.icij.org...



posted on Apr, 7 2013 @ 09:49 AM
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Yes, Singapore is the Panama of Asia.

Money laundering abounds.

Singapore also has charter flights to North Korea.



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