Dr. Touray, thanks for forwarding this report. Swiss bankers and corrupt
international financiers that provide for the likes of Yaya and Abacha
should be exposed and reprimanded for their deeds. I can guarantee you that
no amount of secrecy laws in a banking regime will prevent us from
recovering the loot from Yaya and his cohorts. Just like the Swiss have been
exposed and reprimanded for their actions during the Second World War, we
Africans should make sure that the Swiss and other authorities pay for the
misery they cause us Africans living under dictatorship governments. Do you
think Yaya would fight to be president if it were not for the money he
thought he will be able to steal? Yaya's sole motivation for taking over
power and remaining there is to enjoy luxuries that he knows his brains
cannot guarantee him. He knew he could not live 'well' because he is
uneducated. What did he do? He seized over power and loot money in order to
enjoy basic luxuries. The guy could not even get a wife before he seized
power. He was a nobody and still a nonentity in the eyes of decent folks. In
short, if it was not for the corruption and insensitivity of the Swiss
bankers, Taiwanese, Libyans, etc. people like Yaya will have no incentive to
seize power. Few years ago, the Philippine government used a novel theory to
hoist Westinghouse to court in order to recover money from Westingtonhouse,
because it was alleged that Westinghouse interfered with the fiduciary duty
Marcus owed to Philippine by bribing Marcus. This theory and others will be
used to recover our moneys from these criminals. Swiss bankers have been
known to go all the way to Gambia to open bank accounts for Yaya and his
cohorts. These bankers know full well that the deposits they are soliciting
are the proceeds of criminal transactions. How on earth can Yaya legally
make millions of dollars few months after seizing power? If Yaya receives a
bribe from Taiwanese authorities, he is breaking Gambian laws. If Yaya
participates in drug trafficking, he is breaking Gambian laws. If Yaya
steals from government coffers, he is breaking Gambian laws. Had the
Americans or the Swiss suspected Yaya of drug trafficking and he
subsequently makes those deposits in Swiss bank accounts, the authorities
will freeze his accounts. I do not wish to minimize the evil of drug
trafficking, but in my book, the source of Yaya's loot is more reprehensible
than that of drug kingpins. Yaya is fattening Swiss bank accounts at the
expense of poor Gambian farmers toiling under the sun. Before Yaya came to
power, it was unheard of in The Gambia for bilateral or multilateral aid
money to be laundered through personal bank accounts of government
officials. All aid money that used to come to The Gambia would go straight
to foreign bank accounts set up and managed by the Gambian Central Bank.
Central Bank would then give the government the Dalasi equivalent. As soon
as Yaya took over, this procedure was thrown out of the window. Instead,
they will fill suit cases with millions of dollars and shuttle from country
to country to deposit the money in private bank accounts. Well the Swiss can
try and hide behind secrecy laws in Switzerland, but they should realize
that if they want to be players in the international arena with branches in
the United States, we will catch up with them. Every effort should be made
to recover the loot Yaya and his cohorts stole from the Gambian people. On a
general note, Africans should lobby to make it harder for these dictators to
steal money with impunity. That way, a lot of these vermin will not apply
for the job of president.
KB



>From: "Katim S. Touray" <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Swiss banks chastised over Nigeria billions
>Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000 12:09:37 -0700
>
>Hi folks,
>
>I thought you might be interested in the latest developments regarding the
>late Gen. Abacha's stolen millions.  The Swiss Federal Banking Commission
>(SFBC) has released the report of it's 10-month long investigation, and
>concluded that a number of Swiss Banks were guilty of failing to comply
>with due diligence rules.  Furthermore, the SFBC also reported that there
>were significant international dimensions to the problem, and in
>particular, other international financial centers also had dealings with
>Abacha's people.
>
>For those of us interested in ensuring that President Jammeh and his group
>doesn't get away with daylight robbery, the SFBC report is especially
>encouraging.  First, it is yet more evidence that the tide is finally
>turning on the issue of Swiss banking secrecy laws.  Second, that the Swiss
>have advocated promoting international regulatory action to control the
>banking of looted money would help in getting the momentum needed to make
>sure that all loopholes are closed to these thieves.  Finally, this report
>is a good omen given that the Nigerian crude oil deal that President Jammeh
>continues to deny involvement in, and that the Gambian members of
>parliament that shamelessly voted against investigating is related to the
>Abacha's corruption.  The report just might be the thin end of the wedge
>that will open President Jammeh's corrupt dealings to the rest of the
>world.
>
>For your information, you can access the Financial Times article on the
>report via the following link.
>
>     http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?j9673500
>
>Also, the SFBC Press Release is available online at the following address
>as a PDF file (scroll down to the September 4 item).
>
>       http://www.ebk.admin.ch/e/aktuell/index.htm
>
>For benefit of those that can't read PDF files, I have converted the press
>release, and here is:
>   Press Release
>
>   EMBARGO: Monday, 4 September 2000, 10 a.m.
>
>   The Swiss Federal Banking Commission investigates banks in connection
>with Abacha funds
>
>   On Monday, the Swiss Federal Banking Commission (SFBC) released the
>results of its comprehensive investigation into the business relations of
>Swiss banks with the entourage of the former President of Nigeria, Sani
>Abacha. In its final report the SFBC identifies organisational weaknesses
>and shortcomings in several banks. Besides Switzerland, other international
>financial centres also were exposed to money flows from the entourage of
>Sani Abacha.
>
>   The SFBC conducted investigations in nineteen banks, which entered into
>business relations with the entourage of the former President of Nigeria,
>Sani Abacha, in order to establish whether the banks complied with their
>obligations of diligence, including the "know your customer" rules and the
>duty to clarify suspect transactions.
>
>   Only partial compliance with diligence obligations
>
>   The SFBC established that, among the banks subject to its investigation,
>five fully complied with their obligations of diligence. In several banks,
>however, the SFBC found violations and organisational shortcomings. Whereas
>in some they can be considered less serious, in 6 banks, violations and
>organisational shortcomings were serious enough to give rise to counter
>measures both on the personnel and the organisational level.
>
>   Full compliance with reporting requirements
>
>   The SFBC found that all banks complied with the reporting requirement
>provided for under the Anti-Money Laundering Act by reporting their
>suspicions to the Money Laundering Control Office as soon as there were
>sufficient indications regarding possible criminal origins of the funds.
>The funds in question were frozen within the banks, as required by the Act.
>
>   International dimensions
>
>   The investigations of the SFBC show that not only in Switzerland, but
>also in other major international financial centres, banks were involved in
>transactions with funds from the entourage of Sani Abacha.
>
>   Conclusions of the SFBC Chairman
>
>   The Chairman of the SFBC, Dr. Kurt Hauri, said:
>
>     "The fact alone, that significant funds of dubious origin from the
>close entourage of the former Nigerian president Sani Abacha were deposited
>on Swiss bank accounts, is disturbing and damaging to the reputation of the
>Switzerland's financial sector. The financial centre and Switzerland as a
>whole have no interest in attracting assets that stem from corruption and
>other criminal origins. The SFBC's investigations and regulatory counter
>measures, as well as the decisive action and cooperation of the criminal
>prosecuting authorities, show that Switzerland is strongly committed to
>combating the misuse of its financial centre for money laundering purposes.
>Switzerland, as this case illustrates, is by far not the only international
>financial centre faced with the challenge of fighting the laundering of
>corruption proceeds. The SFBC, therefore, is strongly promoting
>international regulatory action with respect to the handling of corruption
>proceeds by financial institutions."
>
>   Notice to the press:
>
>   · Questions may be directed to Mr. Daniel Zuberbühler, Director of the
>Secretariat of the SFBC, as of Monday, 10 a.m. (+41 31 322 69 20).
>
>   · This press release (in German, French and English) along with the
>report "Abacha-Funds at Swiss Banks" (in German and French) can be
>downloaded from the website of the SFBC at http://www.ebk.admin.ch.
>
>By the way, the full 19-page report is available in German and French, and
>it would be great if one of us can volunteer to have it translated.  Please
>let us know if you would like to translate it, so that we don't have more
>than one person working on it.
>
>I guess that's about it for now.  And keep up the great work on getting
>ready for the New York demonstrations.
>
>Have a great week, and best wishes.
>
>Katim
>
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