“Many areas of concern exist with respect to Sri Lanka’s current anti-money laundering efforts. The Central Bank continues to allow the operation of bearer certificates of deposits. In July 2003, in order to limit money laundering through bearer certificates, the Central Bank required banks to maintain a record of purchasers of these certificates. Casinos, jewelry shops and dealers in gems are also areas of concern, there are no laws to regulate their operations. A key vulnerability in the Sri Lankan financial system is the existence of SIERA accounts which allow foreign investors to participate directly in the Sri Lankan Stock Exchange. These accounts have historically allowed for undisclosed principals and beneficial owners. The Central Bank and Securities Commission are currently drafting rules which would require better disclosure and CDD procedures prior to establishment of these accounts.” the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.
Robert O. Blake
The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. The unclassified cable discuses Sri Lanka’s money laundering and financial crimes. The cable was written by the Ambassador Robert O. Blake on November 21, 2007.
The ambassador wrote; “Sri Lanka established a Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in 2006 as a semi-autonomous body connected to the Central Bank. In 2007 the FIU was moved to be a line department under the direct authority of the Central Bank. The FIU is an administrative body that performs intelligence collection and analytical functions. It has the authority to issue regulations and instructions to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, including the ability to freeze transactions and accounts.”
“Financial institutions such as banks, finance companies, leasing companies, money transfer agents, credit card issuers, foreign exchange and money market dealers, and designated non-finance businesses such as portfolio managers, fund managers, insurance companies, casinos, and real estate agents are required to generate suspicious activity reports and other mandatory disclosures such as cash transaction reports and forward to the FIU. These reports are required to be maintained for 6 years. More than 50 Suspicious Transaction Reports were received by the FIU in 2007 leading to 20 referrals to law enforcement for investigation. The CID maintains that it has a special unit of 20+ officers detailed for AML/CFT cases, but it appears that this unit, as a matter of practice, has been detailed to other duties. Furthermore, the CID does not currently have any qualified financial investigators. Representatives from the international community including the US Treasury, the Asia Pacific Group, the World Bank and others are currently pressing the Government to address the deficiencies in the law enforcement sector.” Ambassador Blake further wrote.
Pasel / October 23, 2013
Any one asked questions how thes politicians include
Chandirika and MR regime made their wealth
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Rationalist / October 23, 2013
Chandrika came from a Well Established Well-to-do family, of the Bandaranaike and Ratwatte Back Grounds.
Where did the Rajapakses come from?
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Bedrock Barney / October 23, 2013
The Rajapakse’s are third generation politicians form a rural bourgeois family from the deep south. Google it. Now that you know where they come from, where there are going is the next logical question.
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James Ingham / October 23, 2013
Don’t talk bull. Chandrika didn’t have two cents to rub together before being elected. If you had visited her home in Kirillopone and seen her darning her children’s clothes sitting on a tattered settee you would have realised her circumstances firsthand. This she confirmed when she became President, that her children wore clothes handed down to her by her friends. So, her desire to fiddle the ‘President’s Fund’ and do illegal property transactions, Airlanka deal and so forth when she was President. You talk about her family….. these bastards owe an explanation to all Sri Lankans. Her father soared the first seeds of racialism and her mother crewed all Sinhalese by taking over their estates and transport businesses, and well Chandrika screwed everyone; an injustice carried to this day by the SLFP.
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bo / October 23, 2013
She claims poverty! But it has been reoprted in the media that she had enough of public money in her purse to buy the ambassadors former home in London for a knocked down price!Now roll that up and smoke!
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Ben Hurling / October 23, 2013
Rationalist,
“Chandrika came from a Well Established Well-to-do family, of the Bandaranaike and Ratwatte Back Grounds”
Ha..ha! Aren’t you really busy bootlicking colonial leftovers?
True. Bandaranaike and Ratwatte families inherited a lot of land. By collaborating with Brits. By being traitors. Foundation of their so called “Well-to-do background”.
Mrs. B held on to her office as PM of SL almost until she passed away. Nothing, but greed for power and fame. Sickening.
Her daughter CBK mismanaged and looted Sri Lanka for nearly 11 years. She was labeled as corrupt by court order and punished. She has a criminal record.
So much for their “Well-to-do background”.
Despite all that she is now attempting to make a comeback. Using mismanagement of the opposition by self-serving, greedy UNP monkeys. I will not be surprised, if the dumb & stupid SL electorate forgets all of the above mentioned misdeeds. Come election day.
PS: I am no fan of the corrupt clan from the deep South. Currently looting our nation’s wealth. And violating her soul. They just believe, it is now simply their turn to loot. All others have done the same before.
Sri Lanaka needs a real “Break” from Bandit Queens and Thieves of both these corrupt parties, their cronies and henchmen.
May God bless our country and her people.
Cheers!
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sarojini / October 23, 2013
CBK originally came from a wealthy family but it was bankrupt at the latter stages . She has done very well to educate both her children ,privately in the UK paying foreign student fees . One for medicine for 5 years and the other for 5 years for veterinary studies, (a total of 10 years) . Absolutely an impossibility for anyone living and working in the UK over 40 years , even when both husband and wife are professionals.
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Desperate_SL / October 23, 2013
Sarojini, Sarojin.. where have you been living all the times ?
Are the CBK`s Children only got the Uni Education in the UK ? Dont you know even before late 80ties, several hundreds of our students left the country for UK for Education.
MR has never opened up how he covered anything related to his kids yet. That is the great difference between Bandaranayakes and Rajapskehs. Tsunami funds were embezzeled, telling own people some thing palatable – as always has been.
During her Terms, CBK declared it in a TV interview how she managed to give her kids a better education – it was by selling her properties somewhere near to Ragama or so. Latter is common to many families too, that sent their children to foreign destinations. Some morgage their own properties to allow their children college fees.
No doubt Uni education in the UK, Australia and USA are not cheap.
This is the common view of many in the EU countries too. Germany, Switzerland, France, Austria dont charge that much as it is the case in the UK.
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Amarasiri / October 23, 2013
Pasel,
BBS, Buru Balu Sena of the regime is not taking about ‘Buddhas teachings’. They are timing the anti-Halal Campaign as a distraction of the people, so that the extortion racket of the state and its dogs can maintain the family hegemony and at the same time amass millions at the expenses of the people.
Halal is just an excuse for distraction by the BBS to fool the Sinhala Buddhist fools. Fortunately, even JHU is not fooled. There will be money laundering and no accountability, more politicians and Sinhala Buddhist Monks can keep on raping women and boys with no accountability. What a racket!
Read below.
We don’t want to get into slot machines and hard-core gambling because it is addictive and destructive in people’s lives.”
“Gambling is a scourge on my People…”
Greg Sarris, Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria.
Gambling can be a harmless pastime for most, but just like a drug, for some people, gambling becomes an addiction. Estimates put gambling addiction in the United States at 5% of all gamblers. It doesn’t seem like much, until you realize how many people pass through the doors of a casino each and every day. In California, by 2007, there were an estimated 1.2 million gambling addicts in the state, “300,000, or about 30 percent, more than before voters approved Proposition 1A in 2000 to allow Las Vegas-class gambling on Indian lands in California, according to figures compiled over the past decade by the state attorney general’s office and the California Council on Problem Gambling.” (Source: “Tough Odds for Gamblers”, Kevin Fagan, San Francisco Chronicle, December 24, 2007)
The casino will change our community forever, and not for better. The two quotes above from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria’s Chairman Greg Sarris echo our own fears: that gambling will destroy people’s lives and become a scourge on our community. It’s a very real fear: the only thing that seems to increase in casino towns is crime, suicide, addiction and human misery.
http://www.stopthecasino101.com/id71.html
http://www.communityresearchpartners.org/uploads/publications/Casino%20Social%20Effect%201-21-10.pdf
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Safa / October 23, 2013
Money spent in casinos is generally black money. A good way to launder questionable wealth which cannot be accounted for. The decision to bar locals is just eyewash to quell the opposition. Even a gazzete paper to reward the casino moguls. First it was the stock market with certain questionable investors who had regime backing, now casinos. Regime seems to have black money to launder since they cannot invest in the west.
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bo / October 23, 2013
Are casinos allowed to print fake money as well?
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Safa / October 24, 2013
Perhaps the casinos should be shifted to Kingsbury right next to CBSL where a lot of fake money is printed?
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Native Vedda / October 23, 2013
Safa
How did Premadasa and Rajabaksas finance LTTE?
Money laundering is not just limited to making more money but help to finance organised crime and terrorism.
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Ben Hurling / October 23, 2013
Native,
Why don’t you reccommend an online course on “Slush Funds” to our friend Safa.
Cheers!
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Native Vedda / October 24, 2013
Ben Hurling
“Why don’t you reccommend an online course on “Slush Funds” to our friend Safa.”
What is a “Slush Fund”? I never heard of it.
All I know know about money laundering is that it is not just limited to making more money but help to finance organised crime and terrorism.
Am I right?
To tell you the truth I eaves dropped my elders when they were discussing this topic.
Tell me more about it.
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Safa / October 24, 2013
I think money laundering is a way of disposing of ill gotten wealth obtained through commissions, bribes, kick backs, smuggling, people smuggling, siphoned from budget allocations, misappropriation of public funds etc.
These are held by people in the form of hard cash or in anonymous accounts as they cannot be disposed through the normal channels risking exposure.
These funds are being ‘invested’ using front companies and individuals. Also as you say such illicit money can be used to fund criminal activities to gain political advantage, to bribe politicians to cross over etc. Black money used to earn more wealth and power. No end to the greed of these people.
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Percy Jilmart / October 23, 2013
WELCOME AL CAPONE RAJAPASSAS SRI RAJACHICAGO!
Controlled by the despotic RajaPassa Mafia Family.
A safe heaven for:
Money launderers
Crooks
Confidence tricksters
Murderers
Drug dealers
Rapists
Pedophiles
Racists
Hypocrites
Monks who act like punks
Blind patriots
Thugs
Retired terrorists…and a bunch of brain dead sheeple with the brain cells of jackasses. :-D
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lal / October 23, 2013
A good description (as above) of the racist, genocidal LTTE. They were demolished by a superior force. The SL army is in charge. You can sleep easy now!
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Native Vedda / October 23, 2013
Percy Jilmart
Okay, okay how did they build such a powerful RajaPassa Mafia Family?
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lal / October 23, 2013
Brains, my dear fellow; something you know nothing about! You (the Veddas) are extremely fortunate to have been colonised and ruled by the sinhalese, the most benevolent of all known colonists. You are showered with gifts of free education, free health care, subsidised food, twin cabs and shielded from now universally acclaimed phenomenon of user pay. Yet, you ask silly questions. Shame!
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Native Vedda / October 24, 2013
lal
“Brains, my dear fellow; something you know nothing about!”
Of course I don’t. Unlike you I don’t take my brain out and investigate it. You need a special training for the extraordinary learning process. For you people whether your brain is inside or outside does not make much difference.
“ou (the Veddas) are extremely fortunate to have been colonised and ruled by the sinhalese, the most benevolent of all known colonists.”
If you are so benevolent why don’t you get the next boat back to your homeland in North South India?
“You are showered with gifts of free education, free health care, subsidised food, twin cabs and shielded from now universally acclaimed phenomenon of user pay. Yet, you ask silly questions. Shame!”
Do you think so?
The so called benevolent colonisers have deliberately forgotten to pay rent for the use of my ancestral land well over 2000 years.
Could we have the rent arrears please.
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lal / October 23, 2013
Casinos are seen as bad. They entertain and serve the bad guys with pretty, scantily dressed, naughty girls at their side. But for Sri Lanka, casinos and other gliterry things will bring home the bacon. That is the start, many other investments and Packerts will follow. Sri Lanka will manage to keep the good, the bad and the ugly under wraps – like they did with the most racist thugs, that is history now. Roll on the dice. Colombo is buzzing as never before. Time to get rid of DS statue as Nazi Pullai wanted, and replace with GR statue – the architect of making the impossible, possible.
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mayhem / October 24, 2013
lal
so you are taking a breather , for many days your head was half way in GR’s arse. How many days you re allowed this freedom? make the best use of it instead of spouting GR’s feaces which you consumed while your head [Edited out].
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carlos / November 3, 2013
Casinos in Colombo has been around since I was a kid in the late 50s into the 60s. At bambalapitiya by Donovan Andree then 8th lane and Horton place by Mubarak Thaha, Idroos Noordeen, Collin Abeywardene.
In Kandy by E W Balasuriya around the lake a stones throw from the Temple of the Tooth, and all the booruwa joints almost at every junction of any small town.
SO WHATS THE BIG DEAL, If the clergy thinks its against their religion then they should ask their flock not to patronise the casinos.
ANYWAY;NO LOCALS will be allowed, so wheres the problem?
Its typical Sri Lankan, sit in the well and pull anyone whose trying to get out of it
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