Money laundering mastermind jailed
Tuesday 5th March 2013, 12:00PM GMT.
Financial Investigation Unit senior intelligence officer Adrian Hale led the team which brought Martins Apskalns to justice. (Main picture by Steve Sarre, 1307832)
GUEST workers from Eastern Europe laundered more than £200,000-worth of ‘dirty money’ through Guernsey, the Royal Court was told yesterday.
The man who controlled the operation, Martins Apskalns, 27, was jailed for four years, but three syndicate members who were also charged with money laundering frustrated investigators by jumping bail and leaving the island.
Crown Advocate Fiona Russell said it had been a case of cyber crime, which had become something of a growth industry in recent years.
‘It is an international criminal activity with no national boundaries,’ she said.
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I thought this kind of criome didnt happen anymore in guernsey
Tut Tut
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Why was nt there passports confiscated?
and why am i footing the bill, so they are in comfort in our jail, send them back, and save a few quid..
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Yes who didn’t order the surrendering of their passports? Pretty obvious they are a flight risk as they ain’t local….
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More checks on Guest Workers entering this Island.
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It beggars belief that it got as far as it did before the Bank realised that something was not right.
Have you ever tried to open a Bank account lately?
They want to know where and why you were born, and a thousand other pieces of useless information before you finally succeed.
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What astounds me about this story (by the way I’m really glad that this guy got caught and is going to be banged up) is the ease with which it seems that the other suspects were able to skop bail and disappear off island.
Surely with a crime of this potential scale, the magistrate would have been inclined to remove their passports and ask for an ‘all ports’ watch to be kept to make sure these guys didn’t just step on the first ferry off to La Belle France!
Incredible!
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CSR
Very good point, one which needs an answer.
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I think you mean “Incroyable!”
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Another example of why Guernsey isn’t the “low tax well-regulated jurisdiction” that most States Deputies and the majority of bankers would have us believe.
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Actually it is quite the opposite Michael. It is FOR that reason (high levels of regulation) that criminal enterprises want to get into the Channel Islands. As soon as they can get a foothold in either banking, fiduciary or insurance then it almost instantly legitimises their business or financial activities.
One area of weakness in my mind is where some fiduciaries act only as a registered office and registered agent – this simply is open to abuse (not as bad as but rings similarly to the ‘Sark Lark’) and I personally think fiduciaries should insist on having at least one director on the board, if for nothing else then to allow them to know more of what is going on.
With all due respect you do not appear to work in the finance industry – if you realised the sheer volume of regulation involved in just opening a bank account you would likely change your mind. Suggest you go to the GFSC website and pick a financial area and read up on the latest regulations……. enough to put anyone to sleep!
‘But how could this happen in such a well regulated jurisdiction’ I hear people say – where there’s a will there’s a way! If money is the motivator then for the thousands of attempts to bring criminal activities to the island, some will inevitably slip through the net. Criminals do use legitimate businesses to route illegal monies through – this latest example is by no means complex compared to some setups that have come to light over the years.
Look at drug importation – we have so few points of access into the island but yet you can buy drugs (I’m lead to believe) very easily.
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Not surprised by this ! the majority of the eastern bloc is crime riddled , soon as you open the gates to these people you will get this sort of thing ! didn’t the government suspect this ? Blame them entirely…
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Yes, and let’s hope that he is not allowed access to a Computer/Smart phone, whilst he is inside. (remember the recent scandel regarding a certain Mr Webber?)
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AJ
I’d imagine it’s quite difficult to keep a smart phone plugged whilst in prison, it was a lot easier with the little Nokias
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If Guest Workers can come here and set this sort of thing up under the the noses of States departments including housing, Social security etc…..imagine what well organised UK/Local companies could do.
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MarkB
We do carry out criminal record checks on those applying for licences and often they come to Guernsey having committed no offences elsewhere, you also have to take on board that some offences are considered spent on certain crimes under several statutes depending on the country.
So any offences outside the statute of limitations do not have to be declared.
Finally these people may have lived in Open Market where they don’t need licences and therefore no criminal record check would be required, although that will change under the new permit law when and if it comes in.
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so it could be just the tip of the ice burg then!!
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Watch out for those ice burgs
Apparently 66% of each one is hidden from view and 33% of the hidden part is made up of horse and mechanically recovered meat which goes a long way to explaining why Capt Scott of the Antarctic perished in 1912
It was all in the Daily Mail
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sorry IWV…. another spelling mistake… i’ll go to the back of the class.
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in this case he wasn’t living open market, he was living with other “Guest Workers” in a local market house belonging to a local landlord who openly houses “guest workers” in local houses, as long as a “local” lives there as well they all live on his locals license, thats what the states should be looking at and cracking down on.
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Thanks for the ‘info’ SB. Im sure that a certain Mr Jones and his team would be very interested to know more.
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“on the same local licence?….That can’t be right ….is it Deputy jones?
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Mark this might help you. This is the law as it stands now.
Licences issued under section 4 of the Housing Control Law
These licences as referred to as short-term licences and do not normally permit the licence holder to live in a self-contained Local Market dwelling.
Most commonly, the holders of short-term licences will live in ‘shared’ accommodation in a ‘lodging house’.
If the lodging house is Open Market, it will be inscribed in Part D of the Open Market Housing Register and a group of short-term housing licence holders will be able to live in a Part D lodging house on their own.
Conversely, if the lodging house is a Local Market dwelling, a short-term licence holder will only be able to live in the dwelling if there is a lawful householder (i.e. a Qualified Resident or a section 3 licence holder) in residence (unless the Department has in place a specific agreement in respect of the dwelling concerned).
In addition to a lodging house, a short-term licence holder will be able to lodge in a ‘spare room’ in a family home*, and this will be permitted so long as there is a lawful householder in residence.
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What very slack regulation, no checks to enter Guernsey at all and a very easy way to get housed, no wonder these people were able to go about a criminal business for as long as they did, this type of licensing harbours and encourages dubiuous types to try their luck
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Of course its right thats within the current laws
A outside person can live En Familee eg with another local as part of their family
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Does he get send home when his licence expires or does he do the full chokey ?
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What about the ones shacking up with local persons in States Houses? living there as a visitor and trading as self employed driving a white van. Sort that one out.
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