Unregistered cash to Turkey up 52 pct in 9 months, after cash no longer subject to laundering checks.

Unregistered cash to Turkey up 52 pct in 9 months, after cash no longer subject to laundering checks. (TZ).

The amount of unregistered money, the origin of which is unknown, that entered Turkish markets in the first nine months of 2015 skyrocketed by 52 percent compared to a year ago, central bank data revealed on Wednesday.

Turkey saw unregistered cash entering its markets reach $13.44 billion between January and September of 2015. This figure was $8.87 billion in the same period of 2014. Hmmmm......Erdogan Obama's BFF. Read the full story here.

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'What's your Jihad?' - Cash entering 'Islamist' Turkey no longer subject to laundering checks

Cooperation With 'Islamist' Turkey Hinders German Fight Against ISIL - Lawmaker.

Cooperation With 'Islamist' Turkey Hinders German Fight Against ISIL - Lawmaker. (SP).

Germany will not be able to counter the Islamist threat unless its police and secret services stop cooperating with their Turkish counterparts, a German lawmaker told Sputnik, as he asserted that Ankara supports the Islamic State.

Earlier this week, German media quoted Holger Munch, the chief of Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), as saying that German police are experiencing difficulties in combating Islamic radicals in Germany. Hunko though disagrees that structural issues in the police force are the primary source of German law enforcement weakness.

“I would say we have a political problem, because there is close cooperation between German and Turkish police, secret services,” Andrej Hunko told Sputnik.

He explained that the Turkish police and secret service are supporting Islamic terrorism in Syria, and Islamic State as it seeks to create a Sunni buffer between Syria, ruled by President Bashar Assad, and Iran.

According to the latest estimates, some 600 German Islamists have gone to fight in Iraq and Syria alongside Islamic State. Police note that 180 of those who have returned to Germany could radicalize local Muslims or even prepare terrorist attacks. Hmmm......NATO ally my ....Read the full story here.

'From ISIS With Love' - IS Jihadis get paid honeymoon in Islamic State's 'New York'

'From ISIS With Love' - Islamic State Jihadis get paid honeymoon in Islamic State's 'New York'. (JT).

BEIRUT – The honeymoon was a brief moment for love, away from the front lines of Syria’s war. In the capital of the Islamic State group’s self-proclaimed caliphate, Syrian fighter Abu Bilal al-Homsi was united with his Tunisian bride for the first time after months chatting online. They married, then passed the days dining on grilled meats in Raqqa’s restaurants, strolling along the Euphrates River and eating ice cream.

It was all made possible by the marriage bonus he received from the Islamic State group: $1,500 for him and his wife to get started on a new home, a family — and a honeymoon.

“It has everything one would want for a wedding,” al-Homsi said of Raqqa — a riverside provincial capital that in the 18 months since the extremists took control has seen the beheading of opponents and stoning of accused adulteresses in its main square. Gunmen at checkpoints in the city scrutinize passers-by for signs of anything they see as a violation of Shariah law, as slight as a hint of hair gel or an improperly kept beard. In the homes of some of the group’s commanders in the city are women and girls from the Yazidi religious sect, abducted in Iraq and now kept as sex slaves.

The Islamic State group is notorious for the atrocities it committed as it overran much of Syria and neighboring Iraq. But to its supporters, it is engaged in an ambitious project: building a new nation ruled by what radicals see as “God’s law,” made up of Muslims from around the world whose old nationalities have been erased and who have been united in the caliphate.

To do that, the group has set up a generous welfare system to help settle and create lives for the thousands of jihadis — men and women — who have flocked to Islamic State territory from the Arab world, Europe, Central Asia and the United States. From the day he declared the caliphate last summer, leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi urged not just fighters to come, but also doctors, engineers, administrators and other experts.

“It is not just fighting,” said al-Homsi, who uses a nom de guerre. “There are institutions. There are civilians (that the group) is in charge of, and wide territories . It must help the immigrants marry. These are the components of a state and it must look after its subjects.” Al-Homsi spoke in a series of interviews via Skype, giving a rare look into the personal life of an Islamic State jihadi.

Aymenn al-Tamimi, an expert on insurgent groups, said that when the Islamic State group took Iraq’s second-largest city Mosul last summer, one of the first things militants did was set up an Islamic court — not just to pass sentences under their strict version of Shariah but also “to give official Islamic State approval of marriages.”

The 28-year-old al-Homsi got a particularly large bonus because his marriage, which took place in April, brought in a useful new recruit: His wife, who goes by the nom de guerre of Umm Bilal, is a doctor and speaks four languages. He said she will be of service to the caliphate.

The 24-year-old bride-to-be traveled through Algeria to Turkey, and from there to Raqqa with a group of other women joining the Islamic State. There, they were housed in a guesthouse for women that is also used as the headquarters for the Islamic State’s female police corps known as the Khansa Squad.

“It is a luxury place, with a garden, A/C, nice furniture, like any apartment in Europe” so that immigrants don’t feel estranged, said al-Raqqawi, the anti-Islamic State media activist. Hmmmm......Pitty they blow up so fast. Read the full story here.

Firm linked to Australian IS fighter transferred up to A$20 million to finance IS via Qatar and Turkey: UN

Firm linked to Australian IS fighter transferred up to A$20 million to finance IS via Qatar and Turkey: UN. (Reuters).

A money transfer firm linked to an Australian national believed to have been photographed while holding severed heads of Syrian soldiers is suspected of transferring up to A$20 million ($15.47 million) to finance Islamist militants, a U.N. report said.

The figure was included in a report on foreign fighters prepared by a team of experts that monitors compliance with the United Nations Security Council's al Qaeda sanctions regime. The report, dated May 19, was distributed on Tuesday.

"A money transfer business owned by the sister and brother-in-law of an Australian foreign terrorist fighter, Khaled Sharrouf, was shut down," the group said in its report

"It is suspected that the business was sending up to A$20 million to countries neighboring the conflict zone to finance terrorism," it added, without providing details on the neighboring countries.

Australia last year issued arrest warrants for Sharrouf and another Australian citizen believed to be fighting with Islamic State in Syria after images emerged of the two holding the severed heads of Syrian soldiers.

The Sydney-based Bisotel Rieh money transfer company, which is a major hub for Australian Muslims sending money overseas, is being shut down after money laundering watchdog AUSTRAC found it involved a significant terrorism financing risk.

In a notice of suspension to the company last month, AUSTRAC said the company sent $21.3 million offshore this year but kept $9 million off the books and routinely failed to report the names of the people sending and receiving the cash.

Police told 7.30 they were investigating intelligence suggesting more than $200,000 was sent via Dubai to Sharrouf's long-time friend and brother in arms Mohamed Elomar in Syria.

Australian authorities suspect the pair are brigade commanders for Islamic State in Syria.

In 2014, NSW Police and the AFP raided Bisotel Rieh with AUSTRAC, finding evidence of several recent transfers of at least $200,000 to Dubai.

There were no records showing who had sent or received the money.

In its notice of suspension to Bisotel Rieh last month, AUSTRAC said the company had sent about $18.8 million to Turkey and Lebanon between January and August this year and "routinely" failed to provide "the ultimate beneficiary details as to these transactions".

Bisotel Rieh had previously admitted to smuggling cash over the Turkish border into Lebanon, where it has been unable to secure a bank account despite having an office in Tripoli, a known gateway for funds destined for militants in Syria.

Singled out for investigation by AUSTRAC is a $226,123 transfer to Istanbul last month and $38,000 sent in July and August to Malaysia.

Malaysia has been a staging point for Australian militants heading to Iraq and Syria, including Sharrouf and Elomar. Hmmmm......All Islamist roads lead to Qatar and 'Sometimes NATO ally' Islamist Turkey......Obama's BFF.

'Islamist' Sometimes NATO Ally Turkey guts cash screening at customs.

'Islamist' Sometimes NATO Ally Turkey guts cash screening at customs. HT: MoneyJihad.

Turkey has revised its customs regulations to the point where one Turkish headline described it as “Unlimited cash entry into Turkey now legalized.”

Turkey said the regulations are an improvement compared to the old policy, but experts contacted by Al-Monitor said there was nothing wrong with the previous regulations.

What’s so problematic about this development is that Turkey has been used as a key transit point for money and fighters for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. And that was when there were at least some nominal controls at customs points. Now it appears to be open season.

The other rotten element of this story is that Turkey appears to have waited to change these regulations until just after they came off of the international financial watchdog FATF’s grey list.

It’s as though they knew they couldn’t get de-listed with regulations like these, so the bided their time. Hmmm......Turkey has been all along the 'lifeline' of Iran with 'approval' of the Obama 'admin'.Read the full story here.

 Related: Turkey overflowing with $36 billion in mystery funds

'What's your Jihad?' - Cash entering 'Islamist' Turkey no longer subject to laundering checks.

'What's your Jihad?' - Cash entering 'Islamist' Turkey no longer subject to laundering checks. (TZ).

A recent circular issued by the Ministry of Customs and Trade has relaxed customs checks on those entering Turkey so that passengers will no longer be subject to prosecution over suspected money laundering and terrorism financing, a daily claimed on Friday.

According to a report published in the Hürriyet daily, if passengers are found to have made false declarations regarding the amount of cash they have with them when entering the country, they will no longer be referred to public prosecutors on suspicion of money laundering, terrorism financing and violation of the law protecting the value of the Turkish lira.

“Revenues from the export of goods and services, revenues with regard to transit trade, cash from foreign capital and other resources are free to enter the country through custom gates. [The value of] the items is not required to be declared and passengers cannot be forced to make declarations,” the circular said, while adding that people are free to declare the amount of money to customs officials.


In addition to the circular contradicting another issued in 2008 by the same ministry, which obliged travelers entering Turkey to declare the sum of money he or she is carrying if it is more than 10,000 euros, it also fuels worries that it is creating a loophole in the law that may pave the way for money laundering and the financing of terrorist activities. 2008's circular had also said that the arrangement was in line with the EU's efforts to fight against money laundering and terrorism.

Hürriyet also quoted a customs examiner in its report, saying: “It was a must to declare [the amount of] all kinds of money entering the country before 2004. In the ensuing years, this rule has been eased via circulars. It seems that scrutiny over the amount and source of cash has been abolished with the recent note. This circular may also lead to the repayment of money that was seized in [smuggling or laundering] prosecutions in past years. Legislation preventing money laundering would also be broken with this circular. The same circular may even apply to gold inflow as well as cash." Hmmmm.....'Islamist' Turkey Iran's 'officially' Obama 'admin' approved 'lifeline' of terrorists.

Turkish state-run bank Ziraat to close its New York branch after Fed probe

Turkish state-run bank Ziraat to close its New York branch after Fed probe. (HD).

The Turkish state-run bank Ziraat has notified its custormers that its New York branch, which recently came under an “enforcement action” from the U.S. Federal Reserve, will close all retail accounts by December 31.

Although the bank's letter, dated Nov. 6, says the "temporary" action is being taken to "update the IT infrastructure," Hürriyet has learned that the branch will no longer serve to retail customers, while continuing its corporate banking activities.

The Fed had announced on July 4 that the U.S. Central Bank, Ziraat Bank and the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) inked a 20-article deal on June 25 obliging the Turkish lender to submit an “acceptable written plan” against money laundering within two months.

According to information received from the authorities, the lender fulfilled all of the requested tasks before the Aug. 25 deadline and submitted the plan it had prepared along with the name of the auditor it hired.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said on Nov. 7 that the Fed had sent an inspection team to Ziraat New York's branch on Sept. 8 and the inspection was completed on Sept. 26. Babacan stressed that none of the banking activities of the branch was restricted as a result of inspections.

Exactly what triggered the enforcement action is still unknown, with the lender denying that any extraordinary or suspicious acts were discovered. A source, however, told Hürriyet that the bank "struggled to give an explanation to the Fed regarding certain accounts linked to Turkey."Read the full story here.

Related:  Turkish bank money laundering suspicions pose risks to Turkish gov.

For background on the closure of Turkey's Ziraat Bank branch in NYC, see this from @FollowFDD's @MerveTahiroglu http://t.co/EM5c74vbvi

— Jonathan Schanzer (@JSchanzer) November 8, 2014

Foreign Branches & Offices of Ziraat Bank here. You can bet London will have its own probe now. Note Iran branch. http://t.co/o34aSXnQi9

— Jonathan Schanzer (@JSchanzer) November 8, 2014

Did the Fed Reserve Launder $141 Billion Dollars Through Belgium to Hide Massive Increase In Quantitative Easing?

Did the Fed Reserve Launder $141 Billion Dollars Through Belgium to Hide Massive Increase In Quantitative Easing? HT: WashingtonsBlog.

That’s what former Assistant Treasury Secretary and Wall Street Journal editor Paul Craig Roberts alleges:

Is the Fed “tapering”? Did the Fed really cut its bond purchases during the three month period November 2013 through January 2014?
***
From November 2013 through January 2014 Belgium with a GDP of $480 billion purchased $141.2 billion of US Treasury bonds. Somehow Belgium came up with enough money to allocate during a 3-month period 29 percent of its annual GDP to the purchase of US Treasury bonds. 

Certainly Belgium did not have a budget surplus of $141.2 billion. Was Belgium running a trade surplus during a 3-month period equal to 29 percent of Belgium GDP? 

No, Belgium’s trade and current accounts are in deficit. 

Did Belgium’s central bank print $141.2 billion worth of euros in order to make the purchase?
No, Belgium is a member of the euro system, and its central bank cannot increase the money supply. 

So where did the $141.2 billion come from?
There is only one source. The money came from the US Federal Reserve, and the purchase was laundered through Belgium in order to hide the fact that actual Federal Reserve bond purchases during November 2013 through January 2014 were $112 billion per month. 

In other words, during those 3 months there was a sharp rise in bond purchases by the Fed. The Fed’s actual bond purchases for those three months are $27 billion per month above the original $85 billion monthly purchase and $47 billion above the official $65 billion monthly purchase at that time.
***
Why did the Federal Reserve have to purchase so many bonds above the announced amounts and why did the Fed have to launder and hide the purchase?
Some country or countries, unknown at this time, for reasons we do not know dumped $104 billion in Treasuries in one week.

And see this:

Source: Three European Banks Assigned to Transfer $ 14 Billion Unfrozen Assets to Iran.

Source: Three European Banks Assigned to Transfer $ 14 Billion Unfrozen Assets to Iran.(Fars).

Three European banks have been commissioned to remit Iran’s unfrozen assets, informed sources said after Tehran and the six world powers started enforcing the first step of the interim nuclear deal they had struck in Geneva in November.

An informed source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, pointed to the January 20 as the day for the implementation of the Geneva deal and remittance of $4.2 billion of Iran’s frozen assets, and said, “The Societe Generale, Standard Chartered and one other bank are in charge of transferring these amounts.”

Last month, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Seyed Abbas Araqchi said after the implementation of the recently inked nuclear deal between Tehran and the six major world powers, the country will access approximately $15bln in oil revenues.

He added that of the $15bln nearly $10bln, which was previously used to purchase foodstuff and medication, will be accessible with the implementation of the agreement.

According to Araqchi, another $4.2bln, which will be deposited into the Central Bank of Iran, will be accessible too.

Last week, a source from the EU said that the Union would begin lifting sanctions against Iran on Monday, January 20, the minute it receives the word that Tehran has begun implementing the nuclear deal.
The EU foreign ministers would announce the move in Brussels as soon as inspectors from the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, confirm that the agreement started to be carried out.

Earlier today Tehran started implementing the first step of its interim nuclear agreement with the six major world powers, and halted its 20-percent uranium enrichment. Later in the day, a confidential report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) endorsed Tehran’s voluntary suspension of higher grade enrichment, paving the way for the easing of some western sanctions against Tehran.

The report by the IAEA also said Iran had begun diluting its stockpile of uranium enriched to concentration of 20 percent.

The IAEA added that Iran was also continuing to convert some of this reserve into oxide for producing reactor fuel.

The IAEA will play a pivotal role in checking Iran lives up to its part of the interim agreement by curbing uranium enrichment in exchange for some relaxation of sanctions against Tehran.

The IAEA report to member states said, “The Agency confirms that, as of 20 January 2014, Iran … has ceased enriching uranium above 5 percent U-235 at the two cascades at the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP) and four cascades at the Frodo Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP) previously used for this purpose.”

It was referring to Iran’s two enrichment plants, at Natanz and Frodo.


Cascades are interlinked networks of centrifuge machines that refine uranium. The IAEA report also said Iran was, as of January 20, not “conducting any further advances” to its activities at the Arak heavy water research reactor.

Video - Understanding Halal Certification Schemes (Part 1 - 12 complete)

Understanding Halal Certification Schemes (Part 1 - 12 complete).HT: Q Society's of Australia.

Please note this is not about halal food. Q Society's spokesman Andrew Horwood points out: "Halal food itself is not of concern. Nearly all our food is naturally permissible to Muslims and observant Muslims can make food of unknown origin halal by proclaiming 'bismillah' over the food before eating.* 

What is of concern are the recently invented certification schemes, designed to permeate the supply chain from feeding trough to super market shelves and restaurant kitchens; including many non-food goods and services.

According to meat industry groups and research, two thirds of chicken and lamb meat and over half the beef sold in Australia now comes from Halal-certified suppliers. Most dairy products as well as other food and many non-food items are certified to sharia standards, but not always labelled.

Islamic organizations have estimated the value of the global halal certification market at USD 2.3 trillion in 2013, growing by 20% per year. No other religious group has imposed a similar tax-like scheme on the general public.

Investigative researchers in France, Canada and the USA have found links between halal certifying organisations and shop fronts for terrorist groups like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. Similar research in Australia is yet to be undertaken.

Grand Mufti Dr Mustafa Ceric has suggested at an international conference in 2010, that Islam can conquer the world through the Halal (certification) movement.

We politely but firmly object. Q Society has three simple and fair policy proposals:

1. Apply the 'User Pays' principle 
If observant Muslims insist on special rituals and halal certification for their food, then Islamic community organisations should provide these services and cover the fees and extra expenses for the suppliers. Religion is always a contentious issue and should never be imposed onto others.

2. Insist on clear labelling 
All products and services from halal-certified suppliers should be clearly labelled by one standard symbol. This way the consumer can recognise when meat, meat-based products or other products and services come from halal-certified sources. Then consumers can make an informed decision 

3. No more discrimination 
In most Australian abattoirs Muslim males only are employed as slaughterers. Non-Muslims and women are not halal. This is discrimination on religious and gender grounds. We understand that halal-slaughtered meat is important to observant Muslims. We propose if abattoirs require exemption from our non-discrimination laws, that they be owned and operated by a religious organisation. This is similar to religious schools, for which Australia allows certain exemptions from non-discrimination laws.


* Nowhere in Islamic scripture does it say Muslims should eat only halal-certified food. Most observant Muslims know perfectly well that nearly all our food is by default halal:

Koran Sura 2:173 (Al-Baqarah) reads: "He hath forbidden you only carrion, and blood, and swine flesh, and that which hath been immolated to any other than God. But he who is driven by necessity, neither craving nor transgressing, it is no sin for him. Lo! God is Forgiving, Merciful."

Koran Sura 5.5 (Al Ma'idah) prescribes: "The food of the People of the Book (that is Jewish and Christian people) is lawful unto you and yours is lawful unto them."

And from the hadith narrated by Aisha (Bukhari Volume 3, Book 34, Number 273) Muslims know: "Some people said, "O Allah's Apostle! Meat is brought to us by some people and we are not sure whether the name of Allah has been mentioned on it or not." Allah's Apostle said, "Mention the name of Allah and eat it." 


Action Points:

Watch our halal certification information video. Share it with your family and connections.

Read, download and distribute our Q on: Halal Food and Halal Certification paper and our petition form from our website qsociety dot org dot au

Pick up a stack of our "Why Swallow This?" fliers at the next Q meeting and do an hour of letter boxing each week in your neighbourhood.

Talk and write to your local state and federal MP and Senators. Ask them to consider our three policy proposals

When shopping ask for non-halal certified options. You are not a bad person if you do not want to support Islamic organisations with your shopping dollar.

Please note this video is also available on our YouTube channel as individual chapters 1 to 12.

Department Of Homeland Security To Scan Payment Cards At Borders And Airports.

Department Of Homeland Security To Scan Payment Cards At Borders And Airports.(Forbes).Travelers leaving or entering the United States have long had to declare aggregated cash and other monetary instruments exceeding $10,000. Now, under a proposed amendment to the Bank Secrecy Act, FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) will also require travelers to declare the value of prepaid cards that they are carrying, known now as “tangible prepaid access devices.”
Expected to be finalized by the end of this year, the cross-border reporting modifications stem from a broader October 2011 definition of payment methods and form factors that replaced the term “stored value” with the term “prepaid access” in an effort to more accurately describe the process of accessing funds held by a payment provider.
Enforceability falls to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection both within the Department of Homeland Security, which is already developing advanced handheld card readers that can ascertain whether a traveler is carrying a credit card, debit card, or prepaid card. This differentiation is important because only prepaid card balances will need to be added to declaration report forms.Read the full story here.