Page 33 - AWEMAINTA

AWEMainta Diaranson, 22 Maart 2017 33

< Continua di pagina 32
Teleco investigation launched after former Haitian President Jean-Ber- around the world led by the International Consortium of Investigative
trand Aristide was forced to leave office in 2004. Eight years later, a former Journalists. They analyzed 11.5 million leaked documents from the law
top official of Haiti’s state-owned telecommunications was convicted at firm Mossack Fonseca.
trial of accepting bribes from Miami vendors that sold phone minutes for
mobile phone customers in Haiti. Other defendants were also convicted In 2008, 3DK was able to open a savings account with Credicorp that
in related cases. required a minimum $10,000 deposit. Later that year, the company re-
One of the Miami-based defendants in the Aruba case, Chung-Wen ceived a corporate credit card from Credicorp. Koolman also sought to
“Benny” Wu, denied any connection to illegal activity after being reached open a third account with the bank but it’s not clear if that happened.
on his cellphone. The documents do not show whether Koolman moved money into those
“We were just doing business,” said Wu, who runs Doral-based Bengo accounts.
Mobile and is a principal of Fellow Trading. “I don’t know why they sue Koolman also traveled the world during this time, according to a copy
me. We were just a vendor for Setar. None of this is true. It is ridiculous.” of his passport requested by MF in 2012 as part of a background check.
None of this is true. It is ridiculous. Entry stamps and visas show frequent trips to Hong Kong and the Dutch
Caribbean island of Curaçao, with other stops in Miami, Panama City,
Chung-Wen ‘Benny’ Wu he said he mainly spoke to Koolman on the Singapore and China.
phone, had only met him a few times at trade shows in Las Vegas and
was never offered any under-the-table deals. Wu’s company imports In 2015, after receiving an invoice, Koolman’s ex-wife emailed an MF
cell phones from Europe, China and Hong Kong and then sells them to employee saying 3DK Consultant had not been used in several years.
providers in the Caribbean. She requested to meet with MF in Panama City to discuss shutting the
Another defendant in the lawsuit, Max Rivadeneira, did not return mes- company down. While in Panama, she made time to take in a Marc
sages sent via social media. Rivadeneira is an officer and principal of Antony concert, emails show.
two of Setar’s former suppliers, ITech and TTX. He also had affiliations However, the company remained active, according to MF internal records.
with three other Miami-based vendors that collectively sold more than (The Herald could not locate Evarina Koolman for comment.)
$23 million in mobile phone equipment to Setar, according to the suit.
Rivadeneira now operates a South Florida company called Soul Obses- The Panama Papers leak has been crucial to the public’s understanding
sion that produces custom-made, eco-friendly yoga mats, according to of the murky offshore world, said Shruti Shah, a forensic accountant and
its website. (Prices start at $69.) vice president of Transparency International USA, an anti-corruption
A third defendant, Larry Parker, could not be reached. Parker is the nonprofit group.
registered agent and officer of ISky, Quantum and I-GSM and was af- Law enforcement officials and creditors can rarely peer behind the veil
filiated through his mother with ITech, the suit said. They are all former to see who really controls offshore companies, making them ripe for use
vendors for Setar. in political corruption, embezzlement and corporate bribery schemes.
“The Panama Papers highlight how easy it is for criminals and fraudsters
Mossack Fonseca documents included in the Panama Papers’ leak confirm to manipulate the global financial system and use the secrecy afforded by
Koolman was a player in the offshore world. these anonymous companies to benefit from their ill-gotten gains,” Shah
In 2006, Koolman hired MF to set up an offshore company called 3DK said. “The whole concept behind a shell company is you cannot figure
Consultant Corp. in the British Virgin Islands. The idyllic island chain out who ultimately controls the company or who is deriving economic
is known as one of the world’s least transparent offshore havens. It is benefits from it.”
impossible to tell who owns a BVI company without access to confiden-
tial, internal documents. The Panama Papers highlight how easy it is for criminals and fraudsters
The other shareholders of the company were Koolman’s ex-wife, Evarina to manipulate the global financial system. Shruti Shah, Transparency
Xiomara Deborah Koolman, and their two children. Koolman and his International USA
wife, who was formerly employed by the Central Bank of Aruba, divorced She pointed to the discoveries made by journalists investigating the
last summer. papers, which led to the resignation of the Prime Minister of Iceland, as
Koolman, as is common in the offshore world, was extremely vague well as government inquiries around the world, as evidence of the need
about the purpose of the company. In an application form to MF, he for offshore havens to adopt more transparent corporate laws.
wrote simply: “The corporation’s object shall be to perform any and all Another result of the leak: Mossack Fonseca founders Ramon Fonseca
activities in the broadest sense of a professional consultant services, such and Jurgen Mossack were arrested and refused bail in Panama City in
as technical support, product sales and marketing consultant, trading February. Their firm, one of the world’s largest providers of offshore
consultant, business coaching consultant etc.” MF employees did not corporate services, has consistently denied wrongdoing.
ask him to elaborate, according to the leaked documents. Panamanian prosecutors charged the pair with money laundering in rela-
tion to the international corruption scandal known as Lava Jato that is
The firm generally did not appear to ask many questions about clients, sweeping Brazil and other Latin American countries, according to Panama-
despite know-your-customer, anti-money laundering rules, according to nian newspaper La Prensa. The allegations concern bribes allegedly paid
a review of its massive internal documentation conducted by nearly 400 by multinational engineering firm Odebrecht to politicians in the region.
journalists worldwide and led by ICIJ. Mossack has defended its due “The money originating from [the corruption] circulated among different
diligence practices since the Panama Papers stories broke in April 2016, companies to then return laundered to Panama,” the nation’s attorney
saying the firm follows all laws and regulations required of offshore ser- general Kenia Porcell said in a statement about the arrests posted online.
vice providers. Last week, MF’s attorneys submitted a habeas corpus motion to a Pana-
Eventually, Koolman’s company used 3DK Consultant to open a corpo- manian judge asking for the release of Mossack, Fonseca and a third
rate checking account at the Panama branch of Lima-based Credicorp jailed employee of the firm.
Bank, emails show. Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/
The Panama Papers were a global collaboration of nearly 400 journalists miami-dade/article139720003.html#storylink=cpy