Some $235 billion of illegal money from the Middle East and Africa stashed in offshore accounts

According to a recent report by the Swiss research company MyPrivateBanking wealthy individuals from the Middle East and Africa hold about $1.5 trillion in foreign bank accounts (offshore). The research firm estimates that at least 15 per cent of these assets have been obtained through illegal means or through taking advantage of government positions and transferred out of the home countries. The major part of this wealth is in accounts with European banks, which as a consequence of the ongoing pressure for corrupt regimes to be overthrown, face serious financial, legal and reputational challenges. CPI Financial, Friday, February 25, 2011

• Victims in Venezuela of the Antigua-based Stanford International Bank (SIB) sent letters this week to U.S. congressmen because “many have no knowledge of the catastrophe” that the fraud caused among some 24,000 non-Americans, Coalition of Stanford Victims in Latin America, or Covisal, spokesman Jaime Escalona told Efe. Latin American Herald Tribune, Wednesday, February 23, 2011

• There was a full roster of Bernard L. Madoff investors at Mets camp Saturday, with Sandy Koufax, Fred Wilpon and Tim Teufel all on hand. On Thursday, Wilpon addressed the situation surrounding his investments in Madoff’s multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme^*, and on Saturday, Teufel and Koufax took their turns. New York Times, Monday, February 21, 2011

• A list of 25 officials and public figures whose assets the authorities plan to freeze does not exist, according to an official source at the attorney^* general's office. Earlier today, several websites -- including that of the Wafd party -- confirmed that Attorney^* General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud had asked the head of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to freeze the accounts of 25 people being investigated for corruption. Al Masyr Al Youm English, Sunday, February 20, 2011

• The Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) recovered £1.25m over the past 12 months. The figure is more than six times the amount recovered in the previous year. The agency said the amount of money recovered could potentially have been used to buy about 56kg of heroin or 27kg of cocaine. BBC, Sunday, February 20, 2011

• The Director of Civil Forfeiture has won the latest round in its long-running court battle with the Nanaimo Hells Angels. The B.C. Supreme Court has ruled that the government agency can have access to evidence police uncovered -- including wiretaps -- during a twoyear investigation of the Nanaimo chapter dubbed Project Halo. Canada.com, Monday, February 21, 2011