Radical Islam and Compliance in Financial Institutions

By Eric Thomsen

Terrorist attacks by radicalized Muslims are happening almost every week now and show no sign of abating. Western populations are becoming restless and this threatens electoral stability. Authorities can be expected to put further pressure on financial institutions to discover terrorist networks before they succeed in causing death and destruction. It is the compliance officer who is in the frontline. The compliance officer is paid to keep the financial institution out of harms way. It is the compliance officer who will do jail time, if the financial institution is found to have failed in its duties. This little book will help the compliance officer determine when to carry out enhanced due diligence, report to management and file SARs on suspicious activity.

Just as the last pages of this book were being written Ignacio Echeverria Mirailles de Imperial died valiantly defending a female victim with his skateboard against the London Bridre terrorists June 3, 2017. Ignacio Echeverria Mirailles de Imperial, 39 years old, and from Madridwas a financial crimes compliance analyst at HSBC in London. There was outrage as Saudi Arabia's football team SNUBS a minute's silence for London Bridge terror victims ahead of World Cup qualifier against Australia because 'it is not in keeping with their culture'. In other words they mocked the Western victims and praised the terrorists as "martyrs" in their ideological war on the West.

Companion volumes – Catalonia – way to conflict  and  Hezbollah – cuckoo in the nest.

The book is a collection of materials, references and commentary.

With illustrations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eric Thomsen
• Release date: Jan 20, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386012917

Eric Thomsen

Eric Thomsen hat in den Bereichen Wissenschaft, Wirtschaft und Recht veröffentlicht, Ausstellungen organisiert und Konzerte veranstaltet.

Book preview

Other titles available by the author

Catalonia – way to conflict:

Catalonia – Legal Procedure

Arab Oil Money – Toxic Cocktail

Hezbollah – cuckoo in the nest:

Luxembourg Wealth Management – Portfolio Management

Tesla

Hybrid Future

Cover picture: Funeral. © 2017.

Stetson University, College of Law, buildings in old Spanish style. © 2014.

Alhambra, Granada, Spain – with hundreds of financed shops below. © 2017.

The notes and references are kept simple, readable and accessible where possible, directly in the main text. Hopefully they activate easily in the ebook.

The viewpoints in this book are those of the author and there is no representation of any kind what so ever on behalf of ACAMS, FATF or any other party.

The illustrations in this book are solely meant as illustrations. Readers should not infer any particular risk associated with any institution in the illustrations.

Contact the author at:  [e-mail]

Hezbollah – cuckoo in the nest

In the book Catalonia - way to conflict the author offered the scenario of Hezbollah and Iran using an independent Catalonia  - a region in Northern Spain bordering France with 7.5 million inhabitants and a radicalized Muslim minority of 500,000 - as a stepping stone into Europe.

In Catalonia – way to conflict the author offered this and similar scenarios as one of the key reasons for the European political elites and the European institutions to shy away from granting the fanatised pro-independentist Catalans support for a nation state in the northern Spanish region.

The security risks for Europe of such an alliance are quite simply terrifying.

In the

book we look more at what is Hezbollah, what are its criminal activities in Europe and how do they affect Europe.

Hezbollah is one of the most dangerous terror organizations in the World. It has killed more Americans than any other terror organization. European leaders have entered an understanding with Hezbollah that in return for not committing terror on European soil Hezbollah has been allowed to operate freely and use its European networks to fund terror elsewhere and to procure weapons and parts for Iran’s secret WMD programs.

This is against international law, against European law, against all European norms and values. These are gross violations that should have had the European political elites react long time ago. The financial institutions, the European FSAs and the prosecutors have all failed completely to protect their fellow citizens. It is likely to prove a very costly mistake and it is primarily the European populations than will be paying the price.

Radical Islam and Compliance

in Financial Institutions

Materials for change

Eric Thomsen 

201

In memoriam:

Eric Thomsen

Eric Thomsen has published in law, science and economics. He holds several law degrees, a degree in economics and was ACAMS certified in 2016.

Radical Islam and Compliance

in Financial Institutions

Materials for change

––––––––

––––––––

Eric Thomsen 

2017

Preface

Intolerably terrorist attacks continue almost weekly. Radical Islamic terrorists are free to roam among the unarmed civilian population. However, change appears to be coming concerning the funding of Islamic extremist ideology.

The job pressure on the compliance officer is increasingly severe. There is little room for errors. It is the compliance officer, not the manager nor the board member, who will do jail time. Counsel is counsel for the institution, not the compliance officer.

No workable profile of operational terrorists has yet been developed. FATF has focused on the obvious terror financing sources related to other criminal activity. This has in no way stopped radical Muslims from committing atrocities.

Radical Islamist ideology is therefore often difficult to handle for the compliance officer. The risk scoring models have to be pretty drastic if they are to catch the big financers of terrorism. This collides with lucrative business lines.

The intention of this little book is to help the compliance officers start a process to fulfill their obligations, keep their financial institutions out of harms way and hopefully the general public more safe.

Many thanks to the journalists and experts that have written the materials used here and which gives such insight and clarity.

The materials and commentary is however by no means exhaustive which is solely the responsibility of the editing and reader’s suggestions are welcome.

Thanks to all who have inspired to write the book and contributed to it with valuable discussions and suggestions.

Edition closed June 08, 2017.

Eric Thomsen

Change

When the Financial Action Task Force, (FATF , OECD, Paris) issued its first eight of its Special Recommendations, on 21 October 2001 it was against the backdrop of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack.

The World was shocked to learn that 15 of the 19 hijackers were from Saudi Araba, two from the United Arab Emirates, one each from Egypt and Lebanon.

The Group pf Seven (G7) industrialized nations urged all nations to freeze the assets of known terrorists and implement Counter Terrorist Financing (CTF) measures. G7 consist of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and United States.

The 9/11 attack was a large scale operation and involved the movement of 19 terrorists to the United States and the movement of funds for their transport, training and temporary stay in the United States.

The attack plot is estimated to have cost Al Qaida in the range of 400,000 to 500,000 USD (Study Guide for the CAMS Certification Examination, Fifth Edition, in the following CAMS, p 100).

Recent attacks are said often to be lone wolf and homegrown terrorism attacks.

These terrorists are allegedly recruited through propaganda and indoctrination.  They become radicalized in various settings – at home via the internet, in certain mosques, through mentors and bad friends, in prisons, from jihadist training and experiences in conflict zones, notably Iraq and Syria, but Afghanistan, Somalia and Libya should be added according to recent reports.

It is so much more difficult to create a workable profile of a terrorist today than it was in 2001.

It is also a question whether having a profile of the potential terrorist is enough from a compliance viewpoint, or whether the financial institution must also identify if possible the mentors and religious networks that lay the foundation for the terrorist to perpetrate the insane and indiscriminate violence whether these mentors or religious networks actually trigger the killings on the actual date.

The G7 met again May 26, 2017 in Taormina, Sicily and issued a Statement on terrorism, now called the Taormina Statement 2017. On the background of the Manchester terror Monday May 22, 2017 where 22 mainly children and young people were killed and 119 wounded.

Concerts are vulnerable and symbolic, because many people are gathered closely and they enjoy music together. ©2014.

The terrorist was a 22 year old British subject of Libyan descent, Salman Ramadan Abedi, who bombed a concert by the 17 year old American singer Ariana Grande at Manchester Arena the day after President Trump had held a speech to the Arab Islamic American Summit on May 21, 2017 where he urged to eradicate Islamic terrorism, see below.

The sister of the terrorist –Jomana Abedi - said to the media:

- Jeg tror, han så børn, muslimske børn, dø alle vegne, og at han ønskede hævn. Han så de sprængstoffer som Amerika kaster på børn i Syrien, og at han ønskede hævn, siger hun til avisen.

- Om han fik det, må være mellem ham og Gud.

- I think he saw children, Muslim children, die everywhere and that he wanted revenge. He saw the charges that the United States drop on children in Syria, and he wanted revenge, she said to the newspaper.

- Whether he got it [revenge] must be between him and God (Allah) (author’s translation).

http://nyheder.tv2.dk/udland/2017-05-26-familie-og-venner-til-gerningsmand-angrebet-i-manchester-var-hans-haevn

This chilling statement is important to compliance, because it indicates the ideological mindset of many more people than just the lone wolf or homegrown terrorist himself.

"Der er 23.000 ekstremistiske jihadister bosat i Storbritannien, skriver den britiske avis The Times med henvisning til de britiske myndigheders databaser.

3.000 af dem udgør en trussel og er enten under efterforskning eller overvåges aktivt af politi og efterretningstjenester."

––––––––

"There are 23.000 extremist jihadies residing in Great Britain, writes the British newspaper The Times referring to the databases of the authorities.

3.000 of them are considered a threat and are either under active investigation or surveillance by the police and the secret services. (author’s translation)

http://www.dr.dk/nyheder/udland/23000-ekstremistiske-jihadister-bor-i-storbritannien

Western children  - a soft and cruel target for radical Islamic terror. ©2014.

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Danish State Radio reported September 11, 2016 ( 9/11 again):

"Frankrigs premierminister, Manuel Valls, advarer om, at franskmændene kommer til at blive udsat for flere blodige massakrer fra militante islamister.

Ifølge Valls har politiet og efterretningstjenesten i Frankrig øjne på 15.000 personer, som er ved at blive radikaliseret.

- Der kommer nye angreb, som vil kræve uskyldige ofre. Det er min pligt at sige sandheden til den franske befolkning, siger Valls."

"The French premier Manuel Valls warns that the French will be subject to more bloody massacres by militant Islamists.

According to Valls the police and secret service in France have their eyes upon 15.000 persons who are becoming radicalized.

There will be new attacks that will mean innocent victims. It is my duty to tell the truth to the French population, says Valls."

http://www.dr.dk/nyheder/udland/15000-er-ved-blive-radikaliseret-i-frankrig

The radical Islamic terrorists are choosing dates that mock the United States by resembling the emergency call sign – dial 911...... mocking the deaths and the serious injuries they have inflicted upon Westerners. The 9/11 attack on World Trade Center killed 2976 people.

German car radio reported in March 2017 that the number of Salafists were growing by 40 pct per annum in Germany.

Already January 22, 2015: Hans-Georg Maassen, Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz: reported together with a smiling Angela Merkel

Det er de omkring 200 hjemvendte Syrien-krigere, der udgør den mest akutte trussel i Tyskland, men de er kun toppen af isbjerget. Et stærkt stigende antal unge muslimer helt ned til 13-års alderen radikaliseres.... På få år er antallet af salafister i Tyskland vokset markant. I 2010 registrerede hans 2.800 medarbejdere 2.000 salafister. Ved udgangen af 2013 var det 5.500. I dag er der 7.000. Tallet vokser hele tiden, sagde Hans-Georg Maassen på et pressemøde i Berlin torsdag.

It is the abt 200 returned Syrian-warriors that are the most acute threat in Germany, but they are only the top of the iceberg. A rapidly growing number of young Muslims right down to the age of 13 are being radicalized – In just a few years the number of salafists in Germany has grown markedly. In 2010 his 2800 employees registered 2000 salafists. By the end of 2013 the number was 5500. Today there are 7000 (January 22, 2015)(author’s translation)

https://www.b.dk/globalt/tyskland-til-kamp-mod-stenalderislam

Fire truck – in the US the emergency call sign is 911 and the radical Islamic terrorists have mocked the mighty United States by killing 2976 people with the attack on World Trade Center on that date. ©2015.

A crude measure of the radicalization and potential terrorism has been the number of young Muslims per capita that have gone to Syria to fight for socalled Islamic State (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) (ISIL or ISIS or IS):

"Belgien er EU’s per capita førende forsyningskilde af jihadister til Islamisk Stat: omkring 40 jihadister per million indbyggere, sammenlignet med Danmark (27), Sverige (19), Frankrig (18), Østrig (17), Finland (13); Norge (12), Storbritannien (9,5), Tyskland (7,5) og Spanien (2)."

Belgium is EU’s leading supply source of jihadists to Islamic State (according to the EU Commission): Abt 40 jihadists per million inhabitants, compared to Denmark (27), Sweden (19), France (18), Austria (17), Finland (13), Norway (12), Great Britain (9.5), Germany (7.5) and Spain (2).

http://denkorteavis.dk/2016/ny-derfor-er-belgien-nu-ground-zero-for-europaeiske-jihadister/

Apart from the obvious question from a compliance viewpoint will your financial institution offer products and services to these individuals and how are you going to perform your compliance function.

Some public international law

The second paragraph of the G7 Taormina Statement is interesting from a legal and compliance viewpoint:

"2. Countering Terrorism and violent extremism, acts of which have struck G7 Members, as well as all regions of the world, regardless of country, nationality or belief, remains a major priority for the G7.

We Stand united in our joint endeavor to make sure that our citizens are safe and secure, and their values and way of life fully preserved, and will take the strongest action possible to find, identify, remove, and punish, as appropriate, terrorists and those who abet their activities".

http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2017/05/26-statement-fight-against-terrorism/

Full statement can be found on:

http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/international-summit/2017/05/26-27/

There is clearly a sharpening in the wording of this statement:

...abet their activity..

Religious freedom is protected in Article 14 of the 1951 Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of the Council pf Europe (ECHR):

Article 14 – Prohibition of discrimination

"The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, birth or other status".

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg shocked The United Kingdom with its judgment September 5, 1995 in McCann v. United Kingdom, Application No. 18984/91, where Britain was held responsible for the killing without trial of IRA terrorists planning to attack the British garrison during morning parade in Gibraltar and was sentenced to pay compensation to the deceased terrorist families.

The judges of the ECtHR in McCann were:

"In the case of McCann and Others v. the United Kingdom[1],

The European Court of Human Rights, sitting, pursuant to Rule 51 of Rules of Court A [2], as a Grand Chamber composed of the following judges:

Mr R. Ryssdal, President,  (Noeway)

Mr R. Bernhardt,    (Germany)

Mr Thór Vilhjálmsson,    (Iceland)

Mr F. Gölcüklü,    (Turkey)

Mr C. Russo,    (Italy)

Mr A. Spielmann,    (Luxembourg)

Mr N. Valticos,    (Greece)

Mrs E. Palm,    (Sweden)

Mr R. Pekkanen,    (Finland)

Mr J.M. Morenilla,    (Spain)

Sir John Freeland,     (United Kingdom)

Mr A.B. Baka,    (Hungary)

Mr M.A. Lopes Rocha,    (Portugal)

Mr G. Mifsud Bonnici,    (Malta)

Mr J. Makarczyk,    (Poland)

Mr B. Repik,    (Slovakia)

Mr P. Jambrek,    (Slovenia)

Mr P. Kuris,    (Lithuania)

Mr U. Lohmus,     (Estonia)

and also of Mr H. Petzold, Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 20 February and 5 September 1995,.."

http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22fulltext%22:[%22McCann%20v%20Great%20Britain%22],%22documentcollectionid2%22:[%22GRANDCHAMBER%22,%22CHAMBER%22],%22itemid%22:[%22001-57943%22]}

and

http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/List_judges_since_1959_BIL.pdf

The French authorities have over the last year  (2016/2017) or so routinely shot and killed suspect terrorists before they came on trial.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) have, however been very reluctant to apply another article of the 1951 Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of the Council of Europe (ECHR), for the protection of the population against radical Islam.

Religious freedom is being abused to run networks of radical Muslim terrorists that "..threatens our safety, values and way of life", Taormina Statement. ©2014.

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Article 17 – Prohibition of abuse of rights

"Nothing in this Convention may be interpreted as implying for any state, group or person any right to engage in any activity or perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein or at their limitation to a greater extent than is provided for in the Convention".

Such activities would include the blowing up and killing of our children with nuts and bolts emitted at high speed from a home made bomb explosion and with the intent of causing fatal bodily injury to these children and young.

Because they attended a concert performed by a 17 year old American singer Ariana Grande after President Trump had addressed leaders of 14 Muslim countries at the Arab Muslim American Summit the day before, urging them to rein in such activities.

Danish courts will not protect radical Islamist ideology under ECHR Art 14, see case S-892-16, Eastern High Court, May 25, 2016.

As we are finishing this book there has been at attack on London Bridge Saturday 3 June 2017 where three lone wolves have killed eight people and injured 48 wounded – butchering them with knives.

British police have now apparently changed tactics, overridden McCann v. United Kingdom, Application No. 18984/91 and shot the three attackers dead. In practice capital punishment as in France.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-40148737

In the United States the Constitution, First Amendment is similarly being invoked by Human Rights organisations purported to confer Constitutional rights on potential terrorists even though they do not yet have any connection to the United States, except for their wish to commit terror.

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/first_amendment

Several courts have suspended President Trump’s Executive Orders travel bans until better vetting could be performed on visa applicants from a number of Muslim countries, citing rights against religious discrimination of the potential terrorists.

We need not here cover all the issues of the United States legal system with alleged political bias and beliefs of the judges – just as these beliefs were implied in the ECtHR decision in McCann, above.

However, it is instructive to see how the United States judges of the 9th Circuit go about weighing the security of their own citizens against the purported rights of potential terrorists, according to this report from the court room in the 9th Circuit in San Francisco February 8, 2017:

"Trump’s travel ban: Why the 9th Circuit could flip and unexpectedly grant a stay

By Robert Charles

Published February 08, 2017

The U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit, undertook an extraordinary review Tuesday evening, hearing arguments for and against a stay of district court action that blocked President Trump’s Executive Order on immigration.  From the outset, it was a pitched battle before a notoriously liberal Circuit.  That said, the Justice Department acquitted itself well – and may have won an upset.  If not the Super Bowl, there were surprises.

Kick off was simple.  Justice briefed a three-judge panel on the need for a temporary pause in migration from seven countries identified by Congress and the prior Administration as terrorist risks.  They laid out the President’s constitutional authority, equities against the temporary restraining order, and law that supported a swift stay.

Seconds in, the Carter appointee Judge William Canby interrupted proceedings, demanding evidence of the need for this executive order.  Findings were patiently offered, including the need to review refugee screening and visa process, as well as recent events.

Before Counsel for the United States could continue, Canby threw a second block:  Can you point to any evidence connecting these countries to terror? Justice methodically noted that such evidence has existed for years.  Moreover, it was acknowledged by Congress and the prior Administration, which is why the seven countries faced visa restrictions.  They present a significant risk, making them countries of concern.

Canby then assumed the role of a one-man National Security Council. "Isn’t the concept of risk too abstract?  Is there any reason to believe there is a real risk?  What changes to