30 Minutes or Less with Brian Wells (or Mark Zuckerberg?)

Columbia Pictures is coming out with a new action comedy on the 12th of August called 30 Minutes or less ( http://www.30minutesorless.com/ ) staring Jesse Eisenberg (you know him for playing Zuckerberg in The Social Network) which according to www.imdb.com is an action-adventure comedy about a marijuana smoking pizza delivery guy who is kidnapped by two criminals who strap an explosive onto his body and threaten to blow him up if Eisenberg’s character doesn’t rob a bank for them.  

Now here’s the rub.

Back in 2003 Brian Wells, a high school drop out, was kidnapped by three of his associates where he was then subjected to wearing a bomb around his neck (as popular with hostage taking in South America http://articles.latimes.com/2000/may/19/news/mn-31761) and told to rob a bank, gathering $125,000, or the bomb would be detonated.  Although Wells was part of the planning stages of this bank robbery he was under the impression that the bomb would not be real, and was not told that it was until he was kidnapped by his co-conspirators.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Wells_(bank_robber)  

As Wells went about trying to rob the bank the police were notified and after a 30 minute delay the bomb squad was called.  Before the bomb squad could reach the victim of this plot the device was used by one of his co-conspirators and Wells died at the scene.   [There’s video of it on-line but I’m not posting a snuff film onto my blog, if you want to see that Google it for yourself.]

Those responsible for Wells execution were apprehended eventually and all convicted on a plethora of felonies including bank robbery, conspiracy to committ bank robbery, and felony use of a firearm in connection with a crime.  The three surviving conspirators received between 30 and 45 years in prison for their crimes.   The last one convicted in 2010. 

The bomb-necklace has been used elsewhere in the media since this crime was committed; from TV shows (Criminal Minds, Law & Order: [there’s too many of them to be specific], and Bones) to video games and books.  However a year later we have Hollywood releasing a buddy action-adventure comedy about almost the exact same situation?  The title Thirty Minutes or Less practically mocks the situation since the bomb squad was called in a half hour after the first 9-1-1 call was placed.

This fraud committed against Wells, believing the bomb wouldn’t be active, along with the sordid details of how this all played out, and the video of it online seems to the writer to be a bit of a slap in the face to both the victim and the criminal justice system that has just laid this to rest.  The details of this true life crime story and the movie seems to be far too close to one another (pizza delivery guy, bomb-necklace, forced to rob a bank) to make the movie “fun” and the movie’s tone seems to be too light to take the real life situation seriously after such tragic events took place.

I understand that the victim being linked to the planning stages of the crime lessens the layman’s feelings of guilt that he was then executed by those that he believed earlier that day to be his friends but having the guy from Zombieland and The Social Network [both great movies] run around in a comedy seems callous even to the most jaded of individuals.         

[PS Next post will be coming soon and it’s going to tackle some good old fashion white collar crime.  Cincinnati I’m looking at you.]

Anti-Money Laundry Changing the World *

India has cleared the way to install an additional 5,000 CCTVs across Mumbai: http://trov.es/oWmSBH which was recommended here on anti-money laundry: http://tinyurl.com/3h3du4j

Saudi Arabiabans iPhones and Galaxy tablets have been banned from security institutions:  http://tinyurl.com/3glhtmd which was recommended here on anti-money laundry: http://tinyurl.com/3phtm3m  

So the leaders of the largest democracy in the world and those responsible for the security of 1/5 of the world’s oil reserves are reading Anti-Money Laundry and finding ways to implement suggestions I have provided *, maybe you should too.

[* As of yet there’s been no proven direct link between Anti-Money Laundry, The House of Saud, or Indian Parliament.]

How to Truly Terrify Your Jeweler & Why You Should

The most nerve-wracking of experiences for men in their 20s and 30s is engagement ring shopping.  You find yourself walking into a store that you heard from family or friends [or the trusted people you’ve never met online] that the place is reputable and that you’ll get a fair price.  The shop owner will talk to you about the weight, color, clarity, cut, and cost [You will know these from reading about them on Wikipedia moments before walking into the store; they will know them like the word of G_d].

It appears they hold all the cards especially when you tell them your price limit.  They counter that you want to make your future wife happy and she deserves the best.  Then you lay down the plastic, say a prayer hoping that you’re not a sucker, and buy the ring.

I recommend taking a different approach however and honestly you should.

Instead of reading up on just the four Cs, take a few moments and read over the Kimberly Process, a procedure that is attempting to ensure that the diamonds your future loved one is going to be wearing on their finger isn’t traced back to a blood-bath in an African diamond field.  So ask your jeweler if their diamonds are certified.  [Here’s a brief description of the process I grabbed off Wikipedia.]

Requirements

• Each shipment of rough diamonds crossing an international border should be:

1. Transported in a tamper-resistant container.
2. Accompanied by a government-validated Kimberley Process Certificate.
3. Each certificate must be resistant to forgery, uniquely numbered and describe the shipment’s contents.
4. The shipments are only supposed to be exported to other KPCS participant countries.

Failure to comply with these procedures may lead to the removal of the non-complying member country. If any concerns arise regarding a country’s adherence to the scheme, they must be investigated and dealt with by the World Trade Organization.

The jeweler at first will try to talk to you about the movie “Blood Diamond” with Leonardo DiCaprio a few years back and how that changed the market, making sure that now everything is better.  Don’t allow this to be your only attempt at truly finding out if these are something you want to purchase, not just because of the 4 Cs but of the missing 5th C, Corruption.

As recently as 2006 Zimbabwe displaced their own citizens from the Marange, a vast diamond field worth approximately $5 Billion US Dollars. Their military flew in, killed some, displaced more, and kept some around for what amounts to forced labor camps.  Now Zimbabwe wants to get these diamonds through the Kimberly Process and onto the market [the government owns 50% of the fields so why wouldn’t they?]

Here’s where the thumb in the eye is; these diamonds weren’t blocked under the Kimberly Process because they didn’t meet the strict definitions of what was systematic and gross human rights violations. Zimbabwe was able to coerce enough others within the Kimberly Processes governing body to let this slide. 

Diamonds are forever [it’s cliché but had to be in here somewhere] and so is the violence and blood shed that they sometimes bring with them when discovered.  I’m not against diamond rings for engagements or even the big business that runs the jewelry market such as DeBeers and Tiffany’s.  I am however against the systematic corruption that allows one country, this time Zimbabwe, to skirt the issue opening up the flood gates to render this entire process useless.   

So ask your jeweler.  Demand more of them and in return they’ll have to demand more of their suppliers, who can demand that diamonds that were pulled out of the ground by modern-day slaves don’t need to be adorning the hands and necks of those that I care most deeply.  Don’t you want the same?

Storing Bank Deposits in Stacks of Money to the Ceiling or Putting it in the Vault; The Syrian Question

Inflation is skyrocketing.  Capital flight is rampant.  Money is being stacked to the ceiling outside of the vault to show customers their money is in fact on site.  While a leading financier states, “if one of the smaller banks defaults, we all go down” (“The Squeeze on Assad”, The Economist; July 2-8, 2011).

Previously I have [attempted] to provide actionable advice and information to you, the readers, [all 30 of you] of Anti-Money Laundry focusing on counter fraud measures and security enhancements within the white collar crime field;  Today I’m focusing on the upcoming disaster of Syrian banking [and will attempt to do so without too much talk of politics and/or religion]. 

Syria is in the midst of an immense dynamic shift, whether or not Assad [their “President”] remains in power is yet to be seen, but either way the banking environment is on a precarious cliff.  Assad, attempting to make some sort of concession to the unhappy masses, increased the wages of his government employees.  However their government can’t foot the bill for this and therefore is printing cash to make up the difference.  Inflation spikes because the money, literally, isn’t worth the money it’s being printed on.

The average citizen is then left holding onto money that isn’t worth what it was the day before.  Capital flight is when citizens begin to, for lack of a more concise term, export money from one country, convert it into the new local currency, and open a new bank account in this foreign land.  This is bad for the country’s economy and heightens the concern over a run on the banks. 

To show the bank customer’s that their money is right where they left it the Syrian banks are holding onto more of the deposits instead of investing it and piling up the money to the ceiling outside of the vault so that customer’s can see that there’s enough cash at their disposal.  

Now here’s my concern [amongst many]:

You have a weakened government unwilling or unable to conduct basic policing activities (such as write speeding and parking tickets) in an increasingly volatile environment (where every Friday brings about more protests against the government).  The way I see it there are three major threats that all need to be addressed in a separate and thorough way in order to avoid the complete collapse of the Syrian economy.

1.   If the money is just stacked up and outside of the vault what type of audit controls are actually being put into place to ensure that bank employees aren’t offsetting the spiking inflation rate with this supplemental income?

2. If the money is just stacked up and outside of the vault that’s one less security measure that needs to be overcome if a bank robber were to hold the place up and with the weakened policing abilities of the government what is stopping these potential criminals from taking more than ever before.

3. If the money is just stacked up and outside of the vault what’s hindering an eager, yet unsophisticated anti-government group to attack a bank and take the money.  According to analysis from those inside the financial sector in Syria this would cause not only that branch to collapse, but it would act as a domino, knocking out all the banks within the country and effectively putting an end to the economy (and the government).  The only problem with that is without an economy what happens to Syria after Assad is gone?

The factors within this case I am discussing are complex and require a bit of poly sci, economics, and criminal justice but the crux of what I am saying is quite simple; the money (devalued or not) can’t be sitting out for show to put the average bank customer at ease, the risks are vast and not worth the risk.  Banks have vaults for a reason, Syria [and everyone else] should use them accordingly.