Indian nationals lured through Dominica’s scandalous citizenship project PART-3

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Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has been running a fake news agency in WIC News in Britain. In fact, WIC News Limited is one of Skerrit’s many dubious companies, which is actively involved in money laundering, transnational drug trafficking, buying weapons and explosives for radical Islamic terrorists and providing refuge to fugitives and notorious criminals. Most importantly, Skerrit is buying some Indian media outlets through his agent in Britain, Paul Singh, an Indian-British, with the ulterior motive of giving legitimacy to his ongoing project of selling citizenship as well as diplomatic positions. In recent years, India has seen a growing trend of high net-worth individuals leaving the country in search of a safe haven to hide their ill-gotten or dirty money.

For some years, it was reported in the media that notorious terror don and most wanted criminal Dawood Ibrahim was holding a Dominica passport. But on August 20, 2020, Indian newspaper the Economic Times in a report quoting Dominica authorities said, Dawood was not a citizen of the Caribbean island country. Here is the full news:

The government of the Commonwealth of Dominica has said that underworld don and India’s most wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim is and has never been a citizen of the island country.

“Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar is not, nor has he ever been, a citizen of the Commonwealth of Dominica, neither through the Citizenship by Investment Programme nor any other means. As such, any publication by any media or by any person purporting otherwise is strictly false,” said the Dominican government in a statement.

“It has long been the responsibility of the Citizenship by Investment Unit to safeguard the integrity of the Citizenship by Investment Programme through the use of sophisticated due diligence and vetting procedures. The Citizenship by Investment Unit applies a multi-tiered system of due diligence, involving both internal and external checks by reputable, top-tier, international due diligence firms based in the United States and the United Kingdom,” it said.

The statement added, “These external firms perform thorough checks, including on-the-ground research, to produce exhaustive due diligence reports. In this way, Dominica maintains a firm commitment to professional ethics and ensuring the safety of Dominican citizens.”

Dawood Ibrahim is wanted in India to face the law of the land for carrying out serial blasts in Mumbai in 1993, in which scores of people were killed and injured. India has asked Pakistan several times to hand over Dawood Ibrahim.

Pakistan has been denying that it has sheltered Dawood Ibrahim. However, a Pakistan government document recently revealed Dawood Ibrahim’s location that was related to a list of 88 terrorists sanctioned by Islamabad. His address on the document is White House, Karachi.

The development comes ahead of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary meet in October, which will review whether Pakistan would be blacklisted if steps are not taken in curbing terror financing on its soil. The country has been repeatedly asked to take action against terror funding and is been on the FATF grey list since June 2018.

Dawood Ibrahim not a citizen of Dominica?

As the Dominica authorities have told the Economic Times that Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar is not a citizen of that country, there is no reason to believe, Dawood in reality is not holding a passport of that country. One of the many reasons is, once someone just pays the required amount for the citizenship of Dominica, h/she does not need to face any interview. There is not any due checking about the citizenship-seeker by the “external firms” is a big lie. In fact, Dominica’s agent in Britain, CS Global Partners, which also has an office in New Delhi, is only interested in getting commission from the amount it receives against citizenship of Dominica or selling diplomatic positions. Moreover, Dominica authorities allow any individual in buying their citizenship under a pseudonym, meaning, Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar might be holding a Dominica passport under a different name. According to our information, a number of members of Dawood’s infamous D-Company are already holding citizenship of Dominica, while there also is information about several members of the outlawed Khalistan Movement as well as jihadist groups such as the Islamic State have also purchased Dominica’s citizenship.

This is just the tip of an iceberg. Dominica’s ruling elites are connected to drug cartels from Columbia and Mexico.

According to the US Department of State Money Laundering Assessment (INCRS), Dominica is categorized by it as a Country/Jurisdiction of Primary Concern in respect of Money Laundering and Financial Crimes.

It was reported that Dominica acts as a conduit for the washing of dirty money by international drug traffickers.

The state department has listed Dominica among over 90 major money laundering countries, putting in the company of states such as Afghanistan, Columbia, Russia and the US itself, “whose financial institutions engage in currency transactions involving significant amounts of proceeds from international narcotics trafficking”.

“Money laundering cases involve external proceeds from fraudulent investment schemes, advance fee fraud schemes, and the placement of euros related to questionable activities conducted in other surrounding jurisdictions,” the report, which states the list is not a blacklist, says about Dominica.

“Domestic money laundering is chiefly linked to narcotics activities.”

It describes Dominica as an offshore center with a considerable international business center (IBC) presence and internet gaming, and which is used as “a transshipment point for narcotics and other criminal activities” due to its geographic location between the French departments of Guadeloupe and Martinique.

On April 16, 2019, Dominica News Online reported, Dominica and all major Caribbean and Central American countries have been listed as major money laundering jurisdictions.

That’s according to the latest US International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) – Volume Two, dedicated to money laundering – for the year 2018.

The offending countries – listed in alphabetical order – have been identified as follows: Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Maarten, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.

The report states that with the assistance of a donor, Dominica has begun a National Risk Assessment (NRA).

“Dominica reports there are currently 13 offshore banks regulated by the Financial Services Unit (FSU), which also licenses and supervises credit unions, insurance companies, internet gaming companies, and the country’s economic citizenship program,” the report says.

According to the report, the government of Dominica indicated early on that narcotics and cybercrime are the major sources of illicit funds.

“The country’s geographical location and porous borders raise risks for narcotics trafficking,” the report states.

Additionally, foreign nationals from Europe, South America, and Asia have used automated teller machines in Dominica to skim money from European bank accounts by exploiting security deficiencies.

“The preliminary vulnerabilities identified by the NRA are inadequate AML training for the judiciary and the prosecutorial authorities, lack of awareness of new AML/CFT procedures by key law enforcement agencies, and ineffective supervision of DNFBPs,” it stated.

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