Sanitised case 18
Information was shared with the overseas jurisdiction which led to a major investigation.
X was introduced to the disclosing institution by an existing reliable contact. He described himself as in the legal profession and lived in an overseas jurisdiction.
X wished to establish an offshore arrangement to be administered by the financial institution to acquire from her certain overseas properties in which he said he had an interest but which were in the names of a family member but were X’s and X wanted them, eventually to be held in the structure for the benefit of himself and his young son.
The properties were mortgaged and these mortgages were financed by sitting tenants. Initially the financial institution were comfortable with the business however after a time period of approximately two years the financial institution became concerned that they were not receiving any rents which in turn led to a severe liquidity problem with the structure and the mortgage interest payments got into arrears.
This was brought to X’s attention and there did not appear to be an appropriate response to the financial institution’s request. These problems persisted and worsened and X’s manner and attitude were unprofessional which was inconsistent with the image that X initially portrayed to them as a successful professional in the legal field.
In view of this the financial institution commenced enhanced KYC – more detailed Internet research and updated client monitoring procedures. Research revealed that X had been the subject of an inquiry by an agency in relation to his profession and X had been struck off and had been found to have acted dishonestly
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