А тут - год назад ГАО выпустило доклад, где описывается абсолютно такая же практика, только уже с Ситибанком. И суммы поменьше, но тоже не малые. Но политический шухер прошел, господину Зельцеру Ситибанк не интересен, время другое, и т.д. - в итоге никто ничего не заметил, не написал, не пошумел.
Линк на доклад - http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d01120.pdf
Ключевые элементы доклада:
Euro-American had formed three of the Delaware corporations identified by the Subcommittee, as well as approximately 2,000 others, for Russian brokers. From 1991 through January 2000, more than $1.4 billion in wire transfer transactions was deposited into 236 accounts opened at 2 U.S. banks: Citibank (136 accounts) and Commercial Bank (100 accounts). IBC/Euro-American established those accounts for corporations that it had created. Of the $1.4 billion, more than $800 million was wired from foreign countries into IBC/Euro-American accounts at Citibank. Over 70 percent of the Citibank deposits for these accounts was wire-transferred to accounts in foreign countries. Of the remaining $600 million deposited in Commercial Bank, over 50 percent was similarly transferred into the U.S. banking system from abroad. In addition, most of the $600 million was transferred out of the U.S. banking system.
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an officer of Euro-American informed us that his company's clients consist entirely of brokers in Moscow, Russia, who make requests for the formation of Delaware corporations and that Euro-American had formed approximately 2,000 such corporations since 1996.
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neither state records nor the records of the registered agents contain the names of the principals of the incorporated companies. Two registered agents informed us that they often form corporations in blocks of 10 to 20 at a time to accommodate single requests from foreign brokers. A registered agent also disclosed that these corporations are sometimes sold by the brokers to others, who may, in turn, sell them again.
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In 1991, a native of the Republic of Georgia who was residing in the United States incorporated IBC in Delaware and became its president.
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Sometimes the Russian brokers furnish names for the requested companies; at other times, Euro-American simply "makes up" names for the corporations it forms. The Euro-American employee estimated that, since its inception, the company had worked with between 30 to 50 brokers in Moscow for whom it had formed about 2,000 corporations.
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On occasion, Russian brokers requested that IBC/Euro-American open bank accounts with wire transfer capabilities for corporations that Euro-American formed. We have identified two banks at which Euro-American established such accounts: Citibank of New York and the Commercial Bank of San Francisco. Euro-American received a fee of $450 from the Russian brokers for each bank account opened. According to records of Citibank and Commercial Bank, IBC/Euro-American opened approximately 136 bank accounts for corporations at Citibank from 1991 through January 2000 and approximately 100 bank accounts at Commercial Bank from 1996 through 1999.
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According to the president of Commercial Bank, two Russians purchased about 9 percent of the bank's stock for $1 million in March 1995. One of these individuals suggested that the bank hire him as a consultant to obtain new business from Russian depositors. Consequently, the bank entered into an agreement with East Industrial Financial Society, a corporation owned by this individual. East Industrial became the only full-time contractor soliciting business for the bank from April 1996 through March 1998. 17 This individual (hereinafter "the Russian director")18 became a member of the Board of Directors of Commercial Bank in May 1997.
The IBC president informed us that another Russian introduced him to the Russian director in 1996. At that time, the Russian director suggested that IBC open bank accounts with Commercial Bank for U.S. corporations that IBC had formed for its Russian clients. As a result, in April 1996 IBC entered into a contract with East Industrial. The agreement provided that IBC would introduce potential banking customers to East Industrial, which would establish accounts for them with the Private Banking Group of Commercial Bank. The Russian director, who also served as the Director of Private Banking and the Director of the International Department at Commercial Bank, resigned from the Board of Directors and his other positions with the bank in December 1999, effective January 14, 2000. The president of Commercial Bank informed us that, during the period that the Russian director was a director or consultant to the bank, 40 percent of total bank deposits was from customers referred to it by IBC/Euro-American.