9.5.2008 by CrniLabudovi.

Auch in Kroatien ist vor allem der Immobilien und Baufirmen die Drehscheibe für Geldwäsche auch aus Terroristischen Quellen.

Trotzdem sollte die EU eher mal in der eigenen Haustüre kehren, u.a. in Bulgarien, Rumänien im Kosovo Protektorat, wo es um wesentlich höhere Geldsummen der Geldwäsche geht.

Und in Albanien wurden 18.5 Milliarden € Geld gewaschen im Immobilien Sektor und trotzdem stoppte lange Zeit die EU nicht die Entwicklungs Gelder, wobei die meisten Aufbau Gelder sowieso von einer EU Beratungs und Aufbau Mafia unterschlagen werden.

Council of Europe reports on Croatian anti-money laundering measures

09/05/2008

Real estate and the construction industry are easy targets for those seeking to launder money, a Council of Europe committee warns.

By Natasa Radic for Southeast European Times in Zagreb — 09/05/08

“Croatia will do everything necessary to adopt and implement the European legal framework, especially in anti-money laundering cases,” Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said. ]

The Council of Europe’s (CoE) Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) has published its third-round evaluation report on Croatia. It evaluates the implementation of international and European standards in combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

The government received a detailed assessment, discussing each finding along with the suggested course of action in areas where progress has been inadequate.

According to CoE experts, Croatia’s legal framework lacks concrete implementation measures. “There is a lack of efficiency and willingness to trace the roots of ‘dirty money’, and punish those trying to legalise illegally obtained money,” the report says.

“Croatian authorities do not pay enough attention to money laundering, which is used for different purposes,” it adds. “The grey zone of real estate and construction industry are easy targets for such operations. Though Croatian institutions delivered anti-money laundering laws ten years ago, there have been only two such trials.”

Two factors — overloaded courts and a lack of expertise – are cited as possible reasons for the long delays. Both problems “appear to be remediable through appropriate training of the judiciary and prosecutors”, the authors say.

The CoE experts estimate that in 2005 Croatia lost 500,000 euros to organised crime, while economic crime in general cost the country about 170m euros.

Efforts to crack down on funding for terrorists also fall short, the experts warn. “Croatia will have to do more to tackle terrorist financing in a satisfactory manner. Financing of terrorism is only to a very limited extent provided for as an autonomous offence, and moreover, the preventive law currently addresses the prevention of terrorist financing in an insufficient way,” the report says.

The Croatian media has been reporting on portions of the document, with sensational headlines describing Croatia as a “safe haven for money laundering”. The government has yet to issue an official response. Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, however, says generally that Croatia “will do everything necessary to adopt and implement the European legal framework, especially in anti-money laundering cases.”
This content was commissioned for SETimes.com

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9.5.2008 by CrniLabudovi.

US: Albania Politicians Should Forfeit Immunity

07 May 2008 Tirana _ The U.S. ambassador in Tirana has urged Albanian politicians to support a bill that would forfeit the immunity deputies enjoy by law.

U.S. Ambassador to Albania John L. Withers

Embassy Highlights
………..
Remarks By U.S. Ambassador John L. Withers II at the Launch of the 2008 Corruption Perception and Experience Survey Conducted by IDRA and Funded by USAID (May 7, 2008)
Rector Kule, Dean Stringa, Distinguished guests,
I have spoken here in Albania on a number of issues. Most of them have been topics that make me very happy. Albania’s NATO invitation, the independence of Kosovo, even a little bit on Albanian culture and history. Today’s subject unfortunately is not one of those happy subjects; today’s subject is corruption.
Today we are releasing the findings of a USAID-funded survey, conducted by Director Pasha’s institution, on corruption in Albania. The survey tracks both the perception and experience of corruption by ordinary citizens. The news unfortunately is not good. According to the survey, 92% of Albanians says corruption is widespread among public officials and that is a decline of 8 points form a year ago. The report shows no progress in bribery indicators. Nearly 70% of people surveyed report paying a bribe for medical treatment. Nearly 60% have little or no trust in the judicial system. By a 3 to 1 margin, Albanians do not think the judges are impartial when conducting trials.

…………..

http://tirana.usembassy.gov/index.html

US: Albania Politicians Should Forfeit Immunity

07 May 2008 Tirana _ The U.S. ambassador in Tirana has urged Albanian politicians to support a bill that would forfeit the immunity deputies enjoy by law.

U.S. Ambassador to Albania John L. Withers

“The political elite of this country must take charge in fighting corruption in a meaningful way not just through speeches and words,” said ambassador John L. Withers.

“One important straightforward step that can be done is to change the immunity law, which protects senior officials in courts, in Parliament and in other offices from prosecution,” Withers added.

“They should be as liable to prosecution as any Albanian citizen,” he said.

Withers asked the political leadership to empower the institutions that seek justice; empower the prosecutors who go after the criminals; and, should make clear that whoever the suspect is, regardless of wealth, regardless of family ties, regardless of political connections, is subject to prosecution.

At the end of last month, Albania’s Prosecutor General asked Parliament to lift the immunity of former Defence Minister Fatmir Mediu amid a probe into March’s deadly army depot blasts outside Tirana. Read more: http://balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/9711

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