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The tough battle against
crooks with a telex machine
By Charles Batchelor
BANKING should b e booming in i t s first s i x months o f busi- bridge. A lawyer b y training,
in t h e western Pacific. F r o m ness. Investigators believe these he s p e n t f i v e y e a r s i n t h e
Saipan t o N a u r u , f r o m t h e were t h e proceeds o f Chinese criminal investigation f i e l d i n
Marshall Islands t o t h e Cooks, criminals active i n South East the Far East before being asked
islands throughout t h e region Asia.
to set u p the unit.
have been attracting the atten" A l l you need is a crook with
"Some c o u n t r i e s i n t h e
tions o f would-be bankers.
a telex machine," says Dr Barry Pacific are trying to develop too
The remoteness o f t h e s e Rider, h e a d o f t h e Common- quickly as financial centres," he
exotic locations from the major wealth Commercial Crime Unit, says. " T h e difficulty i s that the
only t i m e y o u c a n r e g u l a t e
financial centres is no deterrent.
these banks is when they apply
In fact, distance from the estabfor a licence. Once t h e y have
lished w o r l d o f b a n k i n g a n d
got a licence banking secrecy
from t h e tiresome regulations
come into play and there is no
which govern its participants is
way o f checking what they are
one o f the attractions. F o r the
doing.
last t h i n g t h a t m a n y o f t h e
banking applicants want i s too
"The problem i s t h a t t h e r e
are n o v i a b l e s o u r c e s o f
close an eye to be kept on their
information t o p o s i t i v e l y v e t
operations.
people a p p l y i n g f o r b a n k
With t h e American authorilicences. Even i f you were one
ties t u r n i n g t h e h e a t o n t h e
of the U K clearing banks dealtraditional Caribbean centres of
ing w i t h one o f these "banks"
offshore banking t h e criminals
in the Pacific o r the Caribbean
have sought out less accessible
it would take two to three weeks
destinations through w h i c h t o
to check the credentials o f the
COMMONWEALTH people
channel payments, launder t h e
you were dealing with."
proceeds o f drugs o r prostituSECRETARIAT
Rider and his small team have
tion, o r take the final pay-off in
been a t t e m p t i n g t o f i l l t h a t
elaborate international frauds.
information gap w o r k i n g f r o m
The desire o f some o f t h e a small t e a m o f investigators cramped offices i n t h e M a r l Pacific islands t o develop n e w set u p i n November 1981 t o borough House headquarters o f
sources o f revenue t o b o o s t meet t h e g r o w i n g t h r e a t o f the Commonwealth Secretariat
their economies make t h e m a international commercial crime. off London's Pall Mall.
ready prey f o r the fraudster.
Rider, a deceptively relaxed
" I f someone applies f o r a
A bank set up on one o f the 33-year-old, combines h i s crime banking licence i n , s a y, •the
Pacific i s l a n d s h a n d l e d p a y - unit w o r k w i t h a n academic Cook Islands and w e k n o w h e
ments o f n o less t h a n $160m career a t Jesus College, C a m - is l i n k e d t o d r u g operations

government—in r e t u r n f o r t h e abuse o f banks and other finanThe c r i m e u n i t i s currently,
payment of an arrangement fee cial organisations.
concentrating its efforts on the
in advance.
The gathering, attended b y problem o f " shell " b a n k s —
The u n i t ' s o w n r a p i d l y e x - 300 ministers, senior law officers banks set up in offshore centres
panding files o r contacts w i t h and policemen f r o m both Com- to " front " a criminal organisalaw e n f o r c e m e n t a g e n c i e s monwealth a n d n o n -Common- tion,
around t h e w o r l d c a n usually wealth c o u n t r i e s , c a l l e d f o r
We a r e t a r g e t t i n g k n o w n
provide a p r o f i l e o f t h e governments t o consider legis- professionals who are involved
individual involved o r the bank lation to ease access to financial in setting u p crooked banks,"
he i s using and establish a n y and other records.
says R i d e r .
" These a r e
crime connections.
It u r g e d a n a t t a c k o n
lawyers, bankers a n d accountorganised
crime
through
its
finants w h o a c t a s mercenaries
A commissioner i n one Commonwealth country kept a sus- ancial assets a n d c a l l e d f o r for t h e M a f i a a n d o t h e r
money
laundering
—
not
itself
organised c r i m e g r o u p s i n
pect f i n a n c i e r w a i t i n g i n h i s
outer office while he sent off an an offence - - to be declared un- violation o f t h e e t h i c a l stanlawful
in
certain
circumstances.
urgent request f o r information
The ingenuity of the criminal
from t h e c r i m e u n i t . T h e
suspect, w h o w a s s e e k i n g a means t h a t f r e q u e n t l y t h e
letter o f i n t r o d u c t i o n t o t h e profits o f crime w i l l move half• finance ministry, turned o u t t o way r o u n d t h e g l o b e b e f o r e
have a criminal record and was reaching their final destination.
detained on the spot.
In one case, documents found
The u n i t ' s w o r k reflects t h e on a courier picked up i n Hong dards of their profession."
The u n i t i s co-operating i n
growing belief among crime pre- Kong related t o financial dealvention agencies that tracing the ings i n v o l v i n g b a n k s i n f o u r this venture w i t h Interpol, t h e
flows o f m o n e y i s t h e m o s t European c o u n t r i e s . A m o n g Paris-based organisation set u p
effective w a y t o c r a c k c r i m e . the documents were letters o f to co-ordinate the work of police
Don't g o f o r t h e d r u g peddler deposit drawn o n a b a n k s t i l l forces t o combat cross-border
on t h e street — which i s small trading i n a U.S. t r u s t territory crime.
f r y anyway — go f o r t h e men in t h e Pacific despite t h e f a c t
When C o m m o n w e a l t h l a w
making the big money transfers that i t s b a n k i n g licence h a d ministers t o o k t h e decision i n
been
suspended.
T
h
e
b
a
n
k
as the organisers o f the rackets
1977 t o set u p t h e i r own commove t h e i r earnings t o s a f e r owners were traced v i a M i a m i mercial crime u n i t they saw i t
destinations, this argument goes. and N e w Yo r k t o a Mafia boss as c o m p l e m e n t i n g I n t e r p o l ,
This was an important theme who w a s laundering t h e p r o - which they f e l t was not wholly
ceeds o f d r u g t r a f f i c k i n g
to emerge f r o m a f o u r -day con- through
a l e n g t h y c h a i n o f adequate t o combat t h i s f o r m
ference held i n Cambridge last
of crime.
Week t o look a t the misuse and transactions.

then he won't get his licence,"
says Rider.
Working o n a s h o e -string
budget the crime u n i t has built
up a n impressive information
base o n k n o w n f r a u d s t e r s
around the world.
The c r i m e u n i t was s e t u p
to foster co-operation between
national l a w e n f o r c e m e n t
agencies w i t h i n t h e Commonwealth i n t h e i r f i g h t a g a i n s t
commercial c r i m e . H o w e v e r,
many T h i r d W o r l d countries
simply d i d n o t have t h e skills
to handle t h i s t y p e o f c r i m e
and f r o m t h e s t a r t t h e u n i t
was deluged w i t h requests f o r
intervention i n specific f r a u d s
or attempted frauds.
In i t s b r i e f existence i t has
handled n o fewer than 800 requests f o r help f r o m Commonwealth countries ranging f r o m
Antigua t o Zimbabwe, Australia t o Singapore. I t has also
dealt w i t h requests f r o m t h e
U.S., t h e Soviet U n i o n , I n d o nesia and Switzerland i n cases
where Commonwealth countries
were also involved.
How does the u n i t work? A
typical request m i g h t come i n
the form o f a telex seeking information on someone who has
applied f o r a banking licence
or who i s offering a loan t o a

The l a w ministers t o o k t h e
view t h a t w h i l e I n t e r p o l w a s
the m o s t effective m e a n s o f
communication o v e r s p e c i f i c
ordinary criminal l a w - offences
it lacked t h e resources o r t h e
powers t o d o m u c h a b o u t
economic crime.
The crime u n i t too has had
to s u r v i v e o n v e r y t i g h t
finances, though Rider feels its
increased recognition h a s l e d
to s l i g h t l y m o r e g e n e r o u s
funding. R i d e r i s n o w backed
by t w o f u l l - t i m e investigators
with l e g a l a n d accountancy
training a n d t h r e e assistants
with l e g a l a n d p o l i c e b a c k grounds o n secondment f r o m
Fiji, Zambia and Singapore.

111TIIPC1

Being p a r t o f t h e Commonwealth S e c r e t a r i a t h a s i t s
-advantages, h e a r g u e s . " We
could n o t operate a s -part o f
a h i g h p r o f i l e organisation
such as the United Nations o r
the F o r e i g n Office. W e n e e d
speed a n d a n i n f o r m a l i t y.
Unfortunately t h i s also means
we have l o w profile f u n d i n g . "
Compared w i t h t h e b i l l i o n
dollar p r o f i t s o f o r g a n i s e d
crime, the funds that are available t o t h e Commonwealth
Crime U n i t are minimal. " We
are still just playing at it," says
Rider, w i t h a w r y smile.