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US Treasury Tightens Squeeze On Brothers Circle

The U.S. Treasury Department has added three individuals with alleged ties to the crime group Brothers' Circle to a blacklist which bans American citizens and companies from conducting any business with them according to a press release:  "today's action targets Zakhariy Kalashov for acting for or on behalf of, or providing material support to, the Brothers' Circle, as well as Almanbet Anapiyaev and Adilet Kasenov, for acting for or on behalf of, or providing material support to, Kamychbek Kolbayev."  The Treasury Department previously placed Kolbayev on its black list.

According to the press release the Brothers' Circle "is a criminal group composed of leaders and senior members of several Eurasian criminal groups that are largely based in countries of the former Soviet Union, but also operate in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America," and it "serves as a coordinating body for several criminal networks, mediates disputes between the individual criminal networks, and directs member criminal activity globally."

The Treasury Department through its Office of Foreign Assets Control was granted the authority to take enforcement action against designated transnational crime groups under Executive Order 13581 issued by President Obama on July 24, 2011 pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and over the last eighteen months has targeted Eurasian crime group Brothers' Circle, the Yakuza from Japan, the Camorra or Neapolitan Mafia in Italy, Mexican drug cartel Los Zetas and Central America's Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13.

Further reading that may be of interest:

A Call For U.S. Treasury Department To Designate Gambino Crime Family As A Transnational Criminal Organization Under Executive Order 13581

A Call For U.S. Treasury Department To Designate Gambino Crime Family As A Transnational Criminal Organization Under Executive Order 13581

The Gambino crime family allegedly is strengthening its ties to the old country, and the supposed move may prove its undoing under a recently issued Executive Order by President Barack Obama which authorizes the Treasury Department to designate transnational crime groups in order to freeze their U.S. assets and ban American citizens and companies from conducting business with them.

The Treasury Department through its Office of Foreign Assets Control was granted the authority to take enforcement action against designated transnational crime groups under Executive Order 13581 issued on July 24, 2011 pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and in an accompanying statement President Obama said the following:

The activities of significant transnational criminal organizations . . . have reached such scope and gravity that they threaten the stability of international political and economic systems.  Such organizations are becoming increasingly sophisticated and dangerous to the United States; they are increasingly entrenched in the operations of foreign governments and the international financial system, thereby weakening democratic institutions, degrading the rule of law, and undermining economic markets.  These organizations facilitate and aggravate violent civil conflicts and increasingly facilitate the activities of other dangerous persons.  I therefore determine that significant transnational criminal organizations constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States, and hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat.

In the eighteen months since Executive Order 13581 was issued several transnational crime groups have been put on the Treasury Department's blacklist including the Yakuza from Japan, the Camorra or Neapolitan Mafia in Italy, Mexican drug cartel Los Zetas and Central America's Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13.

Perhaps the Gambino crime family may be next.   Although all five of New York's Mafia families allegedly have ties to the Sicilian Mafia the Gambinos reportedly are most deeply entrenched with their overseas paesanos.  Apparently several of its reputed leaders "have strong ties to Sicily" including through the Palermo-based Inzerillo clan as reported by Ed Scarpo for Cosa Nostra News.  A Wikipedia entry for the "Inzerillo-Gambino Mafia clan" claims it "is a transatlantic Mafia family, based in Palermo and New York City," and further alleges:

In Sicily, the family clan is centered around the Inzerillo, the Spatola and Di Maggio families, while in the United States the Sicilian faction in the Gambino crime family is the core of the group. The Inzerillo clan hailed from the Passo di Ragano neighbourhood in Palermo. They were relatives of New York City Mafia boss Carlo Gambino.

The supposed Gambino and Inzerillo alliance in the past allegedly has been involved in the global heroin trade.  Moreover, U.S. and Italian law enforcement previously have alleged ties between the Gambino crime family and the Santa Maria di Gesu clan from the Sicilian Mafia as reported by Bob Norman for Broward-Palm Beach New Times. 

A U.S.-entrenched crime group can be designated on the black list since the criteria is only that it have a foreign component with an adverse impact to the United States.  Executive Order 13581 defines a "transnational criminal organization" as a group of persons . . . that includes one or more foreign persons; that engages in an ongoing pattern of serious criminal activity involving the jurisdictions of at least two foreign states; and that threatens the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States."  Accordingly, in designating MS-13 which originated in Los Angeles, CA as a transnational criminal organization, the Treasury Department stated last month in its press release that "MS-13 is active within the United States, with at least 8,000 members operating in more than 40 states and the District of Columbia," and "money generated by local MS-13 cliques in the U.S. is consolidated and funneled to the group's leadership in El Salvador."

There's no doubt that the Treasury Deparment is continuing to make its black list for transnational criminal organizations and checking it twice.  The program was launched only eighteen months ago, and is obviously incomplete.  For example, although the Camorra or Neapolitan Mafia is designated, La Cosa Nostra or the Sicilian Mafia and the 'Ndrangheta or Calabrian Mafia are glaring omissions since they have a more substantial impact on the United States.  Indeed, when La Cosa Nostra and the 'Ndrangheta likely are added, don't be surprised to see the accompanying designation of some reputed U.S.-based mobsters and crime families for their alleged entanglement with these Italian criminal organizations.

Designating the Gambino crime family as a transnational criminal organization would financially squeeze it out of existence.  All the U.S. bank accounts, real estate and business concerns which are affiliated with its purported members and associates would be frozen, and no American could engage in any financial or business transactions with them.  In one fell swoop the Treasury Department through the Office of Foreign Assets Control would do more to undermine the Gambino crime family than more than fifty years of criminal prosecutions.

Treasury Department Blacklists Yakuza Clan

The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control has added the Sumiyoshi-kai clan and its reputed bosses Shigeo Nishiguchi Hareaki Fukuda to its blacklist which bans American citizens and companies from conducting any business with them as reported by Samuel Rubenfeld for The Wall Street Journal.

The Sumiyoshi-kai clan allegedly is the second-largest enterprise within Japan's organized crime network known as the Yakuza.

It's unclear what impact, if any, the Treasury's designation will have on the Yakuza as there is little evidence of American ties to the Japanese group.

Frankly, if the Treasury Department wants to take a meaningful bite out of crime, it should establish a black list for domestic groups such as the Genovese and Gambino crime families which would prohibit anyone within the United States from conducting business with them.

Treasury Department Targets Neapolitan Mafia

Better late than never.

The United States finally has recognized the threat from the Camorra or Neapolitan Mafia as part of its broader fight against transnational organized crime, and yesterday the Treasury Department designated five of its top leaders to a black list which "freezes any assets they may have within the jurisdiction of the United States and prohibits any transactions with them by U.S. persons" according to a press release for the agency:  "this action is designed to squeeze the Camorra out of the global financial system and protect the U.S. financial system from laundering of its criminal proceeds."

The five mobsters identified by the revenuers are the following:

Mario Caterino is a Camorra clan leader, identified at the time of his arrest in May 2011 as the second in command of the Casalesi clan. He is serving a life sentence in Italy for conspiracy and murder.

Giuseppe Dell’Aquila is described as the head of the Mallardo clan. He is believed to have played a key role in investing in and managing Camorra holding companies. Arrested in Italy in May 2011, he is serving a sentence for conspiracy, money laundering, robbery, and the receipt of stolen goods.

Paolo di Mauro was the third most wanted fugitive in Italy at the time of his arrest in Spain in January 2010. He is a leader of the Contini clan and is currently serving a 17-year sentence for conspiracy and murder.

Antonio Iovine is a leader of the Camorra’s Casalesi clan. He was arrested in November 2010 and is serving a life sentence for conspiracy and murder.

Michele Zagaria is a leader of the Casalesi clan and was captured by Italian authorities in December 2011 after 15 years as a fugitive.  He is serving a life sentence for conspiracy, murder, extortion, and robbery.

Now if only the Treasury Department similarly would create a domestic blacklist to squeeze American Mafia families out of the legitimate economy.

Earlier Coverage:

Treasury Department Blacklists El Azul

The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control has added reputed drug kingpin Juan Jose Esparragoza Moreno a/k/a El Azul and several related individuals to its blacklist which bans American citizens and companies from conducting any business with them as reported by Samuel Rubenfeld for The Wall Street Journal:  "El Azul, has used money from his involvement in the drug trade to build a network of businesses that includes a housing development, a shopping mall and an industrial park, Treasury said."

El Azul allegedly has been in the drug trade since the 1970s, and now is a top leader with the Sinaloa cartel headed by Forbes-listed billionaire Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

Meanwhile, the U.S. inexplicably refuses to establish a black list for its domestic mobsters which would prohibit anyone within the country from conducting business with them.  The Treasury Department clearly is engaging in protectionist measures on behalf of American gangsters by refusing to squeeze them out of the legitimate economy, and the Mexican drug cartels really should lodge a complaint with the World Trade Organization against the United States.

U.S. Gov't Launders China's Drug Money

U.S. ties with China is just all methed up!

The communist nation is a big supplier to the drug cartels of the precursor chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine, and within the last month Mexico has seized 534 tons of the stuff in three separate shipments from Shanghai, China as reported by The Associated Press:  "U.S. officials have noted that the Sinaloa cartel, Mexico's most powerful, has moved into meth production on an industrial scale."

You'd think China's pervasive role in the drug trade would trigger the Office of Foreign Assets Control within the Treasury Department to designate the red country as a drug kingpin.  The designation would freeze its American-based assets and prohibit U.S.-China trade.  But then the United States couldn't dump its bonds on China which props up our debt-ridden nation.  And so instead America willing continues to launder China's drug money.

Meanwhile, the Treasury Department today has "block[ed] any assets in the U.S. belonging to Lebanese-Colombian nationals Jorge Fadlallah Cheaitelly and Mohamad Zouheir El Khansa, and blocks Americans from doing business with them" after alleging they launder money for the Mexican and Colombia drug cartels as reported by The Associated Press:  "The Treasury Department said Cheaitelly leads a Panama-based drug trafficking and money laundering organization with operations as far as Hong Kong," and "El Khansa is seen as a key partner."