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While the ongoing controversy over the dangers of East Caribbean jurisdictions issuing CBI and diplomatic passports to Iranians, Chinese, Russian organized crime members, and financial criminals continue to concern compliance officers at international banks located in North America, and Europe, there is news of a greater danger. A trusted source, with close links to Palestinian organizations, has stated that a large number of Dominica and Grenada passports have been issued to Hamas agents.
Hamas is a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization with a thirty year record of committing terrorist acts against civilians, including Americans. Passport holders from Dominica & Grenada, as members of the Commonwealth of Nations, which includes most former British possessions and territories, each have visa-free access to dozens of countries, from which terrorist operations could be launched against Western interests, and nationals.
COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS
The fact that Palestinian Arab names must be transliterated into English in the Latin alphabet, thereby giving the passport holder a new identity, not known or appearing on any terrorist watch list, to foil any counter-terrorist investigation that might have revealed the risks posed by the holders, whose new passport names, when searched in any law enforcement or intelligence service database, will come up clean, even if the holder is OFAC-sanctioned, or a fugitive from justice.
The continual failure of both Dominica and Grenada to observe transparency, and provide the private sector with complete lists of all their CBI & diplomatic passport holders, past & present, poses a clear and present danger of increased terrorist financing, Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) proliferation, and money laundering in support of global terrorist operations. Both Western law enforcement agencies, and compliance officers at international banks, must have accurate and complete lists, with images of the passports, to suppress the above financial crimes.
Have any of these passports been employed, by Hamas agents, to gain entry into the nations of North America, and Europe ? We cannot say, but obtaining that information, forthwith, is critical to the suppression of terrorist financing, and the early identification of Hamas' terrorist targets, so that they may be interdicted, prior to implementation.
If there ever was a valid reason for the governments of Dominica and Grenada to publish the CBI/Diplomatic passport lists, this is it. Of course, the scandals which may follow, when the voters of these two countries learn that criminals and terrorist bought their passports, could bring down those governments, but they appear to already need a government change, due to rampant corruption.
Who has those passports ?
Chronicles of Monte Friesner - Financial Crime Analyst
Contributed by Kenneth Rijock - Financial Crime Consultant
