Let’s take a look at some of the laws that this disappointing but often used jurisdiction has. But before we go any further, let’s point out that the capital city, Belize City has one paved road 3 or 4 blocks long. You’re in a third world here with lots of internet, power and phone blackouts. Belize is often hit by hurricanes. The stability of the regime in Belize is questionable because they have had regime changes in recent years and the new regime does not respect the economic citizenship and passport of the previous regime. Food for thought about how things operate in Belize. Also in Belize you’re usually dealing with offshore licensed only banks that can’t do business with residents of the country – not very convincing right? More details below:
The Belize Money Laundering (Prevention) Act, 1996 defines money laundering (the way we think broadly) as:
Engage, directly or indirectly, in a transaction involving property that is the proceeds of a crime, knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe the same is the proceeds of a crime; or receive, possess, manage, invest, conceal, disguise, dispose of or bring to Belize any property that is the proceeds of crime, knows or has reasonable reason to believe the same is the proceeds of crime. Under Belize law, money laundering is also considered an offense for any legal purpose relating to the extradition or surrender of a fugitive.
The law stipulates that anyone who is involved in or who attempts, assists, abets, advises, or obtains a commission, or who conspires to commit the crime of money laundering is guilty of an offence. The above also includes persons who at the time of committing a crime acted in an official capacity for or on behalf of an entity of persons (whether a corporation or not a legal entity) or admitted to acting in that capacity. However, if these persons provide evidence showing that the offense was committed without their knowledge, consent or confidentiality, the charges may be dropped.
The penalties imposed on those convicted of money laundering can be in the form of a fine, ranging from US$12,500 to $50,000, or a prison term of 3-6 years, or a combination of a fine and imprisonment.
The law also creates a violation of disclosing facts or other information to others where the investigation is likely to be prejudiced (think tips from the subject of the investigation) by a person who knows or suspects that a money laundering investigation has been conducted, is being, or will be conducted, is punishable by a fine. not more than US$25,000, or imprisonment for not more than 3 years, or both. So don’t expect a Belizean bank to tell you that someone is asking about your account.
Forgery, concealment, destruction or destruction of any document or material which may be relevant to a money laundering investigation or an order made in accordance with the provisions of this Act is punishable by a fine of not more than US$50,000 or a maximum imprisonment of 5 years or both.
An application can be made to the Supreme Court of Belize to freeze property, or property owned or under the control of a person who has been indicted or will be charged with a criminal offense of money laundering, regardless of where the property is located. lies, if the property is suspected to be the proceeds of crime, do you think Belizean banks might like this happening so they can sit on your money for years to collect interest and not pay interest?
After a person is found guilty of a criminal act of money laundering, the court may order that the property, proceeds or instruments originating from or related to or related to the criminal act be destroyed and destroyed in the manner ordered by the Minister. So if they say you do money laundering, you lose your money. Sounds good doesn’t it.
However, all prosecutions, actions, demands or other proceedings brought for any offense, or for the recovery of a fine, sentence or confiscation, must be made within 5 years after the date the infringement was committed or the cause of action obtained.
Reporting Requirements (It’s getting worse!)
In addition to reporting “suspicious transactions” to the Central Bank of Belize, which is required by law, Belizean financial institutions adhere to the “know your client” principle, and they also carry out the necessary due diligence exercises. This means banks in Belize have to report you if they see anything they think is suspicious and remember if the money is confiscated by the government, it may be kept in the bank for several years to collect interest for the bank. Think about conflicts of interest and remember that money laundering is far from a clear definition in the law, it is too broad and can include anything they want.
The law provides for the following as examples of “suspicious transactions”: ‘complex, unusual or large business transactions, unusual patterns of transactions whether or not completed, all unusual transactions, and significant but periodic transactions, which are not have a clear economic or legal purpose. ‘ Sounds like it covers whatever they want. What is a complex transaction or a large transaction anyway?
If a financial institution or its employees, staff, directors, owners or other authorized representatives knowingly fail to report these types of transactions or knowingly make false or false reports about them, they may be charged with criminal offenses. A financial fine of no more than US$25,000 may be imposed, and the financial institution’s license may also be suspended or revoked, if found liable.
The Central Bank of Belize evaluates all reports of “suspicious transactions” and after concluding there are reasonable grounds that money laundering offenses are being, has or will be committed, they will then refer the transactions to law enforcement authorities for investigation. and eventual prosecution. Note it says if the Central Bank thinks that a violation will be committed, they can make a preemptive strike and take your money just in case they think you intend to break the law someday but haven’t had the chance to do so yet.
If there are reasonable grounds to believe that a breach or violation of this Act may have occurred, the Central Bank also has the authority to examine the records of business transactions, make any inquiries relevant to those records, and make any records or make any copies thereof. . all or part of such records during the normal business hours of the financial institution, and may pass on such information to law enforcement authorities. This means there are no personal business records in Belize.
International cooperation
Belize is a member of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force, an organization of Caribbean States that has joined “to develop and share the latest intelligence on money laundering and other financial crime techniques used in the Caribbean region and elsewhere.” The organization works closely with the world’s leading anti-money laundering authority, The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering, whose principles are shared by Belize.
The law makes provisions for cooperation between courts or other competent authorities in Belize and the courts or other competent authorities of other States on matters relating to the crime of money laundering in accordance with the Belize Money Laundering (Prevention) Act, 1996, and within the boundaries of the legal system concerned.
Belize is a party to the 1988 United Nations Drug Convention and is a member of the Inter-United States Drug Abuse Control Organization (OAS/CICAD) Expert Group to Control Money Laundering. The United States and Belize signed the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) in September 2000. Belize also has a Tax Treaty with the United States
Belize owns Bearer Share Corporations but they are not as anonymous as Panama and operate differently. Here again we see Belize’s laws are full of loopholes to invade privacy freely. Registration for a company in Belize is through a registered agent, not a lawyer so forget the client attorney privileges. Registered agents do their due diligence so they know the owner of the corporation. Belize’s Money Laundering Act and the Belize Code of Conduct require disclosure of this identification. Now here’s the gap. The only documents presented for public filing at the Registry of Corporations in Belize are the Memorandum and Articles of Association. The Belize Financial Intelligence Unit and the Belize International Financial Services Commission are two organizations in Belize that have free access to company records including ownership filed with agents and they can obtain this information freely, no court order is required and you will not know what information is called your secret was once obtained by them and given to another country who knows what’s with it. You are one small step removed from the public database and the door to a vast fishing expedition is wide open.
In Panama there is just plain and simple no registration with any ownership records for a stock-carrying company, so no one can access something that doesn’t exist. It is true that lawyers can be contacted who make up the corporation in Panama but this would require serious litigation to violate the client’s attorney’s privileges, with multiple causes and of course the attorney would be obliged to defy the court order. Panama has 400,000 companies registered there, most of which would leave immediately if the courts violated privacy. Each company pays $300 in taxes a year, which is $120 million in total and this is for a country of 2.9 million people. The Panama Canal only netted Panama about $335 million and required 9,000 employees. How many people does it take to run a company’s filing department, maybe 200. Panama is a country that’s very unlikely to violate corporate privacy. The attorney in Panama may only have knowledge of the person who formed the company, not knowledge of others he or she may have transferred to since its formation. Such transfers do not need to be reported and the new owners do not need to be listed anywhere they just need to physically own the shares of the corporation. The new owner may live outside Panama, the new owner may be a company, foundation or trust in another country, etc. making any path very difficult, time consuming, expensive and generally not worth following for most people especially when you consider that no one really knows how many times ownership may have been transferred.
Does this sound like a jurisdiction you want to use for anything? We consider Belize to be a ridiculous jurisdiction with no protection or protection, avoid this one.