by Mark Emery
When she got past the checkpoint without issue, she practically melted in disbelief and relief!
Upon arriving home, she was so happy not to be in prison and I was so happy to have my ‘babies’.
It wasn’t long before I had a need for one of them.
We lived on a mountain top in the last house at the end of the road surrounded by a jungle in an exclusive development. Neighbors were near enough but none were in sight. The nearest ones were down the road a bit.
I had a 55 gallon barrel I wanted to use to burn trash in. But it wouldn’t burn without air flow and it needed some holes in the bottom to let air in to fuel the fires I wanted to burn. I tried punching holes but the metal was too heavy gauge for that to work. So I went and got one of my rifles. What better use for my amor piercing rounds? I wasn’t expecting any tanks to be coming up the hill anytime soon, especially since Costa Rica doesn’t even have a military.
So I got everything set up properly with the empty barrel up against a hill for a backdrop so there would be no errant bullets and I started shooting. It was LOUD. The sound reverberated through the mountain rainforest.
I was the new guy in the neighborhood and I can only imagine what people must have been thinking who were not too far off. Finally, one of the neighbors called to see what was going on and if everything was alright.
I explained and told her not to worry, but she didn’t quite understand. I heard later through the grapevine that the word going around was that ‘I was trying to start a fire with my rifle.” That surely must have made quite an impact on the neighbors as they tried to evaluate what kind of lunatic they had on their hands now.
In any event, I made myself known and with my amor piercing rounds and M1 carbines I was ‘Prepared Thoroughly’ for the job at hand and any other which might come later! I don’t think anyone around had any thoughts of messing with me!
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Business & banking for ‘Proper transactions’
Back in the good old days when tax havens were operating out in the open with global acceptance, the world was a fanciful place to be a freewheeling privacy seeker and you could set yourself up and move around with ease and freedom. That was a very nice world to live in.
However, things have changed quite a bit since then. The ’94 ‘deep state’, staged bomb attack of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City* triggered some long standing ‘anti-terrorist’ (read that, ‘anti-privacy’) legislation which was previously getting nowhere. This was one of the first dominos to fall in the war on privacy. For more on this see ‘One Freemans War…’
Remember Teddy Roosevelt’s famous words:
“In politics there is always a reason
for circumstances to exist.”
Without getting deep into the weeds on that discussion suffice it to say that since then, there has been a concerted attack on freedom and privacy worldwide.
The 9/11 demolition of the World Trade Center in 2001 triggered ‘The Patriot Act’ which, by no accident, was largely written before the WTC towers were professionally demolished under the guise of ‘foreign sponsored terrorism’. The Patriot Act, contrary to what the title might infer, targets ‘Patriots’ as it ushered in the new and improved surveillance state which gutted privacy rights all in favor of ‘security’ from ‘terrorists’.
The sad, or funny thing is, depending on how you look at it, is that the Act was promulgated under the guise of protecting the people ‘from’ terrorists, when the fact of the matter is, that the government now has the means to protect itself ‘from’ the people whom they consider are the ‘real terrorists’!
As it turns out, in the effort to drain the swamp the deep state does have quite a bit to be concerned about as it relates to ‘the people’ as they are currently being exposed, de-funded and de-fanged by a joint and elaborate multi-national effort from populist forces around the globe.
The OECD, (Organization of Economic Cooperation & Development) has continually applied legal, political and economic pressure on the so-called ‘tax haven’ countries to fall in line with this globalist effort. The objective has been to get the ‘tax havens’ to give up the ghost and start sharing information and charging ‘fair’ taxes. ‘Fair’ in this context is considered to be whatever high taxes the European or OECD countries charge, so they can’t be undercut by the competition which is working much more efficiently and attracting significant capital away from the slave ships of the ‘modern industrial world’ i.e. G-8 and OECD.
FATCA
To ensure that information on its wandering freedom seeking prisoners could be ‘shared’ and ‘fair taxes’ could be imposed, the US did it’s part by enacting FATCA which is the Financial Account & Tax Compliance Act which basically makes all banks globally an unpaid administrator for the IRS, whereby they spy and report on all Americans who have any accounts overseas.
FATCA requires all foreign banks to collect the Social Security number, passport, local address and more on their American clients along with other tax information and have the client sign various IRS disclosure forms when filling out the foreign bank account applications. Then, the foreign bank is required to store this data and make periodic reports back to the IRS on their American clients.
‘Balderdash’ you say! How does the IRS have the jurisdiction, or how does US Congress have the authority to make foreign entities bow to them?
They don’t. But here’s how they do it: They basically say to all banks around the world, “Hey banker! If you still intend to use the US dollar and use US correspondent intermediary banks for your bank wires, (which they all do for the most part) here’s what we require you to do: you will be our unpaid agent, collect the information, do our admin work for us, send us reports on our prisoners ‘er taxpayers on a regular basis and if you don’t, we’ll retain 30% of all the money you pass through our correspondent banks. Deal?
The foreign banks have only two choices; 1 - submit to the tyranny and start reporting their American clients, or 2 - just stop dealing with American clients altogether. Sadly, this is the option chosen for many institutions. Americans and their business are simply no longer welcome.
Either way, it’s bad for Americans.
FBAR
If The Patriot Act and FATCA were not enough of an insult to it’s own people, enter stage left the Foreign Bank Accounts Reporting requirement. The FBAR requires:
“Taxpayers with an interest in, or signature or other authority over, foreign financial accounts whose aggregate value exceeded $10,000 at any time … generally must file.”
So US Citizens’ banks abroad are reporting them as a result of legislative chicanery. FBAR now requires that US Citizens give up their privacy and 5th Amendment rights to be secure in their papers, personal effects and property. And if they don’t ‘self violate’ those rights voluntarily, they consider US Citizens to be criminals and will act accordingly.
Perhaps now you’re starting to see how the US passport is known as the most expensive passport in the world to hold. Perhaps you might even be seeing how it is more than that. It has become a serious liability for anyone who wants to be free in this world.
SARs
U.S. banks are now required to file ‘Suspicious Activity Reports’ on any transaction which involves $3000 or more in cash. If you withdraw $3500 cash to buy a used car, or anything it doesn’t matter what, you are being reported to FINCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network).
Cash is now deemed ‘suspicious’ and in many cases can be seized on a whim by law enforcement without any criminal charges ever being made. It’s a joke and ‘free money’ for the police. I’m not going into that here but be sure you inform yourself and do a search for ‘Civil Asset Forfeiture’ and read a few articles to know what is going on.
CTRs
A currency transaction report (CTR) is a report that U.S. financial institutions are re
quired to file with FinCEN for each deposit, withdrawal, exchange of currency, or other payment or transfer, by, through, or to the financial institution which involves a transaction in currency of more than $10,000.
So in today’s world;
- Any transaction over $10,000 is reported to FINCEN
- Any cash transaction of $3,000 or more is deemed suspicious and is reported to FINCEN
- Any foreign account opening for US passport holders is reported to the IRS via FATCA.
The New CRS
And with all of this the OECD was not satisfied. As of January 1, 2017 over 100 countries signed on to the ‘Common Reporting Standards’ which essentially is a global FATCA for other non-U.S. countries. Financial institutions will now give you a CRS form to complete to declare your tax residency. In other words, where you are required to pay your taxes. Your personal and account information will be sent by the financial institution to the tax authorities of the country of your ‘tax residency’ so that you cannot escape scrutiny and the blood hounds will be on to your ‘scent’.
But don’t worry. It’s all folly and intended to entrap the ignorant zombies of the world. Critical thinkers and smart entrepreneurs can easily render such efforts to have no impact whatsoever. There are ways to drop off the radar and avoid all of this which we’ll explore a little further on.
Offshore Companies and Banking
It used to be a simple matter of setting up an offshore company and bank account and that alone would provide sufficient privacy to manage your life and business without interference or molestation.
Not too long ago you could appoint (and still can to a lesser degree) nominee directors provided by the law firm you are using or you can come up with your own.
It was also common that many jurisdictions gladly offered ‘Bearer Shares’ so that the owner of the company was ‘whoever’ had the shares in their possession.
This isn’t done much anymore thanks to the strangulation efforts of the OECD and their offensive against privacy and low taxes. Let’s face it, the globalists don’t want anyone to be free and independent. They want everyone under surveillance and in their control. That’s the war we wage through no choice of our own.
These days the banks live in fear of the regulators and are happy to chase you and your business away simply to ‘stay safe’ with the regulators whom they are in bed with. They never say ‘no we don’t want your business’. What they do is give you a list of requirements and when you complete that list, they give you another one and they just keep asking for more documentation and more requirements to the point of absurdity until you just say ‘F*ck this!’ and you give up the account opening process altogether as being completely ridiculous and excessively onerous.
Dealing with the banks has become extremely frustrating to say the least. And with U.S. regulations, many foreign banks now are not even interested in dealing with clients who carry that ‘evil’ passport.
The above notwithstanding, in applying for a corporate bank account one must be prepared. This means having a clear picture of the purpose and expected activity that the company will have.
The bank will want to know things like:
What is the business activity of the company?
Who are the clients?
Where do the clients come from? Which country?
Are they consumers or other companies?
What is the average transaction size?
How many transactions might you expect in a month?
How many and how much in total deposits per month?
How many and how much in total withdrawals per month?
In other words, you’ll need to present the bank with a pretty complete corporate profile and then have your activity conform fairly closely to that profile. Sudden aberrations without notice could be cause for concern by the bank and put your account in question.
Once the account is opened, many banks are now requiring to see the invoices involved in supporting the underlying transactions for wire transfers in and out. They want to see supporting documentation underlying the transactions.
So the days of just opening an account and sending or receiving funds willy nilly are pretty much over.
Is Your Business Politically Correct?
If the above were not enough to discourage you before you even started, consider that payment platforms and many banks are requiring also that your business be politically correct before they entertain your business. Or even if you’d had years of stellar performance as a client, it can be decided overnight that your business is no longer welcome at the bank.
We have seen that companies which are ‘deemed’ to be non-compliant with the globalist agenda have had their accounts shut down for no valid reason if any reason at all.
Just recently we’ve seen PayPal shut down the account of Alex Jones and infowars.com. Across the board many gun manufacturers have had their accounts closed or denied simply due to the nature of the legal business they are in. Do a search for ‘gun manufacturers bank accounts closed’ and read up on it.
Christians are ‘High Risk’
You might be aware that I started a humanitarian foundation in Panama to help the needy and spread the good news of the gospel along the way. It’s called The Panama Christian Foundation or ‘PCF’.
We were denied bank accounts by several banks simply because they viewed ‘Christian’ organizations as a ‘high risk’ venture. We had a solid business model much more viable than the usual ministry begging for donations.
With the trouble we went through I swear we could have gotten accounts set up in the blink of an eye had our business model been gambling or porn. Those are ‘main stream businesses’ with high turnover. Christian missions, not so much. The bankers weren’t interested. Or, could we chalk it up to the globalists starting to put the squeeze on Christians and marginalizing us? We know that’s a part of the long term plan. I don’t know. You be the judge.
Banks are ‘De-Risking’
Here’s an excerpt from an interesting article on this subject from The Guardian:
“How would you feel if you were dumped by your bank with no explanation?
You’ve been a loyal customer for years, but then a letter arrives saying your bank has decided it will shut your accounts, and you will have to take your business elsewhere. No reason is given and the decision is final.
Guardian Money can reveal that the numbers of people being given the boot by their bank appear to have increased sharply. And Samuel (he didn’t want us to use his full name) is the latest person to be on the receiving end of this Kafkaesque treatment. Like many of those affected by this, he believes he is a victim of discrimination.
Samuel, a father of two preschool-age children who lives in Kent, contacted Money after NatWest told him he was being dumped. He’s been with the bank for more than 10 years, but it wrote to him on 12 January to say that it had, “with regret”, decided it would be closing his four personal accounts, plus the joint account he shares with his wife. The couple also have a NatWest mortgage, and the bank is “strongly recommending” that they give serious thought to moving it to another lender.
Samuel has been given 60 days to find a bank willing to take him on, though NatWest told him: “We will not be able to provide references for you.” In the meantime he must cut up and return his debit card.
So what, some will wonder, has Samuel done to merit being treated like a pariah? He told us he can’t think of any reason why the 71% taxpayer-owned bank is so keen to be shot of him, and says he and his family have been treated like “criminals”.
With the bank refusing to say anything about Samuel’s case, it’s hard to avoid concluding that NatWest, and some other banks, are dumping customers and organizations with links to countries about which they have concerns.
Samuel was born in Nigeria and moved to the
UK more than a decade ago. His full name is unmistakably of African origin, though he hasn’t been back to Nigeria for more than eight years. Notably, NatWest is now closing the accounts held solely by Samuel’s wife, who was born in mainland Europe. Both have permanent residence cards from the Home Office.
In March 2015, Money reported how economics professor Iraj Hashi had had his NatWest current account, savings accounts and credit card shut down with no explanation The only reason he could think of was that he was born in Iran.
Last April the Guardian related how a UK law firm was handling more than 60 companies by Iranian nationals who had had their UK accounts closed. Meanwhile the Guardian’s sister paper the Observer last year reported on the case of Mohammad Rahman, who had his bank accounts frozen and then closed by Barclays.
You can perhaps see a theme here: many of those affected are of Asian or African origin. So what’s going on? Welcome to the secretive world of bank “de-risking”.
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I had the same thing happen to a U.S. bank account held by an LLC I set set up there. There were several years of solid activity and never a problem of any kind.
Without notice or inquiry they sent me a letter saying that according to their account agreement they can close the account anytime for any or no reason and they offered none. They just said, ‘you have 30 days to clear out the account and wrap things up. See ya!’
I was using a debit card drawing on the account and those transactions were typically for charges and ATMs in Panama. I could only figure, ‘De-Risking’.
‘Yes Go Ahead’!
While living and doing business in Costa Rica I had a scam artist try to get me to send him money and he’d guarantee it with a check which he instructed me to hold for ‘collateral’. The check was for $100,000 and was drawn on an international bank against the account of Chevron in Lagos Nigeria. Chevron of course is a big international oil company, one of many which are very actively doing big business in the oil rich OPEC country of Nigeria. The scamster was from Nigeria. The ‘advance’ he wanted was much less than the amount of the check but still a nice amount for ‘free money’.
