Canadian lawyer practising in TCI arrested for money laundering in the USA
By Hayden Boyce, Editor-in-Chief From Turks & Caicos Sun
A Canadian lawyer who has been practising in the Turks and Caicos Islands is now in custody in the United States of America after he was arrested and charged for money laundering as part of a sting operation by undercover Federal Agents who even came to the TCI as part of their investigation.
Patrick Poulin, a partner in the law firm Bishops which is located in the Salt Mills Plaza, Grace Bay. According to the Bishops website, the law firm which was based in Turks and Caicos Islands, since 1976, Bishops, provides “high-end legal services to businesses and individuals internationally in our core competency fields of Property (Real Estate) Law, Corporate Law, Complex Litigation, Trusts and International Taxation. Poulin is listed as one of the partners along with Christian Papachristou, while attorneys Arthur Bishop and Tim Prudhoe are listed as “of counsel”.
Poulin, who spent his time between Turks and Caicos Islands and Canada, was charged with money laundering along with two asset managers Eric St-Cyr and Joshua VanDyk, who are based in the Cayman Islands.
The three men were arrested on March 12th following an undercover operation during which Mr. St-Cyr, managing director at Clover Asset Management, and Mr. VanDyk, wealth management adviser at the same firm, allegedly agreed to launder criminal proceeds, as well as other funds, for the purpose of tax evasion.
Mr. VanDyk, an American citizen, has been released on bail after posting a $250,000 bond. Mr. St-Cyr and Mr. Poulin, both Canadian citizens, remain in custody.
According to the indictment filed under seal with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia six days prior to the arrests, Mr. VanDyk and Mr. St-Cyr met with three undercover agents on March 7, 2013, in Miami.
The document, which was obtained by The SUN, said the three men “did knowingly combine, conspire, and agree with each other and with other persons known and unknown to the Grand Jury to launder monetary instruments in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956, to wit: with the intent to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, and control, of property believed to be the proceeds of specified unlawful activity, to knowingly conduct a financial transaction affecting interstate and foreign commerce involving property represented by a law enforcement officer, who is known to the Grand Jury, to be proceeds of specified unlawful activity, that is, bank fraud”.
The document said “it was the object of the conspiracy for defendants to create layers of transactions in foreign commerce through which their U.S. clients could launder criminal proceeds and it was also the object of the conspiracy for defendants to use the layers of transactions in foreign commerce to falsely disclaim knowledge of the fact that their clients were U.S. citizens who were using their services to launder criminal proceeds.
Outlining the manner and means used to accomplish the objectives of the conspiracy included, the court document stated that defendants VANDYK and ST-CYR would and did solicit U.S. citizens to use their services to hide assets from the U.S. government. VANDYK and ST-CYR would and did advise U.S. citizens to create offshore foundations with the assistance of defendant POULIN and others. POULIN would and did establish offshore foundations on behalf of U.S. citizens, and would and did serve as a nominal board member of such foundations in lieu of the U.S. citizens. U.S. citizens would and did cause moneys to be wired from the United States to fund the foundations. POULIN would and did transfer wire payments from offshore foundations to the Cayman Islands, whereupon defendants VANDYK and ST-CYR would and did cause such moneys to be invested outside of the United States.
The Caymanian company did not disclose the investments, or any investment gains, on behalf of their U.S. citizen clients to the U.S. government. Company C also did not provide monthly statements or other investment statements to their clients. However, clients of the company were able to monitor their investments on-line through the use of anonymous, numeric passcodes. Then, upon request from U.S. citizen clients, defendants VANDYK and ST-CYR would and did cause the Company to liquidate investments and transfer moneys, through defendant POULIN, back to the United States.
STING OPERATION
According to the court papers, on or about March 7, 2013, defendants VANDYK and ST-CYR met with three undercover agents in Miami, Florida. One of the agents had a pre-existing relationship with VANDYK in which he had assumed the identity of a wealthy U.S. citizen who was interested in offshore investing without reporting investment income to U.S. authorities.
Another agent assumed the identity of a financial planner who represented numerous U.S. citizens, including the two other agents. The third agent assumed the identity of a U.S. citizen who was looking for ways to launder criminal proceeds and avoid taxes.
During the meeting on or about March 7, 2013, defendants VANDYK and ST-CYR explained that Company does not take on U.S. clients directly, but that the company took on U.S. clients by having those clients create corporations, trusts, and foundations in foreign jurisdictions, by moving money through such entities and eventually into the Cayman Islands, and by using foreign attorneys as intermediaries for such transactions. VANDYK and ST-CYR also indicated that clients of the Company like the fact that nothing the Company does touches the United States.
During the meeting on or about March 7, 2013, one of the undercover agents told defendants VANDYK and ST-CYR that another agent had defrauded a bank in the United States and was looking to move the proceeds of that fraud offshore.
On or about July 16, 2013, defendant VANDYK met with the two agents in San Francisco, California. During this meeting, the agent reiterated that he was looking to move the proceeds of his bank fraud scheme in his dealings with VANDYK and ST-CYR. VANDYK indicated that this was acceptable to the co-conspirators so long as the money was not linked to drugs or terrorism. VANDYK recommended that the two agents use POULIN as an intermediary in getting the other undercover agent’s money out of the United States.
On or about September 11, 2013, two of the agents met defendant POULIN in Quebec, Canada. During this meeting, POULIN indicated that most of his clients were U.S. and Canadian citizens. POULIN explained that he could set up an offshore foundation for one of the agent’s money, and that the two other agents would not be identified as members or advisors of the foundation.
During the meeting on or about September 11, 2013, one agent explained to defendant POULIN that another agent had obtained approximately $2 million by defrauding a financial institution in the United States. The agent indicated that the proceeds of the fraud were held in several limited liability corporations in the United States. The third agent indicated that he wished to move the money offshore so that it would not be linked to the bank fraud, and that he wanted to begin by moving $200,000 of the bank fraud proceeds to the Cayman Islands Company C through POULIN.
UNDERCOVER AGENTS MEET IN TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS
On or about December 11, 2013, two of the undercover agents met with one of defendant POULIN’s law partners in the Turks and Caicos, with POULIN participating by teleconference.
During this meeting, at the instruction of POULIN and his law partner, the two agents executed paperwork allowing POULIN to establish an offshore foundation called “Zero Exposure Inc.”
On or about December 17, 2013, the agent caused $200,000, represented to be part of the proceeds ofUCA-3’s bank fraud, to be wired from a Bank of America, N.A. (“Bank of America”) account established in Arlington, Virginia, within the Eastern District of Virginia, account number ending in 6189, to an escrow account of defendant POULIN’s law firm in Turks and Caicos. On or about December 18, 2013, defendant POULIN confirmed receipt of the $200,000. On or about the same date, “Zero Exposure Inc.” foundation was established in Turks and Caicos.
On or about December 18, 2013, defendant POULIN caused $200,000 to be wired from Turks and Caicos to the Cayman Islands. On or about December 31, 2013, defendants VANDYK and ST-CYR confirmed receipt of the $200,000 and began to invest and manage the money on behalf of the two agents. On or about January 12, 2014, defendant POULIN caused a package to be sent via international mail from Quebec, Canada, to an address in Arlington, Virginia, within the Eastern District of Virginia. The package contained a form that identified the undercover agent as a beneficial owner of”Zero Exposure Inc.,” and authorized transfer of the entirety of the $2 million that the third agent had represented to be the proceeds of his bank fraud scheme to Turks and Caicos and thereafter to an account with Company C in the Cayman Islands.
The Court document also revealed that on or about January 16, 2014, two agents met defendants VANDYK and ST-CYR in the Cayman Islands. During this meeting, VANDYK and ST-CYR indicated that use of a foundation as intermediary was the preferable process for money laundering, while use of a trust intermediary was sufficient for tax evasion. VANDYK and ST-CYR also indicated that they would charge clients more to launder criminal proceeds than to assist in tax evasion.
At the meeting on or about January 16, 2014, defendants VANDYK and ST-CYR agreed to return the $200,000 in bank fraud proceeds that was transferred through defendant POULIN to the Cayman Islands so that the two federal agents could see how the money would come back into the United States before engaging in further business with VANDYK, ST-CYR, and POULIN.
On or about January 16, 2014, defendant ST-CYR, and the two agents called defendant POULIN, who agreed to serve as an intermediary in returning the $200,000 in bank fraud proceeds to the United States.
On or about February 3, 2014, defendants VANDYK and ST-CYR caused the undercover agent’s investments to be liquidated and caused $197,115.68 to be wired from the Cayman Islands to Turks and Caicos. On or about February 14, 2014, defendant POULIN caused $197,115.68 to be wired from Turks and Caicos to a Branch Banking and Trust Company (“BB&T”) account for an entity based in Chesterfield, Virginia, within the Eastern District of Virginia, account number.
For more on this story go to:
See also iNews Cayman story published March25 2014 “[Cayman] Caribbean-based advisers charged in money-laundering sting” at: http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/cayman-caribbean-based-advisers-charged-in-money-laundering-sting/
And:
iNews Cayman story published March 20 2014 under iNews Briefs “Cayman Islanders arrested in US for money laundering” at: http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/inews-briefs-81/
