Hiding your money away from your enemies

The first thing to realize about a "secret account" sometimes

referred to by the euphemism "offshore account" is that in

order to be kept secret from your potential enemies

(creditors and tax collectors) it must be kept secret from

everyone. Generally speaking, a stranger you meet at a bar

isn't the person who turns you in to a tax collector or

otherwise blows the whistle on you. Besides Big Brother,

your potential enemies include your spouse, lover(s), your

business associates or partners, your own kids. These days,

you must add to the list of potential informants against you,

your accountant or lawyer. Your accountant, lawyer,

stockbroker or local banker in many jurisdictions, particularly

the USA, is personally liable for criminal prosecution if he has

knowledge of any concealment of assets, tax frauds etc; if

your own hired hands don't turn you in they may be

breaking the law.

New regulations make these professionals in your home

country little more than government agents. They are like

deputy sheriffs. If you don't want sheriff Big Brother to know

exactly what you are doing then for heaven's sake don't tell

the deputy sheriffs. These professionals are not on your side.

Because of laws that will take away their licenses, livelihood

and possibly their freedom, they have been co-opted. They

are now in the enemy camp. As such, accountants and

lawyers are the last persons you should trust with sensitive

information or from whom to seek advise on "offshore

matters". Bottom line? You must now establish your secret

offshore accounts or secret asset stashes without telling

anyone in your home country, and especially without telling

anyone in the above categories.

The second thing to realize is that in most countries of the

first world, where the vast majority of readers live, every

citizen is forced to have and use a fiscal identification

number. Not using this number or giving a false number is

usually an offense in itself. Countries not having such a

system are contemplating it. Only recently have Spain and

Australia adopted the policy of requiring a fiscal ID number

for everyone. In Spain, even tourists who want a telephone,

electric service or a local bank account must obtain a fiscal

number. In the USA, it's now a major felony crime to use the

wrong number by mistake (accidently on purpose),

transpose figures or otherwise attempt to defeat the system.

In case you had any doubt, there is no such thing as financial

privacy in most of our own countries any more. The unique

number assigned to you alone enables the government or a

creditor to identify and seize any asset in the jurisdiction

belonging to you, even if it is deposited in a variant of your

name. In the UK, we do not have a system like this, but what

is in the pipe line?

If you want any protection at all against arbitrary seizure, any

"secret" account must be in a foreign country where you

neither live, do business, have a home, nor have any other

connection, property or business interests, aside from the

account itself. This assures that the government in the country

where your bank account or other assets are deposited has

no tax or other claims against you.

Your address, as known to the foreign bank should not be

your home address, but rather a mail drop in a third country.

This third country is preferably a banking and tax haven

unlikely ever to have any information-exchanging treaty or

mutual assistance on collections treaty with the country where

you bank or where you live. There is always the possibility

that a foreign country with no prior tradition of co-operating

with the enemy will adopt a new policy. If you have the

insulation of three countries you are safer: A) Passport

country. B) Maildrop country of presumed residence C)

Banking country. All these plus a new name give plenty of

insulation.

Your new account must not be established with funds

transferred directly from any bank or source in your home

country that is traceable to you. In other words, if you want

something to be a secret, don't leave a paper trail. Above all,

your new account, if it is to be a secret, should be known

only to yourself and your new banker. You must not ever

keep paperwork, statements, nor even the name and address

or telephone number of your secret offshore bank written

down or on your person. How do you remember it? The

information must be in a code that is not obvious and easily

broken. Mirror writing, or writing backwards is so obvious

even a child could decode it. Information should definitely

not be kept in a safety deposit box in your home country.

Such boxes can be easily opened by a creditor or tax

collector without your authorization. A box in a foreign

country, especially if it is kept in a different name is secure, if

you don't identify it for your potential enemies

Your new account itself, for extra safety, should not be in

your own name. Your new bankers should not know your real

country of origin (birth), citizenship, residence, nor anything

about you to enable them to link you with your true identity

and citizenship. One possibility for buffering or insulation, is

to use a "banking passport" or other alternate identity

documents in order to be able to establish and access funds

in a totally unrelated name. Another possibility (less good if

the entity is linked to you), is to use a corporation, trust,

holding company or foundation to screen your identity.

Perhaps the most secure is a combination of both. If a bank

account is held in the name of the XYZ Foundation, and the

signer is Joe Doaks (not you), you have created a three tier

impenetrable situation for creditors or tax collectors.

Needless to say, all is lost if you open your big mouth and

tell a potential informant (like your business partner, wife, or

best friend) about your clever method of concealing your

assets.

Open a foreign bank account with no papertrail leading back to you

The only way to eliminate a paper trail is to go

in to your new bank personally or through a

lawyer and open your account with untraceable

cash or a commodity like gold. As many banks

around the world are required by their

governments to restrict or report the amount of

cash they accept from new accounts, it may be

necessary to either open a number of small

accounts and later consolidate them, or to take

really high sacks of cash into banks in those

remaining few jurisdictions that don't care about

conforming to Big Brother's wishes.

In Switzerland currently, most banks will accept

a maximum of 100,000 Swiss Francs from a new

customer. This is around œ45,000. Accordingly, to

open a Swiss account with œ1,000,000 in it, it

would be necessary to make 25 trips, or to open

around 25 different accounts in cash at various

branches or other Swiss banks and later combine

them into one big account.

Once you have a personal relationship with a

banker, however, he can make special arrangements

with you (regarding confidential movements of

cash) everywhere in the world - of course not in

those countries where Big Brother and the Bureau

Rats are in total control. An established

customer in Switzerland can deal in unlimited

amounts of cash if the banker feels his client's

source of funds is legal.

Second best for breaking the paper trail is

perhapes bearer securities. These are simply

shares of companie or bonds that are issued to

bearer. The companu has no record of who the

owner is. They are outlawed in the USA, but

available everywhere else. One deposits bearer

securities with the new bank and tells the new

bank either to hold them, or to sell them and

deal with the proceeds as directed. With bearer

securities there is a potential trail (very

difficult to follow) if you bought the bearer

securities in your own name through a stockbroker

or bank. Thus it is best to explain to the

stockbroker when you buy, that your objective is

confidentiality. A good stockbroker will arrange

for an anonymous purchase.

A third possibility is to purchase something (an

object or commodity) that you know can be shipped

abroad and sold. Gold, rare coins, stamps,

jewelry, antiques, art works - all these are

possibilities. But if you are in a hurry, nothing

works  as well as cash. But even cash takes up a

lot of space in a suitcase if you use sterling

(largest note is œ50), or dollars (largest note

is 100 dollars).

Which countries have the largest denomination

notes?: most people believe it is Switzerland.

Their 1,000 franc note is worth around 750 US

dollars. Canada also has a 1,000 dollar note

worth about 800 US dollars. But Singapore , with

a strong, well accepted currency has 10,000

dollar notes in common circulation. They are

worth closer to 7,000 US dollars. Using Singapore

banknotes, 14 million is US dollars value can be

crammed into an ordinary attache case, and 1

million US dollars can be stuffed into a pocket

or belly money-belt.

Transit accounts: Aside from cash, the simplest

way to break the paper trail from a practical

point of view is to use transit accounts.

Briefly, a transit account is simply an account

in a different name (perhaps a corporation), and

in a country with bank secrecy. Funds are routed

through two or three such accounts. Investigators

usually can't be bothered to go through the legal

procedures in foreign countries which can take an

average of six months per account. Since most

banks don't care much for bank robbers, drug

dealers etc. they will usually give much faster,

voluntary co-operation where evidence is given

that the money comes from these illicit sources.

How to open a foreign bank account without a bank reference

Most bankers want a reference on you mainly "for

the record" The world is full of swindlers and

con men who pretend to be someone else in order

to divert (i.e. steal) funds that don't belong to

them. Bankers do not need the aggravation of

being involved with customers who immerse them in

litigation or unfavorable publicity.

If you come in with a simple story, explaining

why you want a secret account and if you plan no

fancy or illegal financial shenanigans, most

banks in offshore banking centers will accept

your account upon a mere showing of a passport.

Most individuals with  tax or domestic problems

do not want any foreign banks contacting any

professionals or bankers in their home country.

If you mention the common problems of possible

divorce and the avoidance of confiscatory

taxation, most "offshore" bankers will give you

an understanding ear. None will ever want to be

helpful to common criminals, terrorists, drug

dealers etc. If they are hard nosed or do not

like your looks or smell, they may insist on some

sort of letter of introduction or reference. For

a reference letter that will be acceptable

everywhere, often it is possible to look up the

name of an accountant or lawyer in the country of

your banking passport (if you are using a

different name and details to your own, and have

certain identity pertaining to this new

identity), and to obtain a letter addressed" To

whom it may concern". This letter says merely

that "Mr. Curt Customer has been a valued client

for X years and is highly recommended". If you

mention to your new banker that you wish to keep

your new account a secret from everyone in your

home country, the banker - if he has any sense of

ethics, will never check your reference. You can

point-blank ask him if he intends to call your

reference giver, and if he says yes, then say,

you'll have to take your business elsewhere as

you'd regard this as a serious breach of your

confidentiality. Normally, your new banker has

his document "for the file", and that is enough

for him.

If your new potential banker does not like your

looks, your attitude, or the fact that you are

starting off by bringing in large sums of cash,

he may reject your business. Thus it is best to

make an appointment well in advance, come in to

merely discuss the possibility of opening a

substantial account. Then shut up and let the

banker sell you. Perhaps you make the first

deposit with a small amount of cash, say œ10,000.

If you need to deposit more, use cheques you have

purchased for cash or travelers cheques acquired

at another bank in the same town, made payable to

your name (or new name if using one different to

yours), and once your account has been accepted,

made to the order of your new bank.

After an account is once opened, it is easier to

feed it with cash (even in a country where cash

deposits are monitored or restricted) by making a

larger number of smaller cash deposits in other

branches of the same bank and also by depositing

cheques you have purchased for cash. Or you can

make several cash deposits to new accounts at

other banks and then consolidate by making bank

transfers from other banks in the same town. You

can simply ask at a branch if there are any

restrictions or reporting requirements in that

particular country in connection with cash

deposits.

We suggest you might have favorable answers in

Andorra, Belgium, Luxembourg, Gibralter, Germany,

and Austria - to name a few names, but be careful

in any EU country which since July 1992 has to

report any amount over 15,000 ECU's (œ10,000)

paid in or out in cash.

The Ten Privacy Tenets

1) Do not let anyone know where you actually live

and sleep. Preferably, you should actively

mislead people about where you live.

2) Do not let anybody get to know your personal

details. Keep your name out of all government

computers. Do not receive any packages or

sensitive mail in your home.

3) Take care when using the telephone. Use codes

in faxes and letters.

4) Do not have your vehicle registered in your

own name. Consider having a spare set of

wheels with license plates, insurance papers

and so on in a pen name in a foreign country.

5) Do not keep serious assets in either your home

country, your official domicile nor in your

actual country of habitation.

6) Do have a place besides your home (self

storage, garage or similar) where you keep

sensitive documents, an extra set of credit

cards, spare cash and - if possible - spare

identity papers.

7) Do have at least one anonymous, offshore

corporation that holds title to some assets,

especially bank accounts. Offshore

corporations should, in turn, be owned by a

trust.

8. Do take pains to let foreign lawyers and

bankers "get to know you" under an assumed

name. These people may later be useful if you

need professional references for your

alternative identity. Or use a banking

passport.

9) Do have a minimum of two mail drops. One near

the country where you live and one in another

far away country. Test mail drops periodically

for efficiency and honesty.

10) Do stave to persistently compartmentalize

both your business and private affairs so that

one slip-up does not set a "domino effect" in

motion. Do not use a maildrop for your bank

accounts and financial affairs. Have your bank

hold all mail at its office.

Do not have and sensitive information or

purchases forwarded from a maildrop to your home

or business address - have it mailed either to a

hotel in a different city or to a helpful,

understanding friend. Hotels are better, by far.

Yes, it is a tad more time-consuming - but why on

earth risk shooting yourself in the foot.

The only barriers that will protect you against

your fellow man are those you put there yourself.

How and why to avoid using cheques

Whereas cash is virtually untraceable, cheques

provide investigating authorities with perhaps

the most complete set of opportunities for

finding out who paid what to whom, when - and by

asking around, perhaps also why.

Both the face and the back of any cleared cheque

is stored for posterity on microfilm, giving away

the following information to those who may care

to look: name and location of issuing bank,

account number on which cheque was drawn, issuing

date, amount, to whom the cheque was made out to,

and a nice copy of the signature of the account

owner.

The back of the cheque will likewise show the

signature of whoever cashed or deposited the

cheque plus, if applicable, the signature of the

original recipient who later endorsed it and,

lastly either number of the ID (passport, driving

license) used to cash the cheque or the number of

the account to which the cheque was deposited.

Now isn't that nice - if you write a cheque on an

account later established to be owned by you, not

only may any remaining funds in the account be

seized, liened or attached but microfilm copies

of all cheques ever drawn on the account may be

easily procured and investigated.

That is why, if you do not want anyone to know

where you live, you should never use a cheque to

pay your rent - not even once. If the account is

ever discovered to be connected to you then the

police, tax authorities or private investigator

will have a direct lead to your landlord and,

                                                       through him, to your physical whereabouts.

                                                       Reversely, anyone receiving a cheque from you may

                                                       opt to make a photocopy of it before depositing

                                                       it and will in this fashion retain information

                                                       about your bank account. If you use a cheque to

                                                       make the first few instalments on, say, rent or a

                                                       loan that you later fail to keep up, the clever

                                                       creditor or landlord will be in a position to

                                                       furnish a court with all the information that is

                                                       necessary to freeze ot seize your account and

                                                       everything in it. If you pay your maildrop by

                                                       cheque, you have totally blown your cover.

                                                      

                                                      

                                                       To further elaborate on the problems this may

                                                       cause you, suppose you are in another country and

                                                       pay something by a cheque drawn on an account

                                                       which, unbeknown to you, has been frozen in your

                                                       absence. As a foreigner, you will most likely

                                                       have to show your passport for the cheque to be

                                                       accepted and your passport number will be noted

                                                       on the back. When the cheque later turns out to

                                                       be bad, the person on the receiving end of the

                                                       bad cheque will be in a position to give local

                                                       authorities your passport number - which may

                                                       result in your being apprehended at the airport

                                                       the next time you either enter or leave the

                                                       country (the latter provided that computer checks

                                                       are made of passport numbers on departing that

                                                       country).

                                                       

                                                      

                                                       Now, you may not wish to live without cheques

                                                       although it is perfectly possible and much safer.

                                                       But take all relevant precautions. You should

                                                       fully realise that whenever you write a cheque,

                                                       you implicitly give anyone in a position to

                                                       investigate either your own account or that

                                                       belonging to the recipient of the cheque, a

                                                       veritable carte blanche to persue the connection

                                                       between you and him very thoroughly. The worst

                                                       part of it is that it may not even be you

                                                       yourself who needs to make a mistake - someone

else may make the mistake for you, opening a

Pandora's box of grief for you. Let us say that

you paid a solicitor for services rendered - by

cheque. Unfortunately, the solicitor turns out to

be crooked and in cahoots with parts of the

underworld. Investigators poring over his

financial records and bank accounts notice that

you made a payment to their suspect. This, in

turn, may lead to your phone being tapped and

your mail intercepted and examined to see if you

too are connected to the underworld. Have you

anything to hide?

On the other hand, you may still use cheques to

move money from A to B without a record of use to

anyone being created by this. One example is that

you move money into a secret, offshore bank

account a lot easier than going there in person

by sending cheques to your bank - as long as you

use Cashiers Cheques that you have obtained

without disclosing your identity or presenting

any ID whatsoever.

Travelers cheques would also be useful if you

were eventually paying them into an offshore

account of your own: check out whether you have

to sign them in front of the cashier at the point

of purchase. Failing that, the good old fashioned

postal order; find out the latest maximum value

of the highest order, bought without ID and

acceptable paid into your offshore bank account.

Check it out.