MALAYSIAN property developer IJM Land may scrap plans to sell Islamic bonds and take out a loan instead to refinance borrowings, a source close to the matter said today.
Syariah bond issuance in Southeast Asia’s most developed Islamic finance market has been virtually frozen by worries about a global recession and sliding asset values, shattering earlier beliefs the industry would escape the downturn largely unscathed.
Islamic bond issuance in Malaysia fell to US$5.86 billion last year, compared with US$26.53 billion in 2007, according to Islamic Finance Information Service. IJM Land, the property arm of infrastructure group IJM Corp, wants to raise about RM300 million-RM400 million, said the source who declined to be identified.
“The market is so volatile it’s kind of difficult to do a bond at this kind of time,” said the source. “Taking a straight loan is much easier than doing a bond. The market risk for bonds, especially for developers, at the current time is kind of challenging.” IJM group managing director Krishnan Tan Boon Seng was not available for comment.
IJM Land had earlier wanted to issue Islamic bonds, or sukuk, to tap growing investor demand in Malaysia for syariah-compliant paper. Top Malaysian lender Maybank has estimated that sukuk accounted for more than half of the RM47 billion of corporate bonds that were issued in the country last year.
The Rest @ Business Times
Sunday, 18 January 2009
Hawala Facilitates Human Trafficking Ring in Greece and Pakistan
Monday, January 19, 2009
By Salman Aslam
LAHORE:
The Federal Investigation Agency has arrested three human traffickers -- including the two guilty of a failed attempt to smuggle 13 Pakistanis to Greece, who suffocated in a container in a district adjoining Istanbul on July 30 last -- The News learnt Saturday.
Sources said Mehdi Khan, s/o Muhammad Khan, caste Gujjar, a resident of PO Qila Sora Singh Tehsil, Gujrat district, was one of the arrested, who is an accused in the suffocation case. His name appears at serial number 5 on the Red Book list.
The investigators during interrogation came to know that Mehdi Khan was a general councillor, Union Council Barrila Sharif, Gujrat district.
His two younger brothers
By Salman Aslam
LAHORE:
The Federal Investigation Agency has arrested three human traffickers -- including the two guilty of a failed attempt to smuggle 13 Pakistanis to Greece, who suffocated in a container in a district adjoining Istanbul on July 30 last -- The News learnt Saturday.
Sources said Mehdi Khan, s/o Muhammad Khan, caste Gujjar, a resident of PO Qila Sora Singh Tehsil, Gujrat district, was one of the arrested, who is an accused in the suffocation case. His name appears at serial number 5 on the Red Book list.
The investigators during interrogation came to know that Mehdi Khan was a general councillor, Union Council Barrila Sharif, Gujrat district.
His two younger brothers
- Safdar Ali, 40, and
- M Afzal, 35,
live in Greece. A sister of the accused is married to Sana Ullah, a resident of Gaigian, Gujrat district, who is also a human trafficker.
Out of the seven children, his three elder sons M Riaz, 23, M Abbas, 21, and M Namas, 16, are settled in Greece.
- The sources said Mehdi Khan booked dozens of people for smuggling to Greece for Rs 500,000 to 600,000.
- He used Iran-Turkey land route for the purpose. He is associated with human trafficker Haji Abdullah, s/o Agha Inayat r/o Kake Mitter, Wazirabad, Gujranwala district.
- Haji is operating safe houses in Iran and Turkey.
- The illegal immigrants are handed over to Haji Abdullah at Taftan on Pak-Iran border and trafficked forward through Iran.
- The trafficking starts right from Balochistan to Iran and Turkey and illegal immigrants are further smuggled to Greece through boats.
- Mehdi Khan was involved in FIA case numbers 27 and 34 registered with its office in Gujranwala.
A number of enquiries based on deportees’ statements are pending against him to be converted to cases. The other human trafficker arrested by the FIA has been identified as Mamoon-ur-Rasheed alias Steno s/o Subay Khan, caste Mayo, r/o Begowal, Tehsil Sambrial, Sialkot district.
His arrest had been a challenge, given his precautions. He remained a mystery for the last many years as he never met any intending immigrant, or other agent or even any member of his own network. He was arrested on Jan 14, 2009. A case was registered with Sadar Kamoke Police Station against him, his brother Javed and two others — Basharat and Jameel.
The accused also resorted to firing to avoid arrest. The sources informed The News that Mamoon was involved in human trafficking from Pakistan to Europe through land routes in Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and Greece.
He set up a network of sub-agents in the country as well as abroad. He is a trafficker wanted in the highest number of FIA cases.
The accused had got issued two Computerised National Identity Cards in the names of Mamoon and Zahid Rehman.
His three brothers are living abroad: Javed, 30, in Malaysia and Parvaiz Ahmed, 25, and Rashid Ahmed, 20, in Spain. He is involved in 15 cases registered with AHTC Police Station, Gujranwala, bearing FIR numbers 601, 613, 615, 616, 618, 764, 818, 925 of 2006 and 345, 360, 361, 362, 363, 401, 402 and 403 of 2007. Other 15 cases bearing FIR numbers 36 to 50 have now been registered with AHTC police on the basis of deportees’ statements. Owing to his frequent involvement in the illegal business and number of persons he has smuggled, his name appeared in the Red Book 2007.
How it worked
- The accused used to deal with intending immigrants directly or through his sub-agents demanding payment ranging from Rs 600,000 to Rs 700,000 preceded by Rs 100,000 advance payment.
- The illegal immigrants were handed over to other agents across the unfrequented land routes in Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and Greece.
- When illegal immigrants reached their destination, their families paid the remaining amount to the accused through an agent ‘Chacha Rafique’—the owner of Hawala office at Lalamusa, Gujrat district.
- The accused handed over intending immigrants to agents based in Karachi, whom he paid Rs15,000 for each.
The Rest @ The News International (Pakistan)
Tuesday, 23 December 2008
Islamic Banking in Crisis
Investment bankers from London were flying into once-booming Dubai last night as the bailout of the Gulf state’s banking sector began.
The bank and the finance ministry of the United Arab Emirates have established a AED120 billion emergency funding facility .
Global Investment House KSCC, Kuwait’s biggest investment bank, declined to the lowest in more than four years after appointing HSBC Holdings to renegotiate loans owed to foreign lenders.
Citigroup Inc., the global bank that got a $45 billion government bailout, “recently” arranged more than $8 billion of financing for government-owned companies in Dubai.
Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group LLC, a company owned by Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, said it repaid 2.4 billion dirhams ($650million) of maturing bonds and loans from its own cash flows.
The bank and the finance ministry of the United Arab Emirates have established a AED120 billion emergency funding facility .
Global Investment House KSCC, Kuwait’s biggest investment bank, declined to the lowest in more than four years after appointing HSBC Holdings to renegotiate loans owed to foreign lenders.
Citigroup Inc., the global bank that got a $45 billion government bailout, “recently” arranged more than $8 billion of financing for government-owned companies in Dubai.
Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group LLC, a company owned by Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, said it repaid 2.4 billion dirhams ($650million) of maturing bonds and loans from its own cash flows.
Saturday, 8 November 2008
Unnao Hawala Cash Captured while moving from Uttar to Sarjah India
Lucknow, Nov 9 (IANS) Two people were arrested from the Amausi airport in Uttar Pradesh capital late Saturday night while they were allegedly trying to smuggle Hawala money worth Rs.16 million, the police said.
The duo, who were at the airport to take a flight to Sharjah, were caught by the officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), according to police sources.
“We only know that the arrested persons belong to Unnao and the local police was not involved in the entire operation as it is a matter related to DRI,” Akhil Kumar, senior superintendt of police Lucknow, told IANS over phone.
The paper was in Saudi Ryals and Indian Rupees
The Rest @ ThaIndian
The duo, who were at the airport to take a flight to Sharjah, were caught by the officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), according to police sources.
“We only know that the arrested persons belong to Unnao and the local police was not involved in the entire operation as it is a matter related to DRI,” Akhil Kumar, senior superintendt of police Lucknow, told IANS over phone.
The paper was in Saudi Ryals and Indian Rupees
The Rest @ ThaIndian
Thursday, 6 November 2008
Hawaladar Convicted of Conspiracy Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing
MONEY REMITTER SENTENCED TO OVER NINE YEARS FOR MONEY LAUNDERING CONSPIRACY AND CONCEALING TERRORIST FINANCING
Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis sentenced Saifullah Anjum Ranjha, age 45, a Pakistani national residing in Washington, D.C. and Maryland, today to 110 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiring to launder money and for concealing terrorist financing, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Judge Garbis also signed a preliminary order forfeiting $2,208,000 of Ranjha's assets.
"The hawala system can be used by criminals to launder money without using financial institutions, by giving the money to a person in the United States and picking it up in a foreign country," said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. "Identifying hawala networks that violate the law often requires the cooperation of international authorities."
"As the U.S. financial industry strengthens its anti-money laundering programs, the use of the hawala system to move illicit funds becomes increasingly attractive to terrorist and other criminal organizations," stated Scot R. Rittenberg, Acting Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "We will continue to work jointly with our domestic and foreign law enforcement partners to investigate the movement of illicit funds via the hawala system."
"Terrorist networks need money to be effective. Fortunately, IRS-CI is effective at following the money to find the source of the crime," said Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge, C. Andre' Martin.
Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis sentenced Saifullah Anjum Ranjha, age 45, a Pakistani national residing in Washington, D.C. and Maryland, today to 110 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiring to launder money and for concealing terrorist financing, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Judge Garbis also signed a preliminary order forfeiting $2,208,000 of Ranjha's assets.
"The hawala system can be used by criminals to launder money without using financial institutions, by giving the money to a person in the United States and picking it up in a foreign country," said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. "Identifying hawala networks that violate the law often requires the cooperation of international authorities."
"As the U.S. financial industry strengthens its anti-money laundering programs, the use of the hawala system to move illicit funds becomes increasingly attractive to terrorist and other criminal organizations," stated Scot R. Rittenberg, Acting Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "We will continue to work jointly with our domestic and foreign law enforcement partners to investigate the movement of illicit funds via the hawala system."
"Terrorist networks need money to be effective. Fortunately, IRS-CI is effective at following the money to find the source of the crime," said Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge, C. Andre' Martin.
- According to his guilty plea, Ranjha was born in Pakistan and became a lawful permanent resident of the United States in September 1997.
- He operated a money remitter business in the District of Columbia known as Hamza, Inc.
A cooperating witness, acting at the direction of law enforcement, held himself out to Ranjha and his associates to be involved in large scale international drug trafficking, international smuggling of counterfeit cigarettes and weapons.
He also represented that he was providing assistance and financing to members of al Qaeda and its affiliated organizations and their operatives.
From October 2003 to September 19, 2007, the cooperating witness gave Ranjha and his associates a total of $2,208,000 in government funds in order to transfer the monies abroad through an informal money transfer system called a "hawala," using a network of persons and/or businesses to transfer money across domestic and international borders without reliance upon conventional banking systems and regulations.
The cooperating witness represented that the monies were the proceeds of, and related to, his purported illegal activities and Ranjha laundered these funds believing they were to be used to support those activities.
Ranjha was the primary point of contact for the cooperating witness and received the bulk of the monies from the cooperating witness, for a total of 21 hawala transactions in amounts ranging from $13,000 to $300,000.
Most of the monies were turned over to Ranjha in locations in Maryland.
On a few occasions the cooperating witness met Ranjha and other co-conspirators at Hamza, Inc. to provide monies for a particular hawala transfer.
Ranjha arranged with his associates for the equivalent amount of monies, minus commissions, to be delivered to the cooperating witness, his third party designee, or a designated bank account in Canada, England, Spain, Pakistan, Japan and Australia.
Ranjha kept a commission of approximately five percent of the amount of currency sought to be transferred on each occasion.
Other conspirators involved in a particular transaction retained an additional commission of between three to five percent of the transaction amount.
All the funds transferred abroad were picked up by cooperating individuals and returned to the Government.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation for their investigative work.
In addition, Mr. Rosenstein thanked our international partners, the Spanish National Police; Australian Federal Police; London Metropolitan Police; and Royal Canadian Mounted Police for their help.
Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorney Christine Manuelian who is prosecuting the case.
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
Whu do Muslims Support Hawala and Charity Operations that Support Jihad?
A new article on SSRN attempts to address the question: why do individuals support the work of charities that support jihadist operations, even when they may not agree with these organizations' agenda? The paper, entitled "Microfinancing Terrorism: A Study in Al Qaeda Financing Strategy", by Tolga Koker and Carlos Yordan (my thesis adviser while at Hamilton College), asserts that social pressure--rather than ideology--motivates individuals to donate to charities that may be affiliated with the global jihadist movement.
To test this claim, the authors construct a social choice model, where individuals derive different utilities from their private preferences (to support a jihadist movement) versus their public preferences (community reputation). The authors conclude that because Middle Eastern cultures value the collective over the individual, people will eventually acquiesce to social pressure and donate to these charities because the utility gained through group participation outweighs that from individuality.
This a provocative argument, as it suggests there may be an endless supply of financing to jihadist groups like al-Qaeda, as Muslim may always submit to social pressure and contribute funds. While there is much value in examining the social dynamics within Muslim culture that lead to the "microfinancing of terrorism",
I am not convinced that the dynamic presented by the authors is what actually provides the bulk of support for these illicit financial networks. More likely, these groups are simply exploiting the global hawala system to laundering and redirect funds.
The Center for Contemporary Conflict has presented excellent work discussing how jihadist groups exploit hawla, and more recent studies have shown this network to be extremely efficient at moving money around the world.
This exploitation can occur completely outside the purview of the individuals using the system, which would conflict with the idea that social pressure is motivating direct financing of these groups.
Put simply, many Muslims can be supporting groups like al-Qaeda without even knowing it.
The Rest @ Zero Intelligence Agents
To test this claim, the authors construct a social choice model, where individuals derive different utilities from their private preferences (to support a jihadist movement) versus their public preferences (community reputation). The authors conclude that because Middle Eastern cultures value the collective over the individual, people will eventually acquiesce to social pressure and donate to these charities because the utility gained through group participation outweighs that from individuality.
This a provocative argument, as it suggests there may be an endless supply of financing to jihadist groups like al-Qaeda, as Muslim may always submit to social pressure and contribute funds. While there is much value in examining the social dynamics within Muslim culture that lead to the "microfinancing of terrorism",
I am not convinced that the dynamic presented by the authors is what actually provides the bulk of support for these illicit financial networks. More likely, these groups are simply exploiting the global hawala system to laundering and redirect funds.
The Center for Contemporary Conflict has presented excellent work discussing how jihadist groups exploit hawla, and more recent studies have shown this network to be extremely efficient at moving money around the world.
This exploitation can occur completely outside the purview of the individuals using the system, which would conflict with the idea that social pressure is motivating direct financing of these groups.
Put simply, many Muslims can be supporting groups like al-Qaeda without even knowing it.
The Rest @ Zero Intelligence Agents
Sunday, 2 November 2008
Hawala is the Bank of the Somali Business Woman
NAIROBI, Nov 1 (IPS) - On the fifth day of every month a group of women entrepreneurs gather to share their experiences and discuss matters of trade. What makes this exceptional is that the women are from south-central Somalia and they meet in Mogadishu, one of the world’s most devastated and dangerous cities.
With 780 registered members, most of them from the Banadir region, the Banadir Businesswomen’s Association the association is headed by a veteran businesswoman, Shamso Abdulle. Banadir is of the eight administrative units in south-central Somalia which includes the capital Mogadishu.
A mother of nine, covered in a fashionable head-to-toe Islamic veil or hijaab, and insistent on speaking only in her mother tongue Somali, Abdulle is an unlikely business success story. The east African country where she lives has not had a central government for over 17 years.
The city where she lives has been ravaged by an unending internecine war between clannish warlords and by foreign military interventions.
‘‘When I started my business of importing furniture and other goods from India in 1984, Somalia was a different country,” Abdulle told IPS in Nairobi last week where she was attending a two seminar on the war economy of Somalia’s capital, organised by the Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research.
‘‘For six years I was able to do normal trade and earn enough to be independent and expand my business to other places like Dubai.”
Then, in 1991, the civil war erupted. The state collapsed and the era of the warlords began. Like most other businesspeople, Abdulle had to abandon her business and flee the city.
‘‘I had to leave Mogadishu and live with my family in the bush for months. My savings were disappearing fast. As soon as the fighting receded a bit, with the intervention of a UN mission, I returned to the capital to explore the possibility of resuming trade,” she recalls.
On her return she found that the rules and norms of business had completely changed. The Mogadishu port was closed and would not open again until 2006, which forced businesses to other distant ports like El Ma’an, Merka and Kismayo.
Instead of government regulations and institutions, traders had to negotiate safe passage for their goodsùand for themselvesùwith an assortment of militias. Money transfers through banks had been replaced by the informal hawala, or hundi, system.
It was difficult for women to get loans from the big businessmen who saw no assurance of repayment or getting a return. The public’s purchasing power was down; the violence and insecurity was high, as it remains to this day.
But there was also a unique opportunity for women to step into business.
‘‘One of the main reasons why there are so many women traders in Mogadishu is because so many men died in the conflict or lost their government jobs. Also, working as street vendors or shopkeepers is considered beneath the dignity of men who before the war were working as doctors, lecturers and bureaucrats in Mogadishu,” explains Abdulle.
The Rest @ Global Intelligence
With 780 registered members, most of them from the Banadir region, the Banadir Businesswomen’s Association the association is headed by a veteran businesswoman, Shamso Abdulle. Banadir is of the eight administrative units in south-central Somalia which includes the capital Mogadishu.
A mother of nine, covered in a fashionable head-to-toe Islamic veil or hijaab, and insistent on speaking only in her mother tongue Somali, Abdulle is an unlikely business success story. The east African country where she lives has not had a central government for over 17 years.
The city where she lives has been ravaged by an unending internecine war between clannish warlords and by foreign military interventions.
‘‘When I started my business of importing furniture and other goods from India in 1984, Somalia was a different country,” Abdulle told IPS in Nairobi last week where she was attending a two seminar on the war economy of Somalia’s capital, organised by the Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research.
‘‘For six years I was able to do normal trade and earn enough to be independent and expand my business to other places like Dubai.”
Then, in 1991, the civil war erupted. The state collapsed and the era of the warlords began. Like most other businesspeople, Abdulle had to abandon her business and flee the city.
‘‘I had to leave Mogadishu and live with my family in the bush for months. My savings were disappearing fast. As soon as the fighting receded a bit, with the intervention of a UN mission, I returned to the capital to explore the possibility of resuming trade,” she recalls.
On her return she found that the rules and norms of business had completely changed. The Mogadishu port was closed and would not open again until 2006, which forced businesses to other distant ports like El Ma’an, Merka and Kismayo.
Instead of government regulations and institutions, traders had to negotiate safe passage for their goodsùand for themselvesùwith an assortment of militias. Money transfers through banks had been replaced by the informal hawala, or hundi, system.
It was difficult for women to get loans from the big businessmen who saw no assurance of repayment or getting a return. The public’s purchasing power was down; the violence and insecurity was high, as it remains to this day.
But there was also a unique opportunity for women to step into business.
‘‘One of the main reasons why there are so many women traders in Mogadishu is because so many men died in the conflict or lost their government jobs. Also, working as street vendors or shopkeepers is considered beneath the dignity of men who before the war were working as doctors, lecturers and bureaucrats in Mogadishu,” explains Abdulle.
The Rest @ Global Intelligence
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