How a Belgian Aristocrat Under Investigation for Money Laundering Moved Millions Into Colombia

In the 2010s, De Croÿ earned the nickname “Black Prince” in the Belgian press when he was at the center of one of the country’s biggest-ever tax fraud cases.

A descendant of one of Europe’s oldest aristocratic families, De Croÿ is under investigation for allegedly masterminding a scheme that hid hundreds of millions from tax authorities on behalf of scores of rich clients.

“Dubai Papers,” a leak of about 200,000 internal documents from De Croÿ’s group of companies, Helin Group, first published by the French magazine L’Obs in 2018.

De Croÿ has been tied to Colombia for about three decades through his wife, María del Socorro Patiño Cordoba, who was born in the small, southwestern city of Popayán.

Accounting records from the Dubai Papers reveal other methods De Croÿ and Patiño used to avoid scrutiny from banks or financial regulators, while moving at least $[1.3] million from Helin Group companies into Colombia between 2011 and 2017.

Patiño and De Croÿ first crossed paths in London, where he was working in banking, a career that would take him to the financial capitals of Hong Kong and Luxembourg. They married in 1994.

June 8, 2022

https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/how-a-belgian-aristocrat-under-investigation-for-money-laundering-moved-millions-into-colombia

Belgian prince investigated in alleged global tax evasion network probe

Henri de Croÿ, Belgian prince and member of the Belgian nobility, allegedly helped funnel millions of euros into tax havens through an international evasion network.

A member of the Belgian nobility, the prince is a descendant of the House of Croÿ, one of the oldest aristocratic families in Europe, with the de Croÿ-Solre branch being the last surviving line of the noble house.

De Croÿ, whose ancestry gives him the same royal status as the princes and princesses of Belgium, was thrust into the public spotlight due to revelations over his financial and fiscal misconduct and was namely embroiled in the so-called Dubaï Papers scandal.

The fiscal investigation doubles down on another probe launched by federal prosecutors last autumn, targeting around 50 Belgians who allegedly entrusted the Belgian prince with sums of up to €[13] million per person.

Friday, 7 February 2020

https://www.brusselstimes.com/94052/belgian-prince-hit-by-new-probe-into-alleged-tax-evasion-network-henri-de-croy-tax-havens

Dead pig, chickens dumped along busy Florida street may be ritual sacrifice, cops say

The carcasses, which included a pig and chickens, were found June 7 in a trash bag “behind the Emerald Cove community sign,” according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Cape Coral is about [13]0 miles southeast of Tampa.

“appears to be an act of Santeria,”

Santeria followers are known to practice ritual animal sacrifice, which is permitted under Florida Statutes “to protect freedom of religion.”

“Santería is a syncretic religion based significantly in the traditions of the Yoruba and incorporating elements of Catholicism. Today, roughly 70 percent of Cubans observe one or more Santeria or other religious practices based in an African tradition,” according to the commission.

8 June 2022

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/nation-world/national/article262293582.html

To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.

https://biblehub.com/isaiah/1-11.htm

Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.

Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them.

Isaiah 1: 13-14

https://www.biblehub.com/isaiah/1-14.htm

Myanmar Updates: Election Fraud Trial, Executions, Coups, and Color Revolution…

Myanmar Military Junta Says Criticisms of [Executions] ‘Irresponsible and Reckless’

Myanmar’s military junta has condemned the United Nations and various Western governments for their criticisms of its chilling plan to execute four political prisoners for campaigning against last year’s [coup].

Last week, a spokesperson for the military administration announced that it would execute four detainees, including Phyo Zeyar Thaw, a former lawmaker from the National League for Democracy, and the prominent democracy activist [Ko Jimmy].

8 June, 2022

https://thediplomat.com/2022/06/myanmar-military-junta-says-criticisms-of-executions-irresponsible-and-reckless/

Myanmar to execute two including ex-MP from Suu Kyi's party

[Kyaw Min Yu], a veteran democracy activist, and Phyo Zayar Thaw, an MP for the former ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party, were sentenced to death by a military tribunal in January on charges of treason and terrorism, according to a junta statement at the time.

4th June, 2022 11:10:07 AM

https://www.daily-sun.com/post/624320/Myanmar-to-execute-two-including-a-former-MP-from-ousted-leader-Aung-San-Suu-Kyis-party

Myanmar court says Suu Kyi election fraud trial can continue

The army seized power from Suu Kyi’s elected government in February last year, saying there was widespread fraud in the 2020 general election.

A conviction in the election fraud case could lead to Suu Kyi’s party being dissolved and unable to participate in a new election the military has promised will take place in 2023.

Suu Kyi has already been sentenced to 11 years in prison after being convicted on charges of illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies, violating coronavirus restrictions, sedition and a corruption charge.

Suu Kyi is also being tried on a charge of violating the Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years, and 11 counts of corruption, which carry a maximum sentence of 15 years each.

June 3, 2022, [3:22] PM

https://news.yahoo.com/myanmar-court-says-suu-kyi-132216844.html

the 8888 Uprising, a series of student-led protests in 1988 opposing the military rule of Ne Win.

on 8 August 1988 (8-8-88), a general strike began from which the uprising would later take its name.

The protests culminated in the 1990 general election, in which Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party the National League for Democracy won 392 of 492 available seats. However, the military refused to recognise the results, and continued to rule the country as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

The 88 Generation Students Group was founded in 2005.

August 2007: "The Saffron Revolution" for the colour of their robes.

The New York Times described group member Mie Mie as "prominent in photographs and videos of the first small demonstrations", noting that she appeared in the shots ["with her fist raised".]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/88_Generation_Students_Group

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffron_Revolution

THE 88 GENERATION (Peace & Open Society) is a Political Organization that is to build peace and promote the civil society in Myanmar.

https://the88generationpeaceandopensociety.blogspot.com/

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has announced that Washington will start the process of exchanging ambassadors with Burma.

Washington withdrew its ambassador from Burma in 1990, after the country's military rulers ignored elections won by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD).

Those freed include 1988 student activists, monks involved in 2007 protests and ethnic-minority activists

But in a statement broadcast on TV, President Thein Sein said those released were people who could "play a constructive role in the political process".

Aung San Suu Kyi said the move was a "positive sign".

[Kyaw Min Yu, known as Ko Jimmy], has also been freed, as well as Htay Kywe, a student activist jailed in 2007 for 65 years.

It has freed Ms Suu Kyi and begun dialogue with her and the NLD. She is now expected to stand for parliament in a by-election in April.

13 January 2012

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16554415