For decades shell companies and bank accounts in poorly regulated jurisdictions offered sufficiently strong solutions for the majority of international money launderers and tax evaders.

Following the International Monetary Fund’s publication of a private letter to its Managing Director from Hon. Harold Lovell, Antigua & Barbuda’s Minister of Finance and Public Administration, it would be beneficial for international investors and other observers to examine a fuller perspective

A hard-hitting report by the US Department of State has headlined Antigua & Barbuda as a major money laundering jurisdiction

In the land of Antigua & Barbuda, where all is not as it seems, there are striking and remarkable similarities to Alice in Wonderland.

According to the CAFT/GAFIC Antigua & Barbuda Ministerial Report dated 23 June 2008 on Mutual Evaluation / Detailed Assessment Report on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism, the Attorney General is the individual charged with the responsibility for coordinating requests from overseas regulators and enforcement agencies.

Observers will recall that this is the Commission that oversaw the R. Allen Stanford debacle, which is still arguably the world's greatest bank robbery.

According to the old adage, you are judged by the company you keep and your behaviour towards others. Money is no different. Arguably, this explains Antigua & Barbuda’s failure to attract sound foreign direct investment.

When Verity (not her real name) retired she had simple dreams of living in the sun, caring for animals and putting something back into society.

Until the Bank of New York scandal erupted in 1999 international correspondent banking had not been fully acknowledged as a high risk area, specifically prone to money laundering.

Once a rabid dog tastes blood, it is only a short matter of time before it bites again. The initial victim of expropriation was the flagship Half Moon Bay Resort, located on what the Travel Magazine consistently lists as one of the top four beaches in the world, developed and owned by US investors for over thirty five years.