North Cyprus – Apology To Mr Gary Robb

ABAG enjoyed a great weekend together and felt that we needed to apologise to the wonderfully honest MR Robb for any untruths we have said against him. To date we cannot find 1 untruth………….

So in conclusion we sincerely apologise to this wonderful human being for daring to  suggest that he stole all of our and other peoples money and finally…………GROBBER………

Love ABAG

Gary Robb threatens to sue TRNC government

Having completed his jail sentence, Gary Robb has sent an open letter to President Eroglu, claiming compensation for himself and his many unhappy customers.

During the late 1990’s and for nearly a decade, Gary Robb owned one of the largest construction companies in the TRNC. He now claims that the many problems he encountered were the fault of the then CTP government. These problems have been frequently reported over the years.

Mr Robb is now claiming compensation for himself and his aggrieved customers and is threatening to go to international adjudication if compensation is not received. Mr Robb is now back in the UK, having completed a nine month jail sentence in South Cyprus.

The letter is written in English and addressed to the President, though it was also circulated to the press. It lays heavy blame on the then Prime minister Sabit Soyer and Interior Minister Ozkan Murat.

The letter stresses that compensation must be paid to Mr Robb and his many ex-clients. He adds that this will be the last time he will be providing information to the government. If they do not respond positively, he will be taking legal action against the TRNC.

Mr Robb says that the reason his letter has been delayed, is because he has been involved in a number of legal cases. He feels that the full picture has never been revealed and provides a summary of his version of events, as follows:

He says that he came to the TRNC in 1997 to become a property constructor believing that the government would be supplying him with legal title deeds. He soon became the largest construction company through AGA Developments. He was also rewarded with TRNC citizenship.

Mr Robb claims that he was always open about his interest in investing in Thailand and sharing his time between the two countries. However on one of his return trips from Thailand, he was arrested at Ercan airport at the personal order of Mr Soyer. He cleared his name of money laundering charges and his TRNC citizenship, which had been taken away, had to be reinstated. He says that he returned to the TRNC voluntarily from Thailand to complete all his unfinished construction projects. However on his return he discovered that the Contractors Association had confiscated all his machinery, building supplies and bank deposits in the TRNC.

His company, AGA Developments was now headed by Cafer Gurcafer at the personal request of Mr Soyer. Mr Robb says that he contacted his old clients and agreed with them to complete their housing projects in return for payment by instalments but that before he could begin, he was seized by the police, handcuffed, held at gunpoint and handed over to the British police along with his mother. He says that the reason this was done was because he refused to pay bribes to the CTP to help fund their election campaign.

From the UK, Mr Robb was extradited to South Cyprus where he was jailed for nine months, this was because his name was on all the land that he had bought from the TRNC government.

He is now asking for his TRNC citizenship back and promises to address the problems of his ex- clients, particularly those at the Amaranta Valley project.

Mr Robb concludes with a threat saying that while Mr Eroglu was not involved in any of these incidents, if he does not respond positively, then he will be in the same boat as the other parties Mr Robb will be acting against. In addition all the various groups such as the Aga buyers action group need to apologise to Mr Robb for publishing incorrect information about him or he will be taking action in the UK against them also.

By LGC News

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0 Vote up Vote down Graeme · 23 hours ago
Now lets see. On one hand we have a convicted drug dealer from the UK who absconded before sentencing and came here to rip off as many people as he could. On the other hand we have a TRNC Govenment that was complicit in the ripping off of those said people and rewarded the UK drug dealer with Citizenship. ( I have little doubt that monires were exchanged for this action). Gary Robb is on a par with the stuff that comes out of my cats rear end and if he thinks anyone is going to drop their vilification of him due to his pathetic little letter then he has another think coming. I myself have never met the cretin or dealt with him but i know many who have had that misfortune. The TRNC Government must be quaking in its boots at the threat from this lump of pondslime despite the fact that they were, and are, totally complicit in the continued ripping off of ex-pats and their properties. #

 Graeme · 20 hours ago

Forgot to add if Gary Robb wishes to sue me as I’m calling him a lying useless piece of dog turd scum he is quite welcome. I wont’ hold my breath though as you can’t be sued for telling the truth as far as i’m aware !!!!

HSBC facing North Cyprus legal battle

HSBC facing North Cyprus legal battle

Britain’s largest bank, HSBC, is facing legal proceedings in the US over the sale of property in Northern Cyprus.

Court papers filed by a group of UK investors allege that HSBC took part in a “fraudulent property scheme of biblical proportions”. Photo: GEOFF PUGH

 

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By Jamie Dunkley, Financial Services Correspondent

10:30PM BST 22 Jul 2012

 

 

 

Court papers filed by a group of UK investors allege that HSBC took part in a “fraudulent property scheme of biblical proportions”. The documents claim the bank supported an “illegal commercial enterprise” in the disputed region.

Northern Cyprus – or the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) – is only recognised by Turkey, while Greek Cypriots see the area as illegally occupied territory.

The battle for land rights on the divided island has been the subject of intense legal battles for many years. More than 60pc of property in the territory is understood to have been Greek Cypriot-owned before a Turkish invasion in 1974.

“The Plaintiffs invested life savings into what they believed were vacation or retirement dwellings with valid legal title issued by the TRNC,” papers seen by The Daily Telegraph claim.

“HSBC is involved in illegally transferring monies for the sale of these properties knowing that title to the underlying properties are illegal and/or defective because the “TRNC” lacks the sovereign power to issue or obtain title.”

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According to the writ, the “total aggregate amount due to Plaintiffs” exceeds $50m (£32m).

HSBC declined to comment on the legal proceedings, which were filed in Washington D.C. However, they are likely to raise further questions on the type of activities mainstream lenders are involved in.

Last week, HSBC was forced to apologise before the US Senate over facilitating a multi-billion-dollar money-laundering operationfor drug gangs, terrorists and rogue nations worldwide. The Senate heard how the company was “pervasively polluted for a long time” as it allowed funds to be shifted to and from its branches in the United States as far afield as Mexico, Syria, the Cayman Islands, Iran and Saudi Arabia. HSBC is now braced for a “substantial” fine which analysts said could be up to $1bn.

Although the cases bear few similarities, experts say lenders are likely to face increased scrutiny over the coming months.

Another high profile case last month saw ING agree to pay $619m (£396m) to settle allegations that it broke American sanctions against Cuba and Iran. US authorities said ING moved $1.6bn illegally through banks in the United States from the early 1990s through 2007 by concealing the nature of the transactions.

Simon Bevan, head of fraud and financial crime at accountants BDO, said: “Speaking generally, regulators have begun to pay a lot of attention to rogue states and the type of activities linked to them. In reality, about 90pc of staff in banks will stick to the spirit of the rules but 10pc will bend themselves into a pretzel to justify taking deposits they should refuse or report.

“In an environment where the regulator is king, we can expect to see more action taken, particularly when it concerns areas of rogue states such as North Korea and Iran”

“One of the ways this has been done is by swift stripping. Which is changing the coding on electronic fund transfers to disguise the country of origin.”

ING was the fourth major bank to settle with US authorities over “stripping” wire transfer information to hide the illegal movement of money through banks in New York on behalf of clients subject to US sanctions.

Credit Suisse agreed to pay $536m in 2009 to settle charges of illegal transactions involving Iran, Cuba and Libya, among other countries. Others implicated in the past include Lloyds TSB and Barclays.

Neill Blundell, partner and head of fraud at Eversheds, said: “Financial crime teams at individual regulators will be placing a greater emphasis on systems and controls over the next few years and months. Huge global banks are likely to be in the spotlight.”

 

NORTH CYPRUS – HSBC CONDEMED

A scathing US Senate report has said a “pervasively polluted” culture at HSBC allowed it to act as financier for clients seeking to launder suspected terror and drug money.

The report said shadowy funds from the world’s most dangerous and secretive corners, including Mexico, Iran, the Cayman Islands, Saudi Arabia and Syria , sought access to the bank’s US arm. HSBC, Europe’s largest bank, is expected to face a bill for fines and settlements of up to $1bn (£640m) as a result.

 “The culture at HSBC was pervasively polluted for a long time,” Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, said. Because of lax controls against laundering, HSBC Bank USA “exposed the United States to Mexican drug money” and other suspicious funds, Mr Levin said. HSBC in Mexico shipped $7bn physically to the US in two years The report says the drug cartels laundered money through the US division from 2002 to 2009.

The congressional probe detailed just how sweeping the problems have been, both at the bank and at the top US bank regulator, said the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). It said the regulator failed to properly monitor HSBC.

The report is another damaging blow to the banking industry’s reputation and comes just weeks after the Libor rate-fixing scandal exploded, with Barclays admitting guilt and paying £290m in fines. The year-long inquiry included a review of 1.4 million documents and interviews with 75 HSBC officials and bank regulators. Officials from HSBC and the OCC are scheduled to testify later today.

 The bank and the regulator are expected to face tough questions at a hearing today about how the abuses were allowed to continue, even after the OCC took regulatory action against HSBC in 2010. Reports indicated there were persistent and troubling lapses in the bank’s anti-money laundering compliance since 2010. In a statement, HSBC said the Senate report had provided “important lessons for the whole industry in seeking to prevent illicit actors entering the global financial system”.

Thousands have died in Mexico as drug cartels fight over lucrative US trade The bank said it is spending more money on compliance and has become more coordinated in policing high-risk transactions. The report also contained strong criticism of the OCC, saying the regulator failed to crack down on the bank despite multiple red flags, allowing money laundering issues “to accumulate into a massive problem”.

 Newly appointed OCC head Thomas Curry said that anti-money laundering compliance “is crucial to our nation’s efforts to combat criminal activity and terrorism, and the OCC expects national banks and federal thrifts to have programmes in place to effectively comply with these laws”. In condemning the actions of the bank and inaction of the watchdog, Mr Levin raised the issue of national security. “In an age of international terrorism, drug violence in our streets and on our borders, and organised crime, stopping illicit money flows that support those atrocities is a national security imperative,” Mr Levin said.

The bank said in its statement that it changed its senior management last year and agreed to strengthen its compliance with rules to prevent money laundering. “We… recognise that our controls could and should have been stronger and more effective in order to spot and deal with unacceptable behaviour,” the bank said in the statement.

NORTH CYPRUS – HAS THE AMERICAN LAWSUIT STARTED THE BALL ROLLING

By Carrick Mollenkamp

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. Senate report will detail HSBC Holdings Plc’s dealings in some of the world’s riskiest corners, including Mexico, that are considered hotspots for money laundering and other improper financial dealings, said sources familiar with the situation.

The report will be released Tuesday when the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, a top congressional financial watchdog, holds a hearing examining the anti-money laundering system of HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank.

Several HSBC executives are expected to testify, including the bank’s chief legal officer Stuart Levey, who joined the bank in January. He was previously one of the top officials on terrorism and finance at the U.S. Treasury Department.

The U.S. Justice Department has been conducting its own probe examining whether HSBC was vulnerable to illicit funds moving through the bank and a potential settlement could exceed $1 billion, according to people familiar with the situation and an HSBC regulatory filing.

In a regulatory filing earlier this year, HSBC said it expected a formal enforcement action that could be criminal in nature.

Reuters earlier this year reported the Senate probe. A subsequent Reuters story detailed investigations of HSBC’s U.S. operations by two U.S. Attorneys’ offices.

HSBC is the latest global bank to be caught in U.S. law-enforcement investigations of money laundering. In 2010, Wachovia Corp. agreed to pay $160 million as part of a Justice Department probe that examined Mexican transactions.

Last month, ING Bank NV agreed to pay $619 million to settle U.S. government allegations that it violated U.S. sanctions against Cuba and Iran.

An HSBC spokesman wasn’t immediately available for comment. Bloomberg earlier reported a summary of the Senate report.

In a memo this week ahead of the hearing, Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver said: “It is right that we will be held accountable and that we take responsibility for fixing what went wrong. As well as answering the subcommittee’s questions, we will explain the significant changes we have already made to strengthen our compliance and risk management infrastructure and culture.”

In its regulatory filings, HSBC has said the transactions with Iranian parties are under investigation by the Justice Department, the Federal Reserve and the district attorney in Manhattan. Iran is also expected to be a focus of the Senate investigation.

The Senate probe also is expected to examine HSBC’s dealings in Mexico, a country fraught with drug-traffickers who move money through the U.S. banking system. A good portion of that money is transferred through Mexican foreign-exchange houses.

According to documents reviewed by Reuters, U.S. law-enforcement agencies have examined Mexican money that moved from the exchange houses, known as casa de cambio, into the HSBC banking system. The transactions were tied to laundered drug proceeds.

(Editing by Ryan Woo)

NORTH CYPRUS – Government Demand Share of Money Robb Robbed from Victims

WITHOUT PREJUDICE. An interesting situation has developed in recent days. A Government Minister is asking why British purchasers bought properties from Gary Robb. One assumes then that he thinks that the average British person has full knowledge of all low life crooks in the United Kingdom. I have to say that most of the people I have spoken to only became aware that Mr Robb was a crook after purchasing from Aga Development Limited. Imagine their horror when they made this discovery. Imagine also their horror to discover that the authorities here allegedly enabled Mr Robb to rob them.

Whilst I would not level accusations at the Government of the day, surely they were aware that the man they allowed to take Citizenship was a wanted felon on the run from British courts, having jumped bail. One assumes that although there is no Extradition Treaty between the UK and north Cyprus, the British police would have asked for his return to the UK. Now this is where the story gets even murkier. To be allowed to purchase a property in north Cyprus, a foreign purchaser has to have a clean police record. Indeed all the purchasers of Aga Development Properties would have had to provide an original copy of their Metropolitan Police Record. However the man they were purchasing from was given Citizenship in north Cyprus and so those purchasing from him might be forgiven for assuming that the authorities in north Cyprus would have screened him most vigorously before giving him this undoubted honour. Why then, at that point would any of his purchasers even suspected they were dealing with a known felon, known to the Government who facilitated him, but not to the purchasers?

The plot thickens further when you consider that the fellow shareholder in Aga Development Limited was an Advocate, an Advocate whose firm was also doing conveyancing for the purchasers. Now in the UK this would be considered a conflict of interest, but not it would seem in north Cyprus. Certainly the Board of Directors at first glance would seem a prestigious bunch, but then that was before the purchasers realised they were not dealing with an honest business man and did not realise that money was being systematically siphoned off and sent to accounts elsewhere.

Now whilst all this was happening, what were the authorities doing to protect these and all other purchasers being similarly ‘ripped’ off? Nothing. Now that the doodoo has effectively ‘hit the fan’ what are the authorities doing? Well as you can see from the first paragraph, re-inventing the scenario and blaming the victims. Just like the Kulaksiz situation, when you have no excuse, you bring the old smoke and mirrors into play and make everything the fault of the purchasers.

The human rights of all those victimised have been violated, now it seems they may well be about to be re-victimised and their human rights just about decimated. The Karmi/Robb auction will go ahead because Robb owes the Government taxes. No you did not misread that. Now that is a new one on me. Money stolen from victims, the thief did not pay taxes on his stolen money so the Government intend to collect the taxes by selling off the land/properties that the money, stolen by Robb, was given for. Can’t you just see the scene, The Great Train Robbers receiving a tax demand for the money they stole. You Could Not Make It Up.

O B Joyful

North Cyprus – Gary Robb Appeals…………

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

On May 17^th at the High Courts in London a Case Management Conference took place regarding the £1.6 million seized from Gary Robb by SOCA. The details of that Conference we cannot discuss, but basically it was to see how to proceed for those who joined SOCA’s lawsuit against Gary Robb’er’. The proceeds of crime act 281 has never been used in such a way and therefore in effect this case will be setting a precedent

SOCA has proved beyond reasonable doubt that the £1.6 million seized does in fact belong to AGA Customers and therefore should be returned to them, but Robb’er’ has other ideas. It appears he is appealing against the seizure of the monies. This financial psychopath known as Gary Robb’er’ is once again trying to shaft his customers by trying to get the monies back for himself, thus showing once again Robb’er’ has no regard for anyone but himself.

Robb’er’ has alledgedly lied, cheated and stolen from hundreds of people, leaving many in financial despair. This action by Robb’er’ shows that lack of feeling he has to those whom he has ripped off. We can only hope that the internet can expose Robb’er for what he really is. Just type Gary Robb into any search engine and you will see everything that Robb’er’ has been up to. Let hope that the internet information puts an end to any business that he wishes to start and that the world is aware of what a lying, cheating, deceitful ‘man’ (?) he is…….

ABAG

North Cyprus – Turkish press picks up on HSBC/USA lawsuit

 http://www.turkishnews.com/tr/content/2012/05/31/kktc-dava-edildi/

 ROUGH TRANSLATION