FROM THE -
JOURNALS of Monte Friesner ~ Sunday November 28, 2010
Financial Crime Consultant for WANTED SA >
World-Check had Profiled UK Solicitor Four Years before his Suspension
Solicitor Iqbal Meer a/k/a Mohammad Iqbal, recently suspended from the practice of law for three years, after a professional regulatory agency ruled that he had aided in the laundering of £4.5m, reportedly stolen from the Zambian Government by its former President, Frederick Chiluba, was first profiled on World-Check four years ago*. The Solicitors' Regulatory Authority found, according to media reports, that he performed cash transfers between 1995 and 2002 on behalf of Chiluba, who was held by a London court in a 2007 decision to have stolen £46m, in public funds, from Zambia. Chiluba was later acquitted of corruption charges in Zambia in a decision believed to be politically influenced, and the sitting government curiously forbade any appeal of that ruling.
The reported regulatory findings of fact stated that:
- Meer compromised the independence or integrity of a solicitor.
- He permitted funds to pass through his accounts, where there was no underlying transaction that would justify the same.
- He failed to properly investigate the source of funds which could have been the proceeds of criminal conduct.
World-Check users accessing the online could ascertain Meer's links to Chiluba, and PEPs associated with him, four years before this week's suspension of the lawyer. Always rely upon World-Check as your early-warning system on high-risk individuals and Politically Exposed Persons.
* Iqbal Meer, World-Check UID 51672, first Profile 26 October, 2006.
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WANTED SA Thanks Mr. Kenneth Rijock of World Check and all the Parties, Law Enforcement and Securities forces who have contributed to this article and their sincere opinions and statements.
WANTED SA states that the facts and opinions stated in this article are those of the author and not those of WANTED SA. We do not warrant the accuracy of any of the facts and opinions stated in this article nor do we endorse them or accept any form of responsibility for the articles.
