Manx Money Laundering Monkey Business - ABC

Abc- M

Whose been a naughty Manx boy then?

Trevor Baines Tycoon infamous Tycoon of the Isle Of Man has today been convicted of a multi-million dollar money laundering scam. He was so shocked at the verdict he actually collapsed and was taken to the local hospital. The image above, by my partner Gary, you know the Political cartoonist depicts this scene with a little gag. That's what a topical illustrator does. Clever boy.

Baines was accused of transferring $175 million to bank accounts in the Isle of Man,(just like Tony Soprano did) knowing or at least suspecting that the money was from the proceeds of ill gotten(are there any other type?) of crimes. Tut Tut!

The funds had been accrued dishonestly by Roys Poyiadjis, who just happened to be the bent senior executive of American software firm AremisSoft. He fooled many Wall Street investors by inflating the share price, thus inflating the companies overall wealth. Or what we call a nice little earner in these pasts which found it's way here, via Trevor Baines and the Isle of Man Banking Industry. Oh dear. Obama was right after all. Those rules and regs do need tightening.

So there you go. That's my Abc Money Laundering, and you thought I lived on a sleepy little island. Thanks to Gary for doing the illustration in record time today for this post. Now that is real talent. You can see more of his work here. For other Abc's of a less fraudulent type here.

TONY SOPRANO HAS AN ISLE OF MAN BANK ACCOUNT

Barker

Bet that got your attention didn't it!

Actually, it's true.

Ok, not strictly true as he was a fictional character, but you get my drift. The fictional character, Tony Soprano of The Sopranos(doh!) did have money stashed away here in the Isle of Man in a Off Shore bank account, set up by his Russian contacts. Go back and check it out. Mid series I think. Really not my imagination, they name the Isle of Man in two episodes, honest. So referring to the 3 legs that appear on both the Isle Of Man and the Sicily flag now you know why. Not quite sure if we have a Manx Mafia but if we have should I be worrying now I have drawn your attention to the flags and dodgy cash connection. If my blog doesn't appear tomorrow you will know why. I might be sleeping with the fishes! You understand I'm joking don't you? That's just for those devoid of a sense of humour.


The Isle of Man has long since had a reputation for a place to salt your off shore funny money away, alas not entirely true. Things have tightened up here. So while we do have a low tax threshold, we try not to be financial heaven for erm, funny money attained through, how shall we say not on the level means. Obama also has his on views on "Tax Havens" as we are known.
You may want to see what he has to say. No link you can find that out. I dare not prompt you.


The cartoon bears no relation to the post. No images and in light of recent events wanted to show something lighter from the Barker Illustration Collection rather than the Political.

RAMSEY LOCALS AND MANX MONEY.

Ooh look people! Today I pulled back from going for the artsy photography just to show you what you all asked for, people. OK they aren't exactly close up and in yer face, but here's the deal. I have to live here. You want to see the locals, so the best I can do is these kind of glancing long shots, walking briskly with the camera and snapping quickly.

Notice the lady at the cashpoint? That's actually the Isle Of Man Bank. I know our own bank. We even have our own toytown money. Prepare to be confused! We have our own Manx money to use on the island. We also have Euros introduced in some shops, but not all. UK sterling is spendable here along with any other currency that has the word "sterling" on such as Scots or Channel Islands. Manx money though can only be used on the island. Don't forget we are a Crown Dependency of the "British Islands" and not part of the UK, which is why our cash is trash there. No way can you pay if Manx it say. You can imagine what it's like when we go on holiday, the conversions.

To go off at a complete tangent now, but what do you notice about the pavement and road? No chewing gum, no fag ends, no litter. I'm not saying it's like this everywhere, but how many town high streets do you come across that are like this? We may have empty shops, but we have clean streets. Please also note the christmas lights are always there, just not switched on 'til December.

Off to have words with my laptop which seems incapable of closing down pages I am not using, Why? Who knows.