http://news.msn.com/us/how-colombian-drug-traffickers-used-hsbc-to-launder-money
1 day ago By Carrick Mollenkamp and Brett Wolf of Reuters,

When several Colombian men were indicted in January 2010 on money laundering charges, the case in Brooklyn federal court drew little attention. It looked like a bust of another nexus of drug traffickers and money launderers, with mainly small-time operatives paying the price for their crimes. One of the men was Julio Chaparro, a 48-year-old father of four who owned three factories that made children’s clothing in Colombia. But to U.S. authorities the case was anything but ordinary. Chaparro, prosecutors alleged, helped run a money-laundering ring for drug traffickers that took advantage of lax controls at UK-based international banking group HSBC Holdings Plc. It was one of the most important leads for U.S. investigators pursuing a case against the bank that eventually led to a $1.9 billion settlement on Dec. 11. Chaparro was “basically putting the orchestra together” and investigators saw him as “a major player in terms of cleaning a lot of money,” said James Hayes, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New York. Known as ICE, the agency and its task force led the probe. The Colombian’s lawyer, Ephraim Savitt, said Chaparro was a middleman in the operation, but disputed the extent of his client’s role, saying he was the “page turner of sheet music for the conductor.” Chaparro, who was arrested in Colombia in 2010 and extradited to the U.S. in 2011, pleaded guilty to a money-laundering conspiracy count in May and is awaiting sentencing in 2013.

Much about the trail that drug traffickers used to move U.S. dollars — the proceeds from drug sales — through HSBC and other banks remains unclear. By design, the process is layered to evade detection. The federal law-enforcement task force — named after El Dorado, the mythical city of gold in South America — used wiretaps, email and computer searches, information from at least one inside source, and old-fashioned surveillance to piece together the ring’s operations. Drug cartels sold narcotics in the United States and routed the cash to Mexico, often using couriers to smuggle it across the border. That cash would then be put into bank accounts at HSBC’s Mexico unit, where large deposits could be made without arousing suspicion, according to U.S. Department of Justice documents.In one filing, U.S. prosecutors said, Chaparro and others allegedly utilized accounts at HSBC Mexico to deposit “drug dollars and then wire those funds to … businesses located in the United States and elsewhere. The funds were then used to purchase consumer goods, which were exported to South America and resold to generate ‘clean’ cash.'” The El Dorado federal task force, based in a building on the west side of Manhattan near Chelsea Piers, serves as an umbrella organization for some 250 law-enforcement officials from state, local and federal agencies.

The tipping point in the investigation came in 2009 when El Dorado agents arrested a man named Fernando Sanclemente. Two sources familiar with the case say Sanclemente was an operative in Chaparro’s network. Sanclemente, who was charged with allegedly conducting financial transactions tied to narcotics trafficking, is free on bail with a $200,000 bond, according to the latest court docket entry, which dates to January 2012. His lawyer, James Neville, declined to discuss the status of the case. According to a criminal complaint filed against him by Lana, the El Dorado agent, on June 30, 2009, task force agents followed Sanclemente for more than two hours as he drove around Queens in New York to ferry cash from drug sales.Sanclemente first met with a person for about “30 seconds” on one street corner, and left with a yellow plastic bag. Later that night, he drove to a Dunkin’ Donuts near LaGuardia Airport, where a black livery cab pulled up and the driver handed him a black bag.The El Dorado team followed Sanclemente to Laurel Hollow, N.Y., some 40 minutes away, where the investigators stopped and searched him, finding about $153,000 in the two bags. At Sanclemente’s apartment, investigators said they found ledgers and documents consistent with money laundering.

With the arrest, investigators gained insight into Chaparro’s alleged transactions. At one point, investigators set up undercover bank accounts where they were able to get Chaparro’s network to wire proceeds that could be traced back to HSBC’s Mexico operations, according to people familiar with the situation and a Department of Justice filing in the HSBC case. Federal agents would ultimately home in on $500 million that had moved from HSBC Mexico to HSBC’s operations in the United States, according to the confidential investigative records

A 29-year old man, going by the name Nura Mustapha, is currently explaining to homicide detectives at the State Criminal Investigative Department, Panti, Yaba, Lagos State, why he was allegedly caught having sex with the corpse of a lady identified as Faith Akin.
Mustapha was arrested early in March after an attendant at the Green Star Hotel, Alaba-Rago, raised an alarm that he would not allow the corpse to be retrieved.
Police officers identified the corpse of the lady as Faith Akin, a resident of Ondo State, who visited her mother in Lagos.
“We have a lot of customers coming with different girls to the hotel. But on that fateful day, Mustapha came in about 5.00 pm and booked the room; after about 9.00pm, he brought in this lady and they stayed the night,” said the hotel attendant. “Early the next day, before I would hand over to the morning staff, I went round to check the rooms; that was how I saw the lady lying down. I went to touch her but there was no response; I called out to Nura, but he did not answer. It was when I came back the second time after I had informed the manager that I saw the customer having sex with the corpse again; I tried to call his attention but he did not respond, so I went to call the police.”
When officers from the Ojo Police Station arrived the scene, it was gathered that the suspect was seen having sex with the unconscious lady.
“As soon as we got the complaint from the hotel management, we rushed to the scene of the incident; unfortunately, we experienced the shock of our lives when we saw Nura on top of the lifeless lady still having sex with her,” said a police officer. “We had to drag him from the lady’s corpse before he realised that people had been watching him. It was a terrible thing for such a young man to sleep with a corpse; maybe for ritual purpose, but we do not know.”
During questioning, Mustapha allegedly told the police officers that he had taken a sex-enhancement drug before inviting the deceased to his hotel room.
“He said he used a local Hausa herb, called ‘burutashe’ to enhance his sexual performance before he had sex with the lady,” said the police source. “The corpse had foam coming out from her mouth; and despite that he kept [penetrating] her because the drug made him to have delayed ejaculation. So to satisfy himself, he kept [penetrating] the lady even when he discovered that she was dead, so as to relieve himself.”
The Tiv Yam market in Alaba-Rango is predominantly populated by Hausas and it was gathered that commercial sex workers often congregate there at night to solicit for customers.

Psalm 138:2 for you have exalted your Word above all your name

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FAQ: I was once taught that when it says in Psalm 138:2 that God “magnified his Word above all his name,” it means He underscored it to emphasize that He stands behind it. Is that true?

Psalm 138:2 is a very meaningful verse, and the second stanza is one of the sentences in the Hebrew text that can have a number of meanings. First, the Hebrew words in the verse each have several definitions. Second, there is a custom involved. Third, the words themselves can be understood to be in different positions in the sentence. To properly relate to the verse, we must understand that had God wanted us to get a singular meaning from the verse, He could have worded it, or it and its context, in such as way as to get that one meaning. When God uses vocabulary and syntax in such a way as to allow for multiple meanings, which is not uncommon, very often all of them have some significance. The possibility of multiple meanings is a way God pulls the reader into a deeper relationship with Him, inviting us to pray, think, and ponder the depth of the meaning of the words, and thus the fullness of His Word.

The word order in the Hebrew text, and the sense of the verse, gave rise to the translation of the KJV, ASV, etc. A very literal translation of the Hebrew text reads, “For you have exalted above all your name your word.” Placing the noun phrase, “your word” before the noun phrase “your name,” (not uncommon in Hebrew because an adjective, or a phrase acting in an adjectival manner, usually comes after the main noun) yields the sense in the KJV, “for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.”

According to Hebrew custom, the “name” of someone referred to his authority and reputation. Thus, the name of God refers to His authority and reputation, just as the name of Jesus refers to his authority and reputation. That is why today we pray in the “name” of Jesus Christ, i.e., we pray according to his authority (John 15:16); we command healing in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 3:6); why demons must come out when we use the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 16:18); and why baptism was done in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 10:48). God’s “name” was His authority and reputation, so a cultural understanding of this translation is that God exalted His Word above all other things that are under His authority, even His authority itself.

However, it also occurs in Hebrew that when two noun clauses occur side by side, two things are being referred to rather than one of the nouns serving as an adjective. Thus the phrase, “your word your name,” can legitimately have the sense given in the NIV and ESV: “for you have exalted above all things your name and your word,” even though there is no “and” connecting the two nouns. According to that translation, God’s Word and His authority are exalted above all Creation, and that is certainly true.

We saw above that the “name” of God refers to His authority and reputation. Thus, if a translator believes that relationship is being emphasized in the verse, he arrives at a translation such as the NASB: “For Thou hast magnified Thy word according to all Thy name.” In other words, God, in all His authority, has exalted His Word. This is not a literal translation, nor does it seem to be the primary meaning, but it can be an undertone in the Hebrew.

One further translation can be reached by realizing that “promise” is part of the semantic range, the range of definitions, of imrah (Strong’s number 565; translated “word” in most versions). If a translator thinks that a specific category of “word,” in this case a “promise,” is being used in the verse, he arrives at a translation that could be similar to the Jerusalem Bible: “your promise is even greater than your fame.” The entire Old Testament is messianic, and looks forward to the coming Messiah and what he will bring. It is not wrong to say that before Christ came, God exalted above everything else His name and the promise of the Messiah. On the other hand, “promise” is definitely more of a derived meaning in this verse. It is there, but as part of the greater “Word.” God exalted His “Word,” which obviously included the promise of the Messiah.

Also in the verse is the Hebrew verb gadal (Strong’s number 1431), which in this context means to “make great.” Young’s Literal Translation actually reads, “made great.” Given the culture of biblical times, the word “magnify” can be somewhat misleading, because we think of a magnifying glass. “Exalt” seems to be a more fitting translation for the time and culture.

With so many different translations of Psalm 138:2, what is the “right” translation? Again, it is important to understand that none of the above translations is “wrong,” in the sense that what they say in English is not being communicated, prominently or as an undertone, in the Hebrew. Furthermore, we need to remember that God wants us to spend time with Him in prayer and pondering, taking time to understand Him, and putting multiple meanings in a verse is a way of assuring that we will do so.

Nevertheless, there does seem to be a primary meaning to Psalm 138:2. Although the NIV and ESV are good translations, they are less likely the primary meaning of the verse. This is due to the fact that in the culture of the Old Testament, people already understood that the “name” of God was exalted above all things, so there would not be much point in saying it. On the other hand, to say that God exalted His Word above His very name, His authority, would be an amazing revelation.

In the biblical culture, it was common for rulers to use their authority to break the rules and go against even what they themselves had promised. But our God is different from earthly, sinful rulers. He exalts His Word above His authority, and lives by His own rules. This is just what we would expect from our Just and Loving God, who lives by His own rules and keeps His promises. That is why we can trust God, but cannot trust man. We could not ask for a better God, or a better example.

Psalm 138:2b
“for you have exalted your Word above all your name.”

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