Friday, April 27, 2012

A TEACHABLE MOMENT IN THE CHARLES TAYLOR CASE


Whilst it is important to note that the Charles Taylor *case represents the first conviction of a sitting head of state for Crimes against Humanity** since the Second World War, compliance officers can also use the case to illustrate to their staff the importance of identification of Politically Exposed Persons, or PEPs.

His son, Charles Taylor, Jr. a/k/a Chuckie Taylor a/k/a Charles McArther Emmanuel a/k/a Roy Belfast, Jr., was more than just a son; he was the leader of his father's Anti-Terrorist Unit (ATU), also known as the "Demon Forces," for which he is presently serving a sentence of 97 years, for torture and murder.



the children of PEPs are not always innocent pawns, into whose bank accounts corrupt PEP parents deposit money. Sometimes they can be monsters in their own right. This case illustrates the principle that a compliance officer should never neglect to perform a due diligence enquiry for offspring of a PEP, for sometimes there's more there than meets the eye.


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* The Special Court for Sierra Leone website has the opinion of the court:
    http://www.sc-sl.org/
** Aiding And Abetting War Crimes & Crimes against Humanity:  Murder, Rape, Pillaging, use of child soldiers; Taylor gave the RUL and AFRC rebels: (1) Arms and ammunition (2) military personnel (3) Operational support, and (4) Moral support.



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