← The Epstein Chronicles
The Epstein Chronicles
Mega Edition: Jeffrey Epstein's And The Real Service He Provided People (7/14/26)
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Jeffrey Epstein demonstrated a sophisticated ability to obscure where his money came from, where it moved and who ultimately benefited from it. He operated through layers of corporations, trusts, offshore accounts and entities registered in...
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Hey, we're gonna get, get right back at it, folks. We're gonna dive right back into the whole money laundering portion of Jeffrey Epstein and his criminal enterprise. And we're gonna talk about seven things that were ha. We have to look out for seven things to keep an eye on after the anti money laundering laws took effect on January 1st. Now the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, they have a new article out detailing the seven things that we should be on the lookout for. And considering we have been following the FinCEN files pretty much since they broke, and honestly, it's one of the biggest tie ins with Jeffrey Epstein that we've come across. One of the best situations where the curtains have been pulled back a little bit and it shows us a little bit of the process on how this occurred, on how the money laundering happens, how they use the shell companies. And with the FinCEN files, it gives us a good blueprint to go back and to look at and to compare what was going on with Epstein with what we know was going on here in the FinCEN files. And we already know that we could trace Epstein all the way back to the Paradise Papers, to the Panama Papers, to Mosac and Fonseca. So Epstein and his criminal enterprise, they really tie in with all of this. And if we don't have the, the basis, right, the blueprint for this money laundering and for these financial crimes, we would never understand the full scope of what Epstein was up to. Because without this money laundering and without this dark money, then none of the other behavior would be a possibility, certainly not on the grand scale that it was taking place. So I know it's cliche, but we're gonna follow the money. Today's article is from the International Consortium of Investigative journalists. Headline 7 things to watch. After historic anti money laundering overhaul in the United States. The landmark legislation contains several loopholes, exemptions and shortcomings that may become key vulnerabilities in the fight against corruption and financial secrecy. Advocates say, what did I tell you guys when we were talking about all of this and the AML was coming into effect and we really didn't know the whole law, Right, Mike? My thing always has been, let's hope it has some teeth. And already we're seeing loopholes, already we're seeing back doors for these people to exploit. And it's disheartening to me. And you wonder why I say meet the new boss same as the old boss. Nothing's going to change. Unfortunately, folks, until we send people to D.C. who really care and to be honest with you, that certainly doesn't seem like what's going to occur here with 46. Just take a look at all of the Cabinet members. Just take a look at where they all come from. How many of them are from the financial sector? How many of them went to Harvard? How many of them were part of the cfr, how many of them were part of the Carnegie Institute? So why would I think for a second that they'd be going after all of their besties? It just doesn't work like that. And if the actual legislation has loopholes and back doors, then it's just going to be more of the same. Except they'll be able to point to the new AML laws and say, hey, look, we did something, we tried to fix something, we're doing our best. But here's an idea. Leave out all of the loopholes, no backdoors. How about just for once, the law is what it says? So this article was authored by Spencer Woodman. Washington lawmakers rang in the new year by largely banning anonymous shell companies in the United States, one of the world's most attractive places for criminals and wrongdoers around the world to hide dirty money. Sounds good. Right off to a good start. Definitely a good thing to close those loopholes. Definitely a good thing for there to be some transparency when it comes to anonymous shell companies. All right. On. On a good track so far here. Right? Perfect. Let's continue. The new law will for the first time require millions of companies incorporated in the US to report their true owners to the federal government for inspection by law enforcement and compliance officers at banks and other financial institutions. Known as the Corporate Transparency act, the law was attached to a massive national defense funding bill that Congress passed with a veto override. So remember, this was stuffed into that ndaa. And also stuffed into that ndaa, which I'm not going to get too deep, is some anti streaming laws that I find to be very draconian. So maybe we'll get to that at some other. Some other time. I'm really thinking about a new podcast where we talk about a variety of issues, different issues, you know, news from around the world, stuff like this, little things that might slip by, passed on like a Friday night, little things that I feel will affect us moving forward as citizens, stuff like that, but more of a show focused on different topics. I think that there is a, there is a market for that. And I think from the emails I have received from a lot of you out there and from the conversations that I've had from a lot of you out there, it would be something that people would be interested in. So it's certainly something I'm, I'm thinking about. And there's just a lot to talk about, right, that I don't want to drag into this Epstein case and muddy the waters here. But there's so much corruption and so much we can get to, and honestly a lot of it overlaps with our Jeffrey Epstein conversation anyway, because Epstein is the face at this point of all of those scuzzbag elites that we always talk about. So I'm gonna definitely think about something like that and, you know, perhaps throw something together because there is just so much, so much corruption, folks. As the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has reported across multiple investigations, including most recently the Finson Files. Anonymous companies are a major vulnerability in the global fight against tax avoidance and money laundering. Drug cartels, oligarchs, despots in the global elite use them to conceal fortunes from tax authorities and law enforcement. So even right here in the article from the consortium, they're talking about how the global elites use, use this stuff to launder money, to hide their money. So if you think it's just something I'm, you know, spitting up and throwing against the wall here or you know, looking to direct some rage somewhere, that's not the case. I believe that the financial sector is really a huge problem with humanity being stuck in the rut that we're in. It's a global problem. We are slaves to debt folks all around the world living way above our means while these banks continue to absolutely destroy us. It is not acceptable, it's not sustainable, and it's something that we're going to have to address and deal with at some point. As the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has reported across multiple. Oh, excuse me, we're past there. Establishing a US government registry of company owners was a key reform that experts said was needed in response to ICIJ investigations. So this goes to show you that good investigative reporting and good investigative journalism gets things moving. We seen it with Julie Brown in our case as well, right? The Miami Herald picks up the ball. They start looking into what, what occurred and it forces law enforcement to do the same because the public outcry is so severe and so fierce. So that's what happened here. The FinCEN files broke and then all of these government officials, they latched onto that and they use that as the basis to create this new anti money laundering law. But the transparency is not complete. The law supported by both the U.S. chamber of Commerce and left leaning public citizen, an unusual Washington alliance is the result of years of negotiations. It contains loopholes pushed for by special interest groups that may blunt some of its power, even according to those who advocated for it and are now celebrating its passage. People like me. This is what I've talked about. The lobbyists, the special interest groups. I'm so tired of these senators and Congress people hanging out near K Street. Do we really need these people to stay in D.C. anymore? Honestly, they can't do the people's work from home. Shouldn't they be home amongst their constituents? I know that if I ran for office, there'd be two things that I'd run on, two major things that I'd run on. One, I would not accept any money from out of state to pursue my seat in Congress or the Senate. 100%, without a doubt. And two, I would promise my constituents that I would not be in D.C. i'd go there for major votes or things I'd have to be there in person for, but I would stay at home. You could take care of everything. You need to take care of Mobile now, right? That's what we're doing, isn't it? Aren't we? Zoom Meeting from home. If it's good enough for Aunt Betha, it's good enough for these Congress people and senators. The closer they are to K Street, the closer they are to being corrupted. And that's all of them. Just look at these people. Look at what's his name, Boehner. He was so staunch against marijuana, so staunch against drugs. Oh, we're sending people to prison, writing all kinds of draconian laws. The dude leaves public office and joins the board of a cannabis company. How. Don't you choke on that hypocrisy? But that. That's the kind of people we're dealing with here. And like I said earlier, you know, just like computer programmers, they're going to add a back door so that they have a way to navigate, so that their friends have a way to navigate and find a way to get out of trouble and to get around regulations. And until we send people to Washington D.C. who aren't there to enrich themselves, who aren't there to use politics as a career. There should be no political class. It shouldn't be a career. It should be a public service that you do to your do for your community for four, eight years and then bring your back home and get on with your life. But no, once you get a little taste for the power, you're corrupted by it. Here are seven major areas where experts say the bill falls short, that could pave the way for future political action. One Some Wall street investment vehicles don't have to report Hedge funds and private equity firms create pooled investment vehicle type vehicles, typically open only to wealthy investors. The law does not apply to some of these entities, experts say, even though law enforcement has warned that they are ripe for abuse. Of course they don't. This is the same thing as the turn and burn IPOs that Jeffrey Epstein was getting, right? They get special treatment, they get special rules, special laws. And if you're part of a hedge fund or a private equity firm, you know, the same people that funded Joe Biden to become president, the same people that were in Donald Trump's ear, the same people that funded Obama and Bush and do I have to continue? These are the same people that are exempt from these sorts of laws. These are the same people that have loopholes to navigate so they don't have to be on the same playing field as usual. So think about that next time you're cheering on one of these senators or one of these Congress people as they're standing on their ivory tower. Threat actors, According to a 2020 Federal Bureau of Investigation bulletin, likely use the private placement of funds, including investments offered by hedge funds and private equity firms, to launder money. Well, no shit. Water is wet and the desert is hot. Everybody knows that these hedge fund managers are a bunch of scuzzballs. Everybody knows that these hedge fund managers are involved in all sorts of money laundering and nonsense. But let's make sure we have a loophole in the new AML laws so that they can navigate it and continue their their centuries long reign of theft and and, and greedy. Number two, big businesses are exempt too. Oh well, why not? Let's just, let's just pile it on. We couldn't have our, the, the corporatocracy have to follow the rules, right? Our new corporate overlords couldn't follow the rules, right? Who would have thought that Huxley would have been so on point? We're all focused on 1984 over here and meanwhile it's a brave new world. Instead, the new law exempts any firm that has more than 5 million in annual revenue, more than 20 employees and a physical office. In the US at least in my world, that exemption covers nearly everyone, said Steve Stephen Quinlevin, a corporate lawyer specializing in mergers and acquisitions at Stinson llp. One rationale for the carve out, the advocates say, is that these larger companies have actual employees in office offices and are thus much easier to Understand? Oh, yeah. So much easier to understand. Do they really think that that excuse and that reasoning is going to be a selling point for anyone who's following this or for anyone who understands that these big businesses are legitimately at the heart of the issue? It's such absolute shit that they actually believe that this is going to make us feel comfortable. I hate to say it, folks, but with all of these loopholes, this is just more window dressing. And it goes back to what I said when we were reporting on this at first. Sherrod Brown, he has a lot to say, right? A lot of big words, a lot of big promises. Well, now you have the Senate, now you have Congress, now you have the White House. You know what you do not have anymore, Mr. Brown? You have no more excuses. Get it done. It can be difficult to determine who technically owns a trust's wealth before distributions are made, experts say. Unlike companies, trusts often do not register with any government. The new law explicitly exempts certain types of charitable and semi charitable trusts. Really? This is where. This is where all the money's going to be moved. Then this is where they're going to be moving their money around into the charities so that they don't have to follow these laws and these rules. We saw them do it with Epstein, we saw Leon Black, we saw Glenn Dubin. How many more times do we need to see this? BS. Advocates are also concerned about the wider category of personal and family trusts slipping through the cracks because these entities might not fall into the new law's definition of a company. For this reason, experts believe the new law could de facto exclude a wide swath of personal and family trusts. Where do all of these rich people keep their money? Personal and family trust, huh? But they're going to be exempt. Shocking. You know what? All of these Senators and Congress people, you know what they all have, too. I'm sure they all have their own trusts. Do you really think they're going to write laws that are going to screw them in the long run? If that was the case and they truly had any integrity, if they had any sort of morality, they'd put up a law that would have to do with term limits for the Congress and Senate. Eight years in both. You could do eight as a Congressman, eight as a senator, and that's it. And that's even pushing it, in my opinion. But they'll never do that. They'll never put any laws on the books that are going to affect them. This is the biggest concern for me, said Gary Coleman, the director of Transparency International's United States office, adding that he believes that trusts are already one of the US's largest money laundering vulnerabilities. Coleman adds that it is possible that during the implementation of the law, federal agencies could interpret its language to include some trusts. And the law mandates a study into problems that the lack of trust ownership information poses. So it's going to be manipulated, it's going to be used as a loophole and it's obvious that the so called elites are going to continue to move the way they've always moved. They'll just have to make a few tweaks and a few adjustments. But don't worry, their scumbag lawyers will be there to show them the way. The new ownership registry will remain secret. Oh, how cute. Secret. There's no transparency. Sherrod Brown, another person who's up there serving us up some wolf tickets. I said it when we were talking about Sherrod Brown and this law that I didn't trust him, that I thought he was a scoundrel. And I'm probably going to be proven correct once again here. It's all about show for them, right? It's all about the aura of them doing things to make our lives better. It's all about putting on the big play, the grand play. Yeah, we care about our constituents, we care about this money laundering. When in reality, none of these loopholes would have been put in here if they really cared. Only a subset of government and financial institution officers will be able to access ownership information contained in the new secure non public database that the law establishes. Researchers, journalists and others trying to track dark money will be shut out. So the saga continues. As journalists, content creators and people interested in the truth, we'll have to rely on whistleblowers. And hopefully with the new safe harbor laws that are being put into place, these whistleblowers will be more inclined to come forward. I know that if I had some information and I'm getting 30% of 190 million, I'd be doing the Conor McGregor, Vince McMahon walk all the way down to the FBI or the treasury office to rat on whoever the hell was involved in these financial discrepancies. 30% of 190 million. 30% of 390 million. A lot of money, folks. A fully public ownership registry would be unique. Wouldn't be unique. In 2016, the United Kingdom mandated that many companies registered in the country must list their owners in a registry that is freely accessible to the public online. Look, I'm down with that, right? If I owned a business and it was, you know, all legit and on the up and up. I wouldn't mind if my business was in some public registry. I'm paying taxes on that business. I'd be prideful of that. I'd be proud of the business I built. Why am I trying to hide in secrecy? Here's an idea. Pay your taxes, stop being an asshole, and just try and be a human for once. Although the UK registry has been beset by faulty or absent information, transparency advocates say that the public inspection of the information has been crucial in flagging problems that should be fixed within the system. Advocates say their support of a public ownership registry will not stop with the passage of the new law. That's going to be a fight we're going to continue to have down the road over time, clark Gascon, a senior policy advisor at the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition, told icij. And that's good, right? I like that these groups, the Transparency Coalition and other groups are, are still fighting to make sure that real laws with teeth go onto the books and not just more BS for these idiots to manipulate. And I think what the UK has going on there is a good idea. Full transparency. If you're a business owner, you shouldn't care if somebody knows that you own a business or what your business is. It's absolutely ludicrous. Registry access for state and local law enforcement is limited. So state and local law enforcement don't have access or a limited access. Once again, we're relying on the feds. That should make all of you feel comfortable, right? Because we know that the Federal Bureau of Investigations is totally on their game, totally on point. I am not comforted by that fact. Okay? I trust the state law enforcement officials much more than I trust the federal ones at this point. The new law stipulates that although many federal agents will have relatively easy access to the ownership database, state and local law enforcement will have to obtain permission from a court employee each time they want to access it. This seems excessive and is going to discourage law enforcement, said Alma Angadi, global legislative and regulatory risk director at the consulting firm Guidehouse. Yeah, why would more loopholes, more steps for the law enforcement to have to jump through to do their job. Here's an idea. Streamline it. Make it nice and easy. But they won't. Again, this certainly just looks like window dressing. Once again, folks, is it good that there's something on the books? Of course. Are some people going to get nailed with it? Of course. Is it going to be the right people? I have my doubts. Six art dealers don't have to report suspicions of financial crime for now. Oh, so that's nice. The art world continues to just move like the scuzz bags they are. Billion. Who has a billion dollar art collection? What are you, the Pope? Give me a break. Leon Black. So you got a million. A billion dollar art collection, huh? I'm sure that's all on the up and up. I'm sure that that art collection hasn't been used to steer money or maneuver money in a dark manner. I'm sure that's never happened. Never once. Leon Black's above such things. Along with the disclosure requirements, the overall defense spending law also expands the range of businesses that must report suspicions of having done business with criminals. Left off that list, art dealers. What do you know? How many of these art dealers are big time political donors? How many of these art collectors are people within the political world? How many of them are friendly with the new administration? I'll save you the legwork, folks. A lot of them. The art trade is a major hotspot for international money laundering, as ICIJ recently reported in the FinCEN files. Elise Bean, a former U.S. senate aide and investigator, called the art exemption strange and noted that the legislation requires a study into the art market that she hopes will lead to art dealers finally being added to the law. While art dealers have been offered a free pass for now, the law does demand for the first time that antiquities dealers report suspicious activity to federal authorities. So I wonder who lobbied for this loophole? That would be an interesting look to find out who lobbied for the art world, who paid for those lobbyists, and what the purpose behind that lobby really was. Because we all know the art world is corrupt as hell. And if anyone should be getting slapped with penalties here, it's them. Number seven. This one's really going to launch you guys into orbit like it did me. This is galling, folks. The penalty for leaking ownership information is harsher than for not reporting it to the government in the first place. What, if anything, shines a light on the backwards ass nature of the United States government at this point? At the absolute dumpster fire that it is, something like this does it perfectly. Just like the guards who fell asleep when Epstein allegedly killed himself. They're the only ones getting slapped with felonies, huh? And so right here, if you leak this shit, oh, you're going to prison forever. But if you're the person who didn't report it, then no worries. We're gonna give you a fine. Kinda like Mr. Assange, huh? By the way, he needs to be pardoned today. Okay, pardon Assange, Pardon Snowden, Pardon. What's her name? Chelsea Manning. All of them. Enough is enough already. People who misreport company ownership information face a maximum penalty of two years in prison. Anyone who leaks ownership data to the press or anyone else could face up to five years in jail and a decade if the disclosure happens while committing another federal crime. Look at that shit. Longer than Jeffrey Epstein, huh? Two years. Two years for people who don't report. Five if you leak. But Jeffrey Epstein that 13 months out every day. You tell me the system isn't screwed up folks. Give me a break already. This is absolutely ridiculous. I know somebody who did five years for so called illegal sports gambling. These penalties are out of whack, Ross Delston, a lawyer and consultant in Washington D.C. specializing in anti money laundering systems, told ICIJ. Since when is the ownership of a company an inherently private matter? The law separately creates new rewards and protections for whistleblowers who come forward to the government about a broad range of financial misconduct. So what they're saying is come to the government, you can be a whistleblower to the government. We have these incentives, but don't you dare go to the press. So that is very interesting and I'm very interested to see how this all plays out. What I'm really interested to see though is now that it's time to put up or shut up. I'm really interested to see what Sherrod Brown 46 and the new leadership apparatus really does now that the ball is in their court. Because for the last four years we've heard a lot of platitudes, a lot of big talk from a lot of people claiming everyone else is biased. Well, now the talking is over. Now it's time for the rubber to meet the road. And let's see if 46, the new Congress and the Senate actually have the huevos to make all of this stuff a reality and to go after the scummiest amongst us. If you'd like to contact me, you can do that@bobby capuchirotonmail.com that's B O B B Y C A P U C c I@protonmail.com youm can also find me on Twitter O B b y/cap ucci all of the links that go with this episode can be found in the description box to everybody who has donated to the podcast via the FinCEN files and talk about how there is some bipartisan support for US lawmakers to come together during this new omnibus bill and get rid of these anonymous shell companies. So that is certainly something that has been needed for quite some time. And the fact that there is bipartisan support for it is crucial, in my opinion. How many times have we seen one party or the other, because of their ties to the financial world, go ahead and kill bills like this or come up with some sort of asinine excuse why a bill like this shouldn't be passed, But I think now is the proper time for them to get it done. On the heels of the FinCEN files coming out, we've had the Panama Papers come out. You know, there are ample reasons for this to be much more regulated. And of course we talk about it here on the podcast because it certainly relates to how Jeffrey Epstein was able to, to conduct business the way he was able to conduct business for so long. The financial system, the way it's set up, is set up for people such as Jeffrey Epstein to skirt around the laws, to find loopholes and to find ways to launder money. And they have not. When I say they, I mean Congress or the Senate lawmakers. They don't, they don't address this ever. Because what, you don't think they're not benefiting from it? All of their bag men, all of these bundlers on both sides are involved with all sorts of shady ass shell companies and offshore dealings and stuff that we don't even know about. And that stuff was all brought to light during the Paradise Papers and the Panama Papers and then with the FinCEN files, all of the stuff that we speculated, all of the stuff we thought that they were up to, well, it was confirmed by those leaks and those dumps. And now lawmakers across the world, the eu, America, Australia, elsewhere, are now starting to take this a bit more serious. And you know why? Well, because the people are starting to get hip to it. Once the people are hip to their scams and their plots and their schemes, well, they'll just act like we hadn't, we didn't know anything, we didn't was wrong. Here. We're gonna write different laws. Meanwhile, the laws were written in the first place by these people so that they could exploit them. But now that the people are aware and people are starting to catch on to what's really going on, of course they'll just plead ignorance. Oh well, we didn't know that they were being exploited or that these loopholes were being used. We'll write some new laws and, and inevitably these new laws, well, they'll have loopholes and backdoors in them as well. Hopefully with this new bit of bipartisanship we're going to see here in this bill, there won't be any backdoors, there won't be any loopholes. It'll just be black and white. That's what we need. Not some all inclusive comprehensive bill, just a black and white bill that outlines the penalties for people who engage in this with no slap on the wrist, with no, oh, we'll get you next times. Alright. If you're caught up with one of these shell companies and these shell companies are engaged in illegal business, well, there shouldn't just be some sort of financial penalty, there should be a criminal penalty as well. With that in mind, let's take a look at our article this morning. This article is from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and the headline is US Lawmakers Move to End Anonymous Shell Companies in National Defense Spending Bill. A Major anti Money laundering reform is expected to arrive in annual omnibus legislation with bipartisan support. This article was authored by Spencer Woodman. Now that's pretty awesome to hear, right? I don't care what side of the aisle you're on. Gridlock when it comes to issues like this is not a good situation. There needs to be bipartisan support for bills such as this. People shouldn't dig in on either side and play tribal politics when it comes to something as important as stopping this money laundering from happening. As we've already established previously, money laundering is the lifeblood for these people, these criminal organizations, people like Epstein, arms runners, the cartels. So if there's a way to stamp out this money laundering and there's a way to bring these people to justice who are engaging in it, then all of those avenues must be explored. And whatever sort of regulation power Congress has, this they should use. Lawmakers in the United States say they have taken a significant step closer to enacting a major anti money laundering reform that would make it more difficult to move dirty money through US firms. Hallelujah. Now of course, as usual, let me, let me tamper down any, any expectations, right, because the devil will be in the details. But it is certainly a good step in the right direction. We have seen the financial system not only in the United States, but worldwide be exploited by these people for far too long. These people have increased their wealth since the beginning of this pandemic at a rate that has never been seen ever before in the world. And these people are still stealing, robbing, laundering money and sowing seeds of destruction everywhere they go. Hopefully, a powerful anti money laundering law will not only give the investigators an inroad to prosecute people like this. But also, hopefully it sends a message that this behavior is longer going to be tolerated. Late last week, Democrats in the House and Senate announced that they had included provisions targeting anonymous shell companies into a must pass national defense spending bill. The move is significant because unlike many pieces of legislation that languish in Congress, the omnibus bill is often approved on a bipartisan basis to continue fund national defense. So they slid this into the omnibus bill, which is honestly a good idea. I'm usually not too fond of inserting things into bills like this, but sometimes you have to force the issue. And I don't really think that this is a, a partisan type of situation. So I'm, I'm actually okay with the, the Democrats inserting this into the omnibus bill. Um, I usually prefer clean bills. Right. I'm a big fan of clean bills for the most part. But sometimes, man, you have to force the issue. Sometimes when your kid doesn't want to want to eat, you got to sit there with them until they'll eat the food. And sometimes that's what has to happen with these bills and in Congress you have to force the issue sometimes, and that's what it looks like is happening here. And putting it in this omnibus bill is honestly a very good strategy by the Democrats. It is past time to put an end to the secrecy that allows drug cartels, human traffickers, arms dealers, terrorists and kleptocrats to exploit the United States banking system in order to carry out anti American activities. Mark Warner, a Democratic senator from Virginia and advocate for the reform, said in a statement, well, that's all fine and well, Mr. Warner, but you're not gonna blow smoke up my ass, sir. Literally all of the bag men you know are gonna be pissed off about this. So I don't, I don't know how you're going to break it to the investor class, the people that literally put Joe Biden into power. It's gonna be a rough sell to those folks and I'd like to see how you guys are gonna pull it off, that's for sure. But I'll tell you what, it is very refreshing to at least hear them talking about this, to at least hear that they're going to attempt this. Now, do I think that their overlords in the banking and financial system are going to be okay with it? No. Do I expect there to be some backdoors? Yes. But is it a nice step in the right direction? It most certainly is. I know that the current holes in our financial system pose a Serious threat to national security. He's not wrong about that. They certainly do. They most certainly do. And especially if you have one of these politicians who has received money from a foreign entity or whose family has received money from a foreign entity, or these people who might have blackmail information on a politician, you know, this stuff is definitely a serious threat to national security. And once you start getting involved in financial crimes with people, they have you there as well. Right? So if you're involved as a senator or congressman in some shady financial deal and your feet are getting held to the fire by someone who's lobbying you and they have that information that, you know you were involved in this money laundering scam, well, they can put your feet to the fire and press you to do what they want you to do. Sort of like Epstein did, but with the sex trafficking as opposed to the money laundering. Although I suspect that Jeffrey Epstein had quite the record of people he was involved with financially and people who were probably engaging in financial crimes with him. I'm sure he has a record of those people. And the question really becomes, where is that information? Right? Does the FBI have it? Is it hidden somewhere? Was it destroyed? You know, again, there's not enough transparency for us to even really know where any of that evidence possibly is. If passed, the legislation would in large part end anonymous shell companies in the United States, mandating that every company report its ultimate owner to the U.S. treasury Department. This would allow law enforcement to quickly ascertain who owns firms involved in potential financial crimes. I don't think there is anything wrong with that. Right. Again, I'm not a big person for, you know, extreme draconian regulation in most sectors, but the financial sector has proven time and time again that they can't be trusted. So they need to be regulated. They need to be regulated in a stringent manner. And this sort of vernacular coming out from the Democrats here, from Mark Warner, from Sherrod Brown we've heard from previously. You know, it's a lot of big talk, and I hope that they're willing to put this talk into action and I'm hoping that they're willing to enforce it all over the board and not, you know, let their friends skate by. I hope that this is just an over the board regulation and there's no garbage language in it. A prevalence of anonymous shell companies makes laundering and moving money derived from corruption and other criminal activity easier and makes the lives of compliance officials and law enforcement harder. This was underscored in ICIJ's recent FinCEN Files investigation. A global collaboration involving more than 100 media partners around the world examining torrents of suspicious money flowing through major banks. And this was just incredibly well done by all involved. The, the expose, the way they exposed the SARS and how there is a huge regulation problem within FinCEN itself was very important for moving this story along because people don't really want to see things until it's right in front of their face, right? Once you have all of that stuff in front of your face, once you see all of the information that's out, you see the whistleblowers, you see the leaks, you get to read the emails that these sons of bitches were sending through to each other through WikiLeaks or the Paradise Papers. You see what happened with the FinCEN files. It is, it is rather obvious that there was change needed. And I just hope that this is that change or at the very least the beginning of that change. Because the, the way that the financial system gets played by these scuzz bags and so called polite society is sickening. The project was based on leaked U.S. treasury Department documents detailing more than $2 trillion flowing through the U.S. financial system. The record showed bank compliance officers searching in vain to determine who is behind shell companies moving massive amounts of money through their firms accounts. And now imagine how is it even possible that that occurred? If you or I take out any kind of money, forget it. You know that they're going to be all over us, right? You take out over 10 grand, forget it. You got to sign paperwork, 10,001 cent. Time to CTR up. You go into the casino and you gamble. Once you get to $3,000, you get put on something called an MTL sheet. And what that MTL sheet is is it tracks your play. And once you hit that $10,000 mark. CTRD. But these people don't play by those same rules. We know that Darren Indyke was structuring 97 different withdrawals from an ATM in the amount of $7,500. And that isn't considered suspicious. That isn't something that they cracked down on right away. But you, well if you, like I said, if you go to the casino and gamble, forget it. You're going to be tracked for sure. But these people, nah, they don't live by the same rules. They do whatever the hell they want when they want to do it. And as far as moving money, these shell companies act as the perpet, the perfect vehicle for them to move this money and pump it through the system. In recent years the United States has become a prominent destination for tainted Money, largely because it has some of the world's best options for those wanting to cloak their activity behind highly secretive shell companies. Of course, it is America, right? That's where all these rich scallions are. So of course they have the system set up in their best interest. Of course they have the system propped up so it benefits them and screws us. You ever wonder why you're getting a 26% finance fee? It's because of these scumbag banksters and their friends in Congress and the Senate who set the whole entire playing field for them. The Tax Justice Network, an advocacy group, ranks the United States as the second most secretive jurisdiction on Earth, second only to the Cayman Islands and beating even places like Switzerland that are known for intense banking secrecy. It's obscene, folks. It is obscene in the United States of America, where every single thing that you do is under surveillance for the common citizen. Everything you do is tracked. These people have these laws in place so that they can manipulate them, so that they can hide their money, so that they cannot pay their fair share, and so that they can continue with their criminal enterprises without anyone being none the wiser. And it has been like that for far too long. The financial system should have been utterly destroyed after the collapse, but no, they were propped up. They were too big to fail. And yet here we are now, in the year 2020, on the way into 2021, and still talking about the egregious behavior of these very same institutions, Often owned by Opaque LLCs. Luxury real estate in posh locations like New York and Miami now rival the classic secretive Swedish bank account for rich customers aiming to hide money. Also, the art industry, right, we've talked about that before. How, how much dark, dirty money is in the art industry? I mean, you have people like Leon Black with a billion dollar art collection. Is it really worth a billion? How much? Is it worth more than that? Or how much more art do you have stashed away, put elsewhere? So it is very apparent what's going on here. These people have been manipulating the system for far too long. And finally, finally, Congress is waking up from its heroin buzz and they're starting to take notice. Although the expected legislation would have a profound effect on this dynamic, the ownership data submitted to the Treasury Department would likely not be made available to the public. Of course not. There's no transparency. You see, that's the key there. They might put these laws into place and they might, you know, blow some smoke up our ass and pat us on the back and tell us that they're going to. To fix things. But really, when it comes down to it, there's no transparency. The public's never involved, and the public has no access to really what's going on behind the scenes. We have to trust the bureaucrats that are in charge of these institutions, and we all know how that ends up for us. The exact language in the draft defense spending bill known as the National Defense Authorization act has not yet been released, but a spokesperson for Senator Warner said that is that it is expected, expected to contain the provisions around corporate secrecy that the Senator has fought for. So according to Senator Warner's office, he's going hard, he's charging hard. He wants to make sure secrecy is no longer attained by these people. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Warner, you've been in office for a long time, my friend, and excuse me if I am cynical, if I don't really trust what you have to say here. Now, I want it to occur, and I hope that it occurs. But these people that we have in D.C. people like Warner and all of the other incumbents that have been there for years are not people that I trust. I think that they're all scummy. I think that they're all scamming and plotting and figuring. Figuring out how to enrich themselves on the backs of the American people. And I don't think that our best interest is ever put first. I think it's always the purse or the pocketbook of these congressmen and women and these senators. And every now and then you'll run across one that wants to do the right thing, but they get swallowed by the wave of scumbag kleptocrats that surround them. So I. I really like to see the language in this. This is all a nice idea, a nice first step, but I don't think that this is the cudgel that is needed to smash these people over the head. To do that, we'd have to send some of these people to prison. Some of these banksters have to go to prison to set an example. That is the way to fix this. The expected language mirrors the Illicit Cash act introduced last year. That bill was introduced by a bipartisan group of senators, including Warner, as well as Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas, and Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat from Nevada. So the Illicit Cash act is a. A bill that was put forward to stop money laundering. Right. But now what they're doing is instead of trying to push it as just the illicit. The Illicit Cash act, they've inserted it into the omnibus bill to try and force the hand of people that are voting on the spending bill. So it's a shrewd move. It is a pretty typical move in D.C. to insert things in a larger bill. But this one time right here, I am really not that mad about it because a lot of these senators and congressmen and women are bought and paid for by the banks and they would never vote on something like this of their own accord. If they're forced to vote on it in a larger bill, then, well, what are you gonna do? You're forced to vote for it, but I hope that it has teeth and I hope that it's enforced. Do I think that it's going to be? Not so much, but we'll have to see, right? At least there are the steps are being taken to curb this. Steps are being taken to bring these people to heal. The question is, are these steps far enough? If you'd like to contact me, you can do that@bobby capuchirotonmail.com that's B O B b Y C A P U c c I@protonmail.com youm can also find me on Twitter. B O B B Y c A P U c c I All of the links that go with the all of the links that go with this episode can be found in the description box. To everybody who.