Buying Properties In Bulgaria

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY REPORTMARCH 1995BUREAU FOR INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AFFAIRS FINANCIAL CRIMES AND MONEY LAUNDERING11995 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY REPORTOVERVIEWThere were a number of significant accomplishments in the world of money laundering in 1994, and a number of new and/or intensified concerns. Accomplishments and concerns are summarized here and explained in detailed sections below.Accomplishments. Several financial center governments, such as Singapore and Panama, have adopted broad, new anti-money laundering policies and/or laws, and a number of governments were in the final stages of presenting/adopting new legislation.The Financial Action Task Force completed the evaluations of each of its 26 member governments, all conducted by outside experts and all culminating in recommendations for changes and improvements which will be monitored through continuing examinations be ... [Read More]

J) Europe and Central Asia

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) is neither a major producer of, nor a major transit point for, illicit drugs, although it is located along a southern variant of the Balkan Route, used to ship Southwest Asian heroin to the West European consumer market. Drug seizures in 2002 declined slightly in number, and to a greater extent in quantity of drugs seized, from 2000-2001. In that period police made record high seizures. Law enforcement officials attribute the fall to less effective enforcement during a period when they did not have complete control over their borders. Macedonia suffered an internal conflict in 2001, and during 2002 police were only beginning to return to and effectively police former conflict areas. The conflict created more porous borders with Kosovo, southern Serbia, and Albania. Trafficking to and from Kosovo remained high in 2002, following an increase that began in 2000, indicating the province’s ... [Read More]

Bulgaria

The Government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there were problems in several areas. Members of the security forces were responsible for one killing during the year. Security forces commonly beat suspects and inmates and beat and mistreated minorities. Arbitrary arrest and detention were problems. Security forces harassed, physically abused, and arbitrarily arrested and detained Romani street children. Problems of accountability persisted and inhibited government attempts to address police abuses. Conditions in many prisons and detention facilities were harsh. There remained some instances of prolonged pretrial detention, although the Government continued to improve its performance in preventing periods of pretrial detention from exceeding the statutory limit of 1 year. The judiciary was underpaid, understaffed, and had a heavy case backlog; corruption of the judiciary was a serious problem. The Government infringed on citizens' privacy right ... [Read More]

US Department Of State Post Report

AERA, CLO, and the Marine Security Guard Detachment work together to organize holiday gatherings for the Embassy community and friends. The annual Marine Birthday Ball is one of the highlights of the fall season, followed by the International Women’s Club (IWC) Charity Bazaar in early December. Opportunities abound to devote time to charity. Many institutions for orphans and handicapped welcome volunteeres. There are two English-speaking international clubs for women, the above-mentioned IWC, and the Women’s Network, made up chiefly of working women in Sofia. Official Functions Nature of FunctionsLast Updated:  12/2/2003 11:36 AM In Sofia, there ... [Read More]

Report on Global Anti-Semitism

January 5, 2005 Executive Summary I.  Anti-SemitismAnti-Semitism has plagued the world for centuries. Taken to its most far-reaching and violent extreme, the Holocaust, anti-Semitism resulted in the deaths of millions of Jews and the suffering of countless others. Subtler, less vile forms of anti-Semitism have disrupted lives, decimated religious communities, created social and political cleavages, and complicated relations between countries as well as the work of international organizations. For an increasingly interdependent world, anti-Semitism is an intolerable burden. The increasing frequency and severity of anti-Semitic incidents since the start of the 21st century, particularly in Europe, has compelled the international com ... [Read More]

International Narcotics Control Strategy Reports

FINANCIAL CRIMES AND MONEY LAUNDERINGMONEY LAUNDERINGOVERVIEWIn 1992, the major trends affecting money laundering policy were: (1) further sophistication of money laundering practices; (2) greater investment of drug and other illicit proceeds into established businesses, both to conceal money movements and to capitalize on illicit profits; (3) the internationalization of money laundering networks whose operations involve an ever larger number of countries and territories, regardless of their importance as financial centers or as drug producing or transit countries; and (4) the intensified involvement of the Sicilian Mafia and other criminal organizations in Europe, Asia and the Western Hemisphere who comingle proceeds from many crimes to confound investigators, and are now acting as brokers for funds unrelated to their own trafficking activities. These trends have made it more difficult to differentiate between drug-related money laundering and other forms of illegal money m ... [Read More]

M) Money Laundering and Financial Crimes

The following are summaries of the most significant priority issues:Refocus Efforts of High Intensity Financial Crime Areas (HIFCAs). HIFCAs are special, high-risk areas or sectors where law enforcement will concentrate its resources and energy to combat money laundering. The 2001 Strategy mandated that the HIFCA task forces become operational and conduct investigations designed to result in indictments, convictions, and seizures, rather than focus primarily on intelligence gathering. Each of the six HIFCA Task Forces is now actively working cases. HIFCA Task Forces are composed of, and draw upon, all relevant federal, state, and local agencies. The Departments of Treasury and Justice jointly supervise the HIFCA Task Forces, and the 2001 Strategy primarily tasks the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) and Justice’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section to develop an advanced money laundering training program to enhance the HIFCA Task Forces’ abili ... [Read More]

International Narcotics Control Strategy Reports

US DEPARTMENT OF STATEBUREAU OF INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS MATTERSINTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRAGEGY REPORTAPRIL 1994FINANCIAL CRIMES AND MONEY LAUNDERING1994 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY REPORTINTERNATIONAL MONEY LAUNDERINGOVERVIEWIntelligence findings from North and South America, Eastern and Western Europe, South and East Asia, Africa and the Middle East confirm that another significant shift has occurred in money laundering trends and methods, requiring changes in policy and strategy for 1994.The critical aspects are the volume of non-drug related money laundering; increased investment of illegal proceeds in legitimate business, including the financial industry; and the targeting of financial systems in countries/territories (some with little or no domestic involvement in drug trading or other serious proceeds-generating crimes) to launder drug and other proceeds generated by crimes committed in other jurisdictions.In 1988, when the United Nations Convention was ... [Read More]

US Department Of State Post Report

Weather and poor local sanitation can be a problem and can aggravate certain health conditions. Garbage pickup and street sweeping and washing in Bucharest are sporadic, but sewage disposal is adequate. Winter weather is hard because streets are not cleared of snow and ice, and apartments and work sites are irregularly heated. In winter particulate, soot from burning wood and soft coal will aggravate sinus problems, asthma, and allergies; dust from the extensive construction in Bucharest will do the same for some people year round. Water supply can be a health problem, but all Embassy homes have water distillers and bottled water is readily available. Lead and heavy metal content in water is high, but allowing the tap to run a few minutes before use will bring lead levels to an acceptable range for bathing. A few cases of cholera have been diagnosed in the Danube Delta area in summer months, primarily from contaminated water, preventable by treating water.  Legionella was identifi ... [Read More]

2004 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Cyprus
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