Webb scandal not representative of Cayman
Jude Scott, CEO Cayman Finance
(CNS Business): It’s been three weeks since the Cayman Islands was shoved into the international spotlight of a corruption scandal, with the arrest of now former CONCACAF president and FIFA vice president, Jeffrey Webb. “This isn’t a representation of the jurisdiction,” Cayman Finance CEO Jude Scott told CNS Business, maintaining that Cayman has no tolerance for corruption, money laundering or any sort of illegal activities, “no matter where it originates”.One man’s alleged actions does not represent what Cayman’s offshore financial centre is all about, he said.
“It will only negatively impact us if we appear to have something to hide or if we’re not clear on what we stand for. We have great things that we stand for and great things that we do every day,” the CEO explained.
It’s an incident that has shocked senior government officials, jurisdiction leaders and rocked the international footballing world. Scott said when Cayman Finance first heard the news, they were extremely saddened to learn of allegations of corruption and money laundering among senior leaders and officials within FIFA. American prosecutors claim the FIFA leaders made more than US $150 million over 20 years in kickbacks.
“What we also recognize is the very important role that the Cayman Islands plays on the global financial stage. Like any other international financial centre there is always a possibility that others may attempt to abuse our system and that is why we have invested so much effort over the years to continually develop and enhance our robust legislative and regulatory framework,” Scott explained. “We have confidence in our service providers in not only understanding the laws and regulations, but also fulfilling their obligations under them. At the same time we have confidence in our financial services regulator to carry out its oversight role and where issues arise to undertake enforcement action as appropriate.”
Like many others, Cayman Finance’s is still unsure of any exact details. The release of the 164-page US Department of Justice indictment outlined the case against Cayman’s football boss and many other FIFA officials who were arrested. According to the indictment, a number of alleged bribery payments were routed through Fidelity Bank accounts, controlled by Webb’s attaché, former Cayman Islands resident Costas Takkas.
Fidelity Bank, where Webb was previously the business development manager, has said it is “conducting an internal review” of the transactions referred to in the US justice department’s indictment against Webb and various other FIFA officials and sport executives. The bank has also consulted with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority regarding the internal review.
Webb faces charges of racketeering and several counts of wire fraud and money laundering.
Scott said Cayman Finance recognizes the important role the Cayman Islands plays with its solid history of assistance and cooperation with complex international financial crime investigations and is confident the relevant international and local investigating authorities will follow due process and the appropriate outcomes will be reached.
Category: Finance, Financial Crime
Mr Scott, how many people are indicted in this corruption scandal that is connected to the Cayman Islands as now ?
Sharkey, only one — Webb. if you were monitoring the international news you would know that.
Mr. Scott certainly must hope and pray that as the FIFA / FBI / IRS investigation unfolds that their investigations do not reveal other Cayman financial institutions, besides Fidelity Bank, are tied into the money laundering fiasco. I am very concerned that they will find a link with other Cayman financial institutions but hope they find nothing.
I wish Jude Scott would have been elected. The country needs representation of his calibre
I agree Jude Scott always makes useful comments to the debates he enters.
Just one thought — not to reflect on anything he has said — but Legge has tried to reposition the uproar about his ill-advised editorial as being about his coverage of Webb. Just so everyone is clear –especially those external to Cayman — there has not been one iota of criticism of the CompAss’s (we should rebrand them) coverage of the webb matter. I hope the Webb investgation and any further legal actions are resolved soon and that he gets his due.