New Zealand companies with a vacant driveway in Auckland’s Albany as a registered address have been key players in a US$1.2 billion (NZ$1.5b) money laundering scandal in central Asia that helped bring down a government and sparked deadly riots.
A report by London based non-profit NGO Global Witness [www.globalwitness.org] offers more embarrassing revelations over company formations that in May saw New Zealand struck off a prestigious European Union banking “white list” because of weak money laundering and terrorism financing rules.
The report also outed several recurring director/shareholder names on the New Zealand’s Companies Office register that are likely to be low-paid fronts for unknown people who control the shell companies.
For more see:
NZ shell companies in Kyrgyz corruption.
Story by Michael Field. Fairfax NZ News. Published 02/07/12
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/7205840/NZ-shell-companies-in-Kyrgyz-corruption
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