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posted by martyb on Thursday July 09 2020, @03:24AM   Printer-friendly
from the weeding-out-illegal-transactions dept.

IT pros indicted after arranging credit card payments for weed startup:

On March 9, 2020, a German IT consultant named Ruben Weigand had a layover in Los Angeles as he traveled from Switzerland to Costa Rica. He never made it to his destination because US authorities arrested him as he was changing planes.

The feds say Weigand and a co-conspirator, Hamid "Ray" Akhavan, were the masterminds behind a multimillion-dollar bank-fraud scheme. The supposed fraud? Tricking US banks into processing more than $100 million in marijuana transactions that went contrary to the banks' rules. According to a March indictment, the pair disguised marijuana transactions as purchases of dog toys, carbonated drinks, diving gear, and other products unrelated to cannabis.

Lawyers for the two men say this is ludicrous because the alleged bank fraud had no victims. The customers knew exactly what they were paying for. The banks involved suffered no losses—in fact, they made money from transaction fees.

Moreover, marijuana is legal under state law in California and Oregon, where the transactions occurred. Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, but since 2014, a rule called the Rohrabacher Amendment has prohibited the feds from interfering with state medical marijuana laws. In a recent motion seeking dismissal of the case, Akhavan's lawyers portray the prosecution as an attempted end-run around this restriction.

Extraterritoriality in the Internet Age?


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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 09 2020, @04:49AM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 09 2020, @04:49AM (#1018535)

    The actors lied and got the bank to perform an act they otherwise would not have done. The bank is the victim, because it has to certify to the federal government that the monies they handle are licit. It's not the 80s anymore, no bank can afford to get the reputation of a drug lord's bank.
    Anyone having two brain cells to rub together knows that the US is especially harsh among western countries when it's about drugs. Hell, marijuana isn't legal in his homeland either. And of course that the US is known to intercept people transiting. How dumb of this guy to not only avoid even flying over US territory (US authorities get passenger lists for flyovers), but to actually land and pass through immigration in Los Angeles.

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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by Grishnakh on Thursday July 09 2020, @05:20AM (3 children)

    by Grishnakh (2831) on Thursday July 09 2020, @05:20AM (#1018545)

    >How dumb of this guy to not only avoid even flying over US territory (US authorities get passenger lists for flyovers), but to actually land and pass through immigration in Los Angeles.

    Actually, I don't think this is the case. Unlike other countries where you're technically "not in the country" unless you go through customs and leave the international terminal, the US has no such distinction, and will happily grab people who are transiting if it wants. In fact, you even need to get a visa [state.gov] to enter the US, even if you are merely transiting! There is no such thing here as simply transiting between two international flights; you're thinking of international airports such as in Europe where you don't need a visa for that country if you're not staying and never leaving the international terminal.

    https://www.quora.com/Why-do-US-laws-require-international-passengers-transiting-through-US-airports-to-process-through-Immigration-even-when-they-have-no-intention-of-leaving-airport [quora.com]

    So the deal is: if you're a non-American, and there's any reason why US authorities might want to arrest you, even for a crime (or "crime") committed outside the US, do NOT ever transit through the US.

    • (Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 09 2020, @05:22AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 09 2020, @05:22AM (#1018546)

      Yes, as I said.

      • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday July 09 2020, @05:27AM

        by Grishnakh (2831) on Thursday July 09 2020, @05:27AM (#1018549)

        Not exactly; your last clause "and pass through immigration in Los Angeles" didn't make sense because he had no choice on that; everyone passes through immigration when they land in the US, regardless of where they're going. I felt it was necessary to point this out; you simply can't transit here without going through immigration, needing a visa, etc. Once you've landed here, you're screwed.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 09 2020, @12:15PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 09 2020, @12:15PM (#1018616)

      In fact, you even need to get a visa [state.gov] to enter the US, even if you are merely transiting!

      Because US airports are fucked up, just like in Canada. You have to go through CUSTOMS if you are transiting. There is no way around customs. This is why I avoid going through US, even if airfare is sometimes cheaper. 2x customs? no thanks.

      Now, in Europe you still may need a visa IF you are transiting, but that is very few countries and in most cases this is not going through customs but the airlines need to be the ones checking, just in case.

      https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/transit-schengen-visa/ [schengenvisainfo.com]