Alan A. Block

Crime in the waste oil industry

In the late 1970s, a new pattern of criminality appeared: the illegal disposal of toxic wastes by previously legitimate waste oil dealers, especially by selling a mixture of liquid toxic wastes and waste oils as fuel oil. This pattern of crime was caused by changes in the social conditions determining economic self‐interest in the petroleum industry, and by changes in the criminal law regarding the disposal of toxic wastes. Official crime rates have remained low despite widespread criminal behaviors because of the power of affected industries to limit the enforcement of criminal laws.

Organized cross-atlantic crime

There is concern about penetration of organized crime in the legitimate business. This penetration can take various forms, ranging from a complete ‘take over’ to a veritable symbiosis between crime-enterprises and the legitimate industry. This paper describes the interaction between crime-enterprises in the mineral oil market in the Unites States and North-western Europe. It pictures the landscape or moral decay, lack of supervision by law enforcement and the spread of systematic fraud in a branch of industry which has become ripe for infiltration by organized crime. The paper reveals that organized business crime is not just a concern for the United States of Europe alone. If the entrepreneurial landscape has similar features and there are possibilities of personal bridgeheads organized business crime obtains crossborder, transatlantic dimensions. The paper questions the selective attention of law enforcement to easily recognizable crime and the morally dubious attitude of legitimate industry taking advantage of the profitable offers by criminal entrepreneurs.

Transnational Financial Crime: Crooked Lawyers, Tax Evasion, and Securities Fraud

Serious transnational organized criminals must always be on the alert for prospective places to hide and to secure their ill-gotten proceeds. Offshore havens have long been the harbor of choice for these criminals, as well as for legitimate businesspersons who evade taxes. The authors chronicle and analyze several case studies of grand-scale fraud and other crimes, complete with analysis of noteworthy criminals. The article concludes with an examination of the many permutations of the social networks that are necessary to carry out these schemes.

The Teamsters, the White House, the Labor Department

This paper examines the instrumental networks established between organized criminals and national politicians. Its major focus centers on the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Department of Labor, and the Reagan Administration. We explore the organized crime influence that affected President Reagans selection of Raymond Donovan as Secretary of Labor. The choice of Donovan resulted in several related investigations into Donovans association with organized criminals primarily in the construction industry in New Jersey and New York. We explain and critique the investigations thereby establishing the instrumental quality of the networks and the politics of law enforcement.

Casinos and banking: Organized crime in the Bahamas

The symbiotic relationships among gambling casinos, offshore banks and professional criminals are complex. In numerous contemporary cases, professional criminals from the United States and elsewhere are known to utilize both casinos and financial institutions to launder money and to hide large amounts of illicitly acquired money. Long before recent revelations of such activities became known in the Caribbean and the U. S., developers in the Bahamas had started the process of bringing casinos and banks together to serve underworld interests. This paper traces the developments of that process and shows how American organized crime interests penetrated the Bahamas by using gambling and banking to gain a firm foothold.

The origins of Iran-Contra: Lessons from the Durrani Affair

This essay concentrates on the hitherto unknown origins of Iran-Contra. Through a series of interviews with participants and access to previously private papers, the essay establishes the role played by the U.S. and Israel in initiating arms deals with Iran before any hostage taking in Lebanon. Therefore, it corrects the proposition advanced by Special Prosecutor Walsh and others who linked the clandestine sale of weapons to Iran with the deteriorating situation in Lebanon.

Build it, and they will Come Narcotics and Money Laundering in the Leeward Islands

This article concentrates on three Leeward Island nations in the Caribbean that lie between the Anegada Passage on the northwest and the Guadeloupe Passage on the southeast. The islands are St. Martin, which is divided into a French side and a Dutch side, and two formerly British ones—St. Kitts and Antigua. With regard to St. Martin, only the Dutch half, St. Maarten, shall be discussed. Each has been involved in the illicit drug industry, especially in money-laundering activities. This article will discuss a number of themes, including the interplay between casino culture and narcotics trafficking, as well as the economy of each island nation. By focusing on these three island nations, a template can be formed for understanding the contemporary criminal justice problems throughout the Caribbean region.

The National Intelligence Service: Murder and Mayhem: A historical account

Cet article retrace quelques affaire montrant que differentes pratiques relevant du crime organise font partie des methodes utilisees par les services secrets americains (Central Intelligence Agency, CIA)

Price Waterhouse: Summons before the Civil Court, Luxembourg

First American Corporation (“FAC”) and 2) First American Bankshares, Inc. (“FAB”), which are corporations organized under the laws of the State of Virginia, United States of America, with their principal place of business at 1420 New York Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005, U.S.A., represented by Charles McC. Mathias, Chairman of the Boards.