But then again, when your entire career has been working with dodgy businesses and doing dodgy political deals, perhaps there's nothing left to do but be dodgy over cryptoassets. A crypto-coin especially designed to be resistant to money laundering: AML Bitcoin was tailor-made for Abramoff. Now he's awaiting sentence and the company behind it is in disarray - and spending investors' money on litigation.

But what lies behind it is even more fascinating and takes us on a global trek from Las Vegas via Texas to London, Singapore and Melbourne - then across the Pacific to Northern California.

It would be easy to assume that the story of Jack Abramoff started with the lobbying scandal that saw him jailed for six years in 2006 and was released on parole in 2010. It is reported that after his release he spent two years in a half-way house during which time he went to work as a book-keeper in a pizza restaurant where he earned up to USD10 per hour.

But no, that was the culmination of a long career in what he is said to have once described as "a system of bribery, legalised bribery for the most part, that still exists today." He started a second career as a consultant in avoiding abuses in lobbying, writing a book, being featured in a film, running seminars on identifying corruption for US Federal Agencies. He reinvented himself as a spokesperson for the anti-corruption industry (ironically, itself largely a lobbying activity), was granted a "political reform" radio chat show on XM Satellite Radio (which also hosted several shock-jocks)

The rebranding was a front.

In 2017, Abramoff joined forces with Rowland Marcus Andrade, born in April 1978, who had formed a company named "National AtenCoin Foundation." Andrade is from Texas, which is where much of Abramoff's political and business connection network originates.

Andrade was appointed (a technical term meaning he became) a director of a UK company, Checkpal Limited, in February 2016 when the company was formed. He resigned in December that year. The company filed accounts up to 31 December 2016 and was struck off in September 2019. The company was formed as ATEN GROUP LIMITED and said to be in "business and domestic software development." In November 2016, just before Andrade's resignation, it changed its name to CROSSVERIFY Limited and then in April 2018, changed again to CHECKPAL Limited. Keep up: there will be names many of you will recognise.

The company was formed by 1st Formations which housed its registered office at 71-75 Shelton Street London WC2H 9JQ until it was changed, in December 2016 to Tower 42, Level 21 25 Old Broad Street London EC2N 1HQ, the former NatWest tower that, as the bank's headquarters, was so important it got a personalised postcode. Companies House shows that there are two companies registered to that address: ATRG2 limited and GLIDERA Limited. The latter is currently subject to a proposal to strike it off.

The address is that of PILLSBURY WINTHROP SHAW PITTMAN which describes itself as "an international law firm with a particular focus on the technology & media, energy, financial, and real estate & construction sectors. " And it is. It is, therefore a surprise that only two companies would be registered there. Or, perhaps, Pillsbury Winthrop knows nothing about it.

Checkpal, as it became at the same time, changed its registered office back to 71-75 Shelton Street London WC2H 9JQ in April 2018. A few days later, Companies House issued a notice that the company would be struck off after two months: that happened in the following September.

In that time, it had had a succession of directors:

Sven Daniel Koechler - Appointed 26 March 2018, resigned 1 April 2019
German, living in Germany, director and sole shareholder of FALCON EVENTS AND TOURISM - appointed 27 Feb 2015, no resignation noted, company dissolved December 2017, voluntary dissolution of dormant company. He remains the director and company secretary (appt April 2017 on the formation) of AIRCRAFT SOLUTIONS RAK Limited, registered in Manchester England which is shown as active but subject to a proposal to strike off.

Ralph James Horne - appointed 7 June 2017, resigned 9 April 2018
In September 2018, formed JRJ CAPITAL PARTNERS Limited which, in August 2020, changed its name to FINSGATE CAPITAL Ltd. The company is active and its accounts are up to date. But it was almost subject to compulsory striking off in December 2019. The action was discontinued in Feb 2020. The accounts are signed off by Horne and Joseph Nash and Jaswinder Hanspal, both named in the accounts as "Director". Nash is shown as an Australian living in Singapore and holding no other UK directorships. Hanspal is shown as having only Finsgate as a current directorship having resigned from COVEST Limited in November 2019 and COVEST HOMES Limited in October 2020.

However, things are not quite as clear-cut as they seem.

In the company's records at Companies House, the director NASH is shown as Joseph Leslie Nash born February 1965. The correspondence address is shown as 78 High Street, Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, MK16 8AQ. But there is another record for Joseph Leslie Nash, born February 1965, Australian, Living in Singapore with a record of nine appointments.

Indigo (London) Holdings Limited - appointed November 2011, resigned August 2016. Correspondence address Melbourne, Australia. The Company remains active.

Indigo (London) Limited, appointed November 2011, no resignation recorded. Correspondence address Melbourne Australia.
The company is dissolved. It was listed as the sole sharholder of Investmaster Holdings Limited.

Adminsource (UK) Limited, appointed November 2011, no resignation recorded. Correspondence address Melbourne Australia.
The company is dissolved.

Investmaster Holdings Limited, appointed November 2011, no resignation recorded. Correspondence address Leicester, England
The company is dissolved upon voluntary striking off under an application dated 31 December 2015.. In addition to Nash, the director and company secretary is shown as Ralph James Horne, born September 1960 and usually resident in Australia when a return was filed in 2014. There are several records for Horne, most of which show zero registrations. However, there is one that lists an almost identical list to this for Nash. Importantly, tin relation to the companies in this list, they all show his country as residence as "England" or "United Kingdom."

Contemi Solutions (London) Limited. Appointed November 2011, resigned August 2016. Correspondence address: Leicester, England.
The company remains active.

Dion Global Solutions (UK) Limited. Appointed December 2003, resigned August 2016. Correspondence address: Singapore.
The company is in liquidation.

Risklogix Solutions Holdings Limited. Appointed August 2010, resigned October 2016. Correspondence address: Finsbury Sq. London EC2.
The company remains active

Risklogix Solutions Limited, appointed August 2010, resigned October 2016. Correspondence address:Finsbury Sq. London EC2.
The company remains active as a provider of risk, governance and compliance training which recently announced that its customers include UK Finance. Ralph Horne was a director from August 2010 to February 2018 with a correspondence address of Melbourne but country of residence as United Kingdom and British nationality.

DBS Financial Systems Limited, appointed August 2010, resigned October 2016. Correspondence address, Hewett St. London EC2
The company remains active. However, its domain name, www.dbsfinsys.co.uk, diverts to http://risklogix-solutions.com/ DBS Bank is a major government-linked bank in Singapore. At least one of the directors of DBS Financial Systems Limited is said to reside in Singapore. There is no evidence that the UK company is in any way associated with DBS Bank.

Randy Lynn Wooten - appointed 7 December 2016, resigned 26 March 2018. One appointment - Checkpal Limited. Described as American, living in America and a lawyer. His UK address was that of the US law firm in Tower 42. There is a lawyer by that name at 5625 FM, 1960 W, Suite 214, Houston, Texas 77069, an address of which more later. In April 2019 he is the attorney of record in United States v Hooper in the southern district of Texas, a criminal case involving "theft of public money greater than USD1,000. Wooten's LinkedIn profile shows that he was with Riddle and WIlliams in the 1980s and early 1990s but since 1991 has practised as Randy L. Wooten P.C. of Houston Texas, that he attended the University of Texas at Arlington and the University of Houston. No link is claimed with Pillsbury. Although listed, and having more than 250 connections, he is not active on LinkedIn having made no comments or posts in the past 90 days. That period appears to include activity in the Hooper case. The Hooper case was settled by plea agreement and will be featured in our Financial Crime Case Studies e-learning module.

Andrew Kevin Francombe - appointed 27 September 2016, resigned 31 October 2017
Carl Andrew Robert Weir - appointed 27 September 2016, resigned 30 June 2017
Darren Victor Winczura - appointed 7 June 2017 In February 2018, his details were changed to the Tower 42 address. No notice of termination as director appears in the company's records. His personal information at Companies House shows his appointment and describes him as Canadian, resident in Canada and holding no office in any other British company.

The "cessation" of Andrade as a "person with significant control" was filed electronically in April 2018 (by which time the company was CROSSVERIFY Limited. However, the notice says that the effective date was 14 November 2016 and that the "register entry date" is 4 September 2017. That same day a person with significant control notice was filed with reference to Fintech Fund Family Limited Partnership. The address of that LLP was given as 5625 FM 1960 West, Suite 214, Houston, Texas, USA, 77069, registered in Texas with no registration number. It held, directly or indirectly, 75% or more of the then CROSSVERIFY Limited. In April 2018, the LLP changed the address registered at the UK's Companies House to 4610 Sweetwater Blvd, STE. 200, Sugar Land, Texas, USA, 77479.

Fintech Fund Family Limited Partnership is (or was) registered in Texas as a Limited Partnership under registration number 0802459338. It was incorporated on 16 May 2016 with a mailing address of 9414 PLAZA POINT DR, MISSOURI CITY, TX, 77459. It was dissolved on 25 January 2019 but its current status is, apparently, shown as "reinstated). As of today, it is shown as "FRANCHISE TAX INVOLUNTARILY ENDED" Note that the US Postal (ZIP) code for both the addresses is the same. Looking more deeply into the tax office's records, we find that the Missouri City address postal code is expanded to 77459-7400. The tax office also shows the only relevant officer for the LLP is Solamor, LLC of 5625 FM 1960 WEST, STE. 214 HOUSTON, TX 77069.

The only contact for that company shown in the tax office records is its "manager" - ROWLAND MARCUS ANDRADE
4610 SWEETWATER BLVD, STE 200 SUGAR LAND, TX 77479.

So, just to help you follow this here is is in one (albeit convoluted) sentence: Andrade filed a notice that he was surrendering significant control of the UK company, ATEN GROUP Limited, the Texas LLP filed a notice that it had become a person with significant control and the Texas LLP was under the control of Solamor LLC which was "managed" by Andrade who gave his personal address to the Texas tax authorities as the same address that was given to the UK's Companies House for the LLP and just before the various changes listed above.

We could continue with page after page after page of the circular involvement of many of the same people in one company after another - and with more people that become part of the picture, much of which is unclear, often because minor inconsistencies in filed information result in misleading search results in Companies House.

And Company's House knows it: at the top of every search result is the message "Companies House does not verify the accuracy of the information filed." In short, don't use this data as conclusive evidence for Know Your Customer research.

If we leave that particular rabbit hole and return to Rowland Marcus Andrade, and recall that we ended up in London due to Aten Group Limited, we can try to find information on "National AtenCoin Foundation". Here we come up against two problems - the first is that it is, apparently, registered in the USA and the second is that it is, not actually its name. But there is something else: NAC Foundation, LLC. Thatm, according to documents filed in the prosecution of Abramoff is a "Nevada limited liability corporation formed on or about 13 February 2014 by conspirator Rowland Marcus Andrade, not a defendant herein. Andrade was the founder and chief executive officer of NAC Foundation, which was also referred to as the National AtenCoin Foundation. The stated purpose of NAC foundation was to develop and manage a new cryptocurrency called AML Bitcoin. Andrade claimed to be the creator of the cryptocurrency AML Bitcoin and the inventor of AML Bitcoin technology. He also, court papers say, claimed to have invented a predecessor cryptocurrency, AtenCoin and sold "Black Gold Coin."

Andrade wasn't new to the game. In 2015, he issued, via PR Newswire, the following "

Pioneering Aten "Black Gold" Coin to Offer New Patented Digital Wallets

NAC Announces August 15, 2015 Launch Date of 100% AML/KYC Compliant Coin

Jul 06, 2015, 03:06 ET
ATEN Coin

LAS VEGAS, July 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- In the middle of August 2015, the National Aten Coin's groundbreaking new cryptocurency, the Aten "Black Gold" Coin and its patented pending digital wallets will be available. Collaboration agreements with governmental entities in the European Union has resulted in NAC adding in additional features to the Aten "Black Gold" Coin to fulfill their requirements. All newly required features as well as beta testing will be completed prior to the new launch date.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/p...

The Aten "Black Gold" Coin can be purchased through collaboration between AtenPay, SA and ANXPro, one of the globe's most revered online trading platforms. The Aten "Black Gold" Coin will be available in all fiat currencies including, USD, EUR, HKD, AUD, CAD, JPY, SGD, GBP, NZD and CHF. NAC clients will have exclusive access to ANXPRO's simple and user friendly UI, consolidated shared order book for blended multi-currency settlement, real time FX pricing, deposit options, and risk management and trading tools.

NAC's new digital wallets are patented (pending) in the EU and copyright (pending) in US. Inventor Marcus Andrade (Founder of NAC) is very excited about this new development. The digital wallet will make the transfer and storing of the Aten "Black Gold" Coin even more secure and convenient for clients, who can access their accounts on their desktop and very soon via smartphones and tablets. NAC will be able to quickly verify the wallet and its user through a pseudonymous system. All transactions are monitored through an extremely stringent authentication protocol.

Unlike Bitcoin, whose wallets identify illegal activities at institution level, but not down to an individual person, NAC's wallet will provide complete user transparency through a unique multisignature authentication system.

"Nothing in the current electronic currency market comes close to our patented digital wallets," said Andrade. "We have created such a unique product here; the levels of encryption result in a highly vetted, safe, theft-resistant, product that is very easy to use from anywhere in the world," he said.

Unique Features of the Aten"Black Gold" Coin

Compliance: National Aten Coin Foundation is a service member of the American Bank Association (ABA) and compliant with the following agencies: Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Counter Financing of Terrorism (CFT), Anti-Fraud and Financial Crimes (AFF), Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), USA PATRIOT Act and the FACT Act.

AML& KYC: Aten Coin is the first cryptocurrency that is designed to fulfill AML and Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements.

Theft-Resistant: Bitcoin as well as other cryptocurrencies are susceptible to stealing by hackers, who are unidentifiable. However, Aten Coin is the first cryptocurrency that allows the tracing of real identities in the event theft occurs. This makes Aten Coin theft-resistant.

Non-volatile Value & Liquidity: Volatile value is one of the key issues of Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies. In view of this, NAC's partner company, BGC International, Inc., is creating a constant demand of Aten Coins through joint venture with oil and gas production companies on oil and gas well investments. Over 50% of the investment profits will be paid in Aten Coin to create a continuous demand of Aten Coin and maintain a stable value of Aten Coin.

Fast: Transaction of Aten Coin is 9.4 times faster than Bitcoin.

Secure: Aten Coin is a highly secure cryptocurrency that uses multiple rounds of 11 different cryptographic hashes, thus making it one of the safest and sophisticated modern cryptocurrencies. In contrast, Bitcoin only uses a single round of double SHA-256 hashes.

Usability: Shops can easily accept Aten Coin payment by using our AtenPay services. In the near future, people will be able to use the Aten Coin to buy things in real life, e.g., a cup of coffee, online games, meat, petroleum, etc.

Aten"Black Gold' Coin's Promotion and the AtenPayPayment Platform

BGC International Inc. (BGCI) is an Aten "Black Gold' Coin promotion company. BGCI's main goal is to promote use of Aten Coin worldwide. BGCI invests in various ventures such as oil and gas production projects while requiring the profits to be paid back to BGCI in Aten Coins. This helps to perpetuate the Aten Coin Market.

BGCI partners with SWC Law Group in Warsaw, Poland to create the AtenPay payment platform. AtenPay provides a user-friendly one-stop solution for people to acquire Aten Coins and for commercial companies to receive payment in Aten Coins. For more information, please visit: www.AtenPay.com.

About National AtenCoin and the Aten"Black Gold" Coin

Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, National Aten Coin (NAC) is the creator of the Aten "Black Gold" Coin, a cryptocurrency (a form of electronic money) and its global payment transaction network. While maintaining privacy of customers, the NAC utilizes proprietary techniques to verify ownership of coin holders, secure and monitor transactions, trace and track identities of senders and receivers, keep recordkeeping efforts transparent, protect coins from stealing, maintain liquidity and stabilize value of the cryptocurrency. The Aten "Black Gold" Coin is compliant with the: Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Counter Financing of Terrorism (CFT), Anti-Fraud and Financial Crimes (AFF), Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Elder Abuse Reporting Act (EARA), Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), USA PATRIOT Act and the FACT Act.

For more information please visit: http://AtenCoin.com

About ANX

Founded in June 2013, ANX has grown into one of the most used Bitcoin exchange platform worldwide. According to Bitcoin charts, ANX is the 6th largest Bitcoin Exchange in the world by volume. ANX is a pioneer and leader in the cryptocurrencies industry. ANX's achievements to date include introducing the world's first physical Bitcoin retail store, the world's first Bitcoin Debit Card, the world's first multi-currency online Bitcoin exchange platforms (ANXPRO.COM & ANXBTC.COM), the world's 3rd Bitcoin ATM machine, and a full-featured ANX Vault mobile app for crypto currencies. ANX has recently acquired the Norwegian bitcoin exchange USTCOIN.COM to expand into the European market. ANX was one of the first firms specializing in crypto-currencies to be issued with a Money Services Operator (MSO) license and prides itself on its transparency and regulatory compliance. The founding partners have financial markets, management consulting, banking technology and compliance backgrounds.

For more information, please visit: http://www.anxintl.com

Media inquires

NAC:
Name: Marcus Andrade, Founder
Phone: 1-702-515-4038
Email: press@atencoin.com

ANX:
Name: Jess Chan, Marketing Manager
Phone: 1-852-2892-2689
Email marketing@anxintl.com

SWCGroup:
Name: Agnieszka Cenzartowicz, Senior Partner
Phone: 0048 607041276
Email: acenzartowicz@swclaw.pl

AtenPay:
Name: Agnieszka Bilinska, Supervisory Board Member
Phone: 0048 601441340
Email: abilinska@atenpay.com

SOURCE Aten Coin
Related Links

http://AtenCoin.com

The 2017 plan, it was announced, was that NAC Foundation would raise some USD100 million by sales of "tokens" to the public. When AML Bitcoin was released, those tokens would be converted into what, having justifiably failed to find a suitable word to describe it, prosecutors (who, in the documents are bizarrely referred to as the "plaintiff,) refer to "actual AML BItcoin technology."

Now is a convenient place to summarise all that has gone before: Andrade set up a "foundation" in Nevada which means that due to state and federal US law, or lack of it, we can find out nothing about its ownership or structure. He also formed a company in London which, with judicious digging, leads us to a merry-go-round of owners and directors, some of which are involved in companies that have all the hallmarks of being highly credible. And some of which might be open to question. Some might even be named in some schemes and entirely unaware of their supposed involvement. The records in the UK are a mess. Meanwhile in the USA, Andrade came up with a scheme that looked a bit like crowdfunding and a bit like unregulated investment scheme and a bit like an Initial Coin Offering - without there actually being any coins.

Enter Jack Abramoff.

In or about July 2017, Andrade (it's so difficult not to type "android" out of habit) and NAC Foundation began to raise money saying it was for the development of AML Bitcoin. Two things didn't exactly ring true: first, cryptocurrencies are really, really cheap to create. Seriously: they cost less than a wedding ring from Ratner's Jewellers as we all know cost less than a Marks and Spencer's sandwich. And if you don't know that you really should look it up. Secondly, while some might see that the sale of tokens that will later be exchanged for assets as a form of crowdfunding, on analysis, it's really, really difficult to see it as anything less than speculative fund-raising which means it is regulated; not being regulated turns it into an unregulated investment and they hover on the border between totally illegal and legal only if certain stringent conditions are met. Those stringent conditions are, mainly, in relation to qualified, sophisticated investors which means it's not a public offering. That was not Andrade's plan.

In the charges in the Abramoff case, it was said "Abramoff was retained by Andrade and NAC Foundation in or about June 2017 to perform consulting and to work on a public relations and marketing campaign for AML Bitcoin." It took Abramoff three months to get things under way: he "recruited and paid writers to publish and disseminate, under those writers' names, witten articles touting AML Bitcoin specifically, as well as to tout the idea of a cryptocurrency that would be fully compliant with "AML" and "KYC" laws and regulations. These articles were published as opinion editorials or "op-eds" on well-known news and financial websites."

No one told the media that the articles were PR puff pieces written by Abramoff's team and laundered through freelance contributors.

But then, in October, it was re-launched as an Initial Coin Offering or ICO. See here: https://www.prnewswire.com/new... . In that press release, shown as being issued in Las Vegas (does anyone else see the irony?)

It said "The Foundation created AML BitCoin with anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism and anti-theft properties built into the coin's code. The coin will use a biometric identification system to verify owners of wallets that hold the AML BitCoin."

That, anyone with an ounce of sense can see, is far removed from how cryptocurrencies work. Well, technically, it's possible and it's simple but, and only but, if the particular cryptocurrency works in a closed system with dedicated and closed terminals. And unless AML Bitcoin were to become the sole, or very dominant, currency worldwide, it's not going to work.

"Up until now banks and governments have not been able to adopt cryptocurrencies because they are not AML-compliant – meaning they do not comply with the standards used by the American banking industry, mandates laid out in The PATRIOT Act, and other regulatory frameworks," NAC Foundation CEO Marcus Andrade said. "With AML BitCoin, that has now changed. The first U.S. bank is poised to run a trial with AML BitCoin for interbank transfers, an advancement that will save millions of dollars in exchange fees." Ignoring the fact that the name of the USA PATRIOT Act is wrong, there's another problem. Claims that there was already a degree of acceptance were false.

Also false was the fake advertisement claiming that AML Bitcoin was "impervious" to hacking by North Koreans, an advertisemen that it was claimed was rejected by TV companies from being broadcast in the break during "The Superbowl," a popular American sporting event for which fees are very high, a figure which increses if, during the previous year's festivities, a female singer manages to fall out of her clothes. It was, prosecutors say, never intended that the ad would be shown and not true that it was rejected "as being too political." The so-called "rejection campaign" worked reasonably well. Given the amount of false advertising in the world, that doesn't seem particularly bad, it has to be admitted.

Amazingly, Abramoff was not a back-room strategist. He actually spoke to people including the prospect who, asking where the development stood, was told that its compliance aspects were all "funcioning and complete." The funniest thing about it all? Just like the pump and dump fraudsters of old, Abramoff was "compensated" in the very thing he was pumping. And it wasn't even that much: AML Bitcoin Tokens with a face value of USD220,000 for 15 months work. And his biggest mistake was talking, on the phone, to someone across the border in northern California. That made the fraud inter-state and that made it federal.

But Jack the Lad wasn't only playing with AML Bitcoin. He was also playing with dope, representing a company in California. He lobbied various federal politicians for changes in the law and the policing of medical and personal use marijuana.

Talk about being hoist by your own petard: after his final release in 2010, Abramoff had immediately gone back to lobbying. An unusually united government quickly passed the Lobbying Disclosure Act under which all lobbyists must register with the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives their prior convictions, if any. Even though he was the reason that the Act was passed, Abromoff made no effort to register.

Abramoff received tokens which he sold for USD50,000. He is awaiting sentencing but his deal includes the surrender of the proceeds of that sale plus prejudgment interest of USD5,500.

It is said that the amount raised from the two money raising schemes (the initial launch plus the subsequent ICO) for AML Bitcoin brought in about USD5.6 million from about two and a half thousand investors.

The Securities and Exchange Commission began its own action alleging NAC Foundation's schemes were unregistered and illegal and also alleging theft. Andrade claimed that the SEC had misled the Court when it alleged that he had offered a technology that he had not at that time developed. He held, and the SEC knew he held, patents for so-called AML Techology that related to AML Bitcoin. Also, he said, at all points made it clear that the tokens were not an investment and/ or in the alternative that NAC Foundation's sales terms expressly stated that investors should not expect a return on investment.

Is the story over? Now there's "AMLWALLET.com" and a claim on the AML Bitcoin website that, since April 2020, holders of AML Bitcoin tokens can convert them to AML Bitcoins. Both websites are, as of today, active including account opening at AMLWALLET.com.

You decide if it's over.....

SEC complaint: https://www.sec.gov/litigation...
USA v Abramoff (DOJ) https://www.justice.gov/usao-n...
USA v Andrade: https://www.justice.gov/usao-n...
DOJ press release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-n...