Argentine Economy

[BundaLover]

800k cash US? Who gives a fuck when the take on construction contracts and consessions in Argentina funds millions and millions of payola to Menem's 32 cousins and kids and son in law.

[BundaLover]

Argento & BadBoy your both full of Shit.

The second case, a Drug Dealer, again with a spotless record. He was never with in a mile of his Drugs. Always paid someone else to do his dirty work. Was driving down I-10 not all that far from the Mexican border. He's pulled over and they find $45,000 in cash in his car. He got 3 1/2 years with the Fed's.

Exon

Almost beyond logical examination with this one. The virgin drug dealer set-up scam again Exon? Gosh I wonder if the Feds (DEA? Had mister experienced / virgin drug dealer under observation?

Do you think the prision term had anything to do with the DRUG dealing or just the X cash in the car?

[BundaLover]

Argento & BadBoy your both full of Shit.

First case, the guy, a "Bagman" was driving up I-5 in Northern California. He's pulled over by the highway patrol and they find $750,000 in cash in his car. He couldn't explain where it came from and he got 10 years in a Federal slammer.

Exon

The leap of faith has taken place.

A) Pulled over by CHP.

B) Some undisclosed magic hand is applied and a federal agency prosecutes and has a US federal court proceeding and.

C) Federal prision.

Nothing missing from this story EXCEPT that 99% of the middle. Anybody smell bullshit?

[BadMan]

My money's on business as usual. But you can keep dreaming,

Bad

[Exon123]

BadBoy you don't have a clue,

Suppose your right and the Arges just "White Wash" it over and its business as usual.

That isn't going to happen with the Fed's in this country. By the time their threw investagating Wilson they'll know the name of his first grade trachers dog. They'll have gone threw every bank account hes ever had and found the sorce of funds he's deposited.

This will lead to questions Wilson can't answer since $800,000 is just to big a number. Its got to lead to some form of corruption, one way or another both Wilson and someone else is in trouble.

Exon

[El Perro]

It doeasn't matter the country or the political party in control, you can't babysit everyone.

Ok then, however, we get to MY agenda.;) Babysitters, definitely not. Too many fucking babysitters as it is. And as we all know, too many of them can be bought and / or compromised as well. No, I want crooked assholes like this guy and his greasy slimeball buddies prosecuted to the fullest extent of any law that applies. These people are nothing but a pack of monied, entitled sociopaths, who are infrequently prosecuted, and, if prosecuted, infrequently convicted. And, if convicted, yes, they usually get babysitters.;)

[BadMan]

Dogg,

Do you honestly think that I for one minute believe he was actually coming to Argentina to buy property? I am just giving one of a million reasons he could give for having the money. The point isn't that he came to buy something legitimate, the point is I can't prove otherwise.

Bad.

About the political angle, I don't really see it, I actually brought this topic up here on AP, because I thought it was funny some guy would have the balls and the stupidity to walk into a country holding a briefcase containing $800,000 dollars in manicured bills, only declare $60,000 and not expect to get searched for more.

Corruption will happen no matter who is in office, in any country, nothing gets done without greasing the wheels. That is why I didn't make it a political talking point, because, simply stated, the political angle is irrelevant, looks at the corruption during Menem's term, or Andres Perez' term, Bush's term. It doeasn't matter the country or the political party in control, you can't babysit everyone.

[El Perro]

And as Dirk just very perceptively stated, In Latin America, Cash Is King, Wilson was coming down to buy property, buy a business, and so on.

Bad,

For an intelligent, articulate fellow (and with whom I usually agree on most geopolitical questions) I am surprised at this comment. I expect you have read what has been written about this affair. If Wilson was coming to Argentina to buy a property or business I'll eat your hat (assuming you don a chapeau from time to time) And, if he was doing one or the other it was only to wash money. Now, I am not taking aim at Venezuela politics, Argentina politics or politics in South America in general. Anybody who doesn't live in a bubble of denial knows the USA is home to oodles of corruption and fraud just like their southern neighbors. But in your rush to avoid finding fault with Chavez, Kirchner et al, you are missing the boat on this one. Those folks were up to bad business, no doubt about it. If it was not money laundering, it was a contribution to a slush fund (probably both) Hey brother, don't let your ire with the knee jerk USA defenders cloud your judgement!

Saludos-Dogg

[BadMan]

Exon, All you are doing is talking out of your ass, PERIOD. Or let me guess, you do this " shit " for a living also. Don't you have a new hooker to pimp on AP?

I will say this again, having large amounts of cash on hand is not a criminal offense. In each case you mentioned, for someone to get 10 years in federal pen they would have had to have done alot more than have money that they couldn't account for.

And all you did was repeat what I said, WORST case scenario, they confiscate the money and tell you you can pick it up once you provide just cause for having the money. That's it. If you get harassed by some crooked ass police, just call your lawyer. End of story.

And as Dirk just very perceptively stated, In Latin America, Cash Is King, Wilson was coming down to buy property, buy a business, and so on. Who knows who cares. This is old news.

Bad.

Argento & BadBoy your both full of Shit.

But heres two cases I know of personally. Both guys had spotless criminal records, nothing more than minor traffic violations.

First case, the guy, a "Bagman" was driving up I-5 in Northern California. He's pulled over by the highway patrol and they find $750,000 in cash in his car. He couldn't explain where it came from and he got 10 years in a Federal slammer.

The second case, a Drug Dealer, again with a spotless record. He was never with in a mile of his Drugs. Always paid someone else to do his dirty work. Was driving down I-10 not all that far from the Mexican border. He's pulled over and they find $45,000 in cash in his car. He got 3 1/2 years with the Fed's.

Its OK to have as much money in cash as you can carry what ever the amount. But You'd better have a "God Damned" good reason the Fed's are going to buy before they let you walk.

Thomaso276 said it best.

The deal stinks, the Feds know it and they'll stop at nothing to find out where "The bodies are buried"

Exon

[Rock Harders]

Mongers-

I have got to agree with Exon here, possession of an inordinate amount of cash is not a crime of in itself, however, it IS probable cause for a law enforcement official to move forward with further investigation. In the United States today there is simply no legitimate reason to be carrying that kind of cash (six figures) as the banking system is so secure and every merchant (with few exceptions) accepts credit and debit cards. The only people carrying that sort of cash are 9 times out of 10 likely to be drug dealers, mobsters, or someone planning serious tax evasion. The United States today is just not a cash economy much anymore, its an electronic transfer / payment economy. At the very least being caught with six figures in cash would get the IRS on your ass to verify that you reported the amount as income.

In Latin America, however, and especially Argentina, this is a completely different story as Cash Is King, electronic payments / transfers are unreliable and fee-ridden, the banks are thieves, and everybody has got to have a serious stash of dollar cash in a safe at home in order to ride out any potential rough times. Even the AFIP people enforcing the tax / monetary laws have to maintain a cash reserve as they can't even trust the very system they operate.

Suerte,

Dirk Diggler

[Exon123]

Argento & BadBoy your both full of Shit.

Course its not illegal to have cash, by law it has to be taken in a transaction. Matter of fact its written on our money, "Good for all debts, Public & Private"

In the case mentioned by Argento, he had a very legimate reason for having a large amount of money, (though I dought it was $800,000) and the Police eventually excepted the reason which could have been verified had they taken the time to do so.

But here's two cases I know of personally. Both guys had spotless criminal records, nothing more than minor traffic violations.

First case, the guy, a "Bagman" was driving up I-5 in Northern California. He's pulled over by the highway patrol and they find $750,000 in cash in his car. He couldn't explain where it came from and he got 10 years in a Federal slammer.

The second case, a Drug Dealer, again with a spotless record. He was never with in a mile of his Drugs. Always paid someone else to do his dirty work. Was driving down I-10 not all that far from the Mexican border. He's pulled over and they find $45,000 in cash in his car. He got 3 1/2 years with the Fed's.

In both cases they "Rolled" for lighter sentences by the way.

So heres what we're arguing about.

Its OK to have as much money in cash as you can carry what ever the amount. But You'd better have a "God Damned" good reason the Fed's are going to buy before they let you walk. They love investagating shit like this because its so easy to check and find out where the money came from if the transaction is legal.

Thomaso276 said it best.

It won't take long for the Feds (USA) to look into Wilson. Although the flight started in Caracas he is a US citizen and was in possesion of the cash. Think there will be questions about his overseas accounts (which you must declare) How he got the money? Does the fact the he was in possesion mean he must declare it somewhere in his return and the source? If not he will have to say it belonged to someone else - who will he name?

Some talking points for our USA tax / attorney experts?

They'll look into Wilson big time, on their own, without talking to the Argentines, just because he owns property in the USA. The deal stinks, the Feds know it and they'll stop at nothing to find out where "The bodies are buried"

Exon

[BadMan]

Exon's just acting like a fruit, next thing he will tell us he does this " shit " for a living or that the hooker is just his "good" friend. Give it up Exon and just admit you are wrong, WORST case scenario they confiscate it and tell you you can pick it up once you show just cause for having the cash.

That's all. No big deal, show's over. And BTW the scandal fizzled.

Bad

[Argento]

This absolute bullshit about it being illegal to have cash shows how unwordly some people on this forum are. It is not illegal to have cash. Period.

I am reminded when I see such ill-informed nonsense of an incidence when I was a younger man. In partnership with another 2nd hand dealer, we sold some stock at an auction and were paid out by the auction house immediately after the sale. It being late at night, we were dividing the money up inside my car, outside the local police station, the advantage being good light and good security. We were arrested by an officious young policeman and taken inside the station, where he proudly announced to the duty sargeant, that he had arrested us for having a large sum of money in cash. The sargeant looked bemused, told him to give us back the money and apologized to us and told us we were free to go. As we left, we could hear him telling the young officer, that possession of cash was not illegal, and that it was highly unlikely that we would be divving up money outside a police station if it was stolen. He did not ask us a single question.

So for those who didn't know, money does happen to be legal, whether it is $80 or $800,000. The offence was in not declaring it on entry to Argentina, something you do not have to do in your own country.

[Exon123]

Exon this is patently absurd and you KNOW it. You are telling a board full of Americans nonsense about American law. Why?

Because its the truth, thats why I'm telling it.

One or more Federal Government agencys would be all over it. Possibly Treasury or maybe DEA, but most likely it would be the Criminal Division of the IRS. Not the local county Sheriff or a traffic Cop, the Fed's don't Fuck around.

They'd trace every cent of that money, where it came from and where it was going. They'd go threw your bank accounts using their computers and know every transaction you've ever made no matter what country it was made in or going too. They would find the exact source of the cash and then they'ed prosecute the shit out of you until you rolled on the next guy and then you'd go to jail, after you rolled.

At the very least they'd hang a Income Tax charge on you and you still go to jail for not giving the Fed's their share of what ever scam you were involved in.

Exon

[BundaLover]

Try driving down any road in America get pulled over and let the law enforcement officer find $800,000 in cash in your car and see what happends, Your going to jail. The Fed's would be all over you and they wouldn't quit until they had a Federal "Rap" on you that would put you in "Club Fed" for quite sometime.

Exon

Exon this is patently absurd and you KNOW it. You are telling a board full of Americans nonsense about American law. Why?