English for customs officers

Be able to confiscate property laundered, proceeds from, instruments used in or intended for use in the commission of any money laundering.

Monitor the physical cross-border transportation of cash and bearer negotiable instruments, subject to strict safeguards to ensure proper use of information.

Multilateral agreements that require participants to adopt antilaundering measures and the regional and world organizations that have developed and encouraged a standardized approach to addressing laundering all have contributed to the strides made in addressing the challenges posed. Only with laws that have been harmonized can law enforcement agencies, working together with financial institution administrators and regulators, combat this ever-increasing problem.

Answer the following questions.

1.What is money laundering?

2.What stages does the prosess of money laundering involve?

3.What international organizations are trying to get a handle on the problem?

FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES

I. Punctuate the following text.

A South African gold smuggler was rumbled by Heathrow antismuggling teams through a mixture of teamwork co-operation and coincidence officers from Heathrow's station 25 struck gold while searching for drugs in the workings of an imported photocopier they found 550 South African Krugerrands concealed inside the gold coins each worth £ 240 were hidden in the base of the machine sent from South Africa to a Hampshire industrial estate officers removed the coins then sent the photocopier to await collection at the import agent's warehouse informing the collection investigation unit (CIU) of the find the following morning the staff doing a routine anti-smuggling check at terminal 4 found $240,000 cash and $32,000 in traveller's cheques in a passenger's baggage they suspected the money might have a drugs connection so they intercepted the bag's owner and called in the CIU

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duty team to interview him said case officer Phil G in the interview the passenger mentioned that he would be visiting a company in Hampshire later that day the same company the photocopier was addressed to Phil added CIU staff made the connection with the copier awaiting collection returned the money and placing him under surveillance released him after arranging Customs clearance the man collected the copier the following day he drove to the industrial estate stopping en route to buy a hammer he was arrested while examining the copier at the industrial estate when interviewed under caution he admitted to smuggling the Krugerrands out of South Africa in order to avoid exchange control regulations and into the UK in order to avoid VAT the smuggler paid a £42,000 penalty and a £33,000 restoration fee that evening

II. Match the words on the left (a–j) with their corresponding definitions on the right (1–10).

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B

Fill in the gaps with the right word from the exercise above.

1.The defendant was charged with a range of …, from theft to murder.

2.Driving without a licence is an …

3.It was clear that they had not acted in … of the rules.

4.… is an act of breaking a law, promise, agreement or relationship.

5.Minor … of the law will not be punished.

6.Drug and alcohol … contributed to his early death.

7.Anyone found acting in … of these regulations will no longer be allowed club membership.

8.I hope we are not … on someone's land.

III. Find the first sentence to the following text. Choose from:

1.Members of the public are being encouraged to report any suspicious activity.

2.The remains of some of the world's rarest creatures have been found in a rural area of Wales in a Customs-led operation.

3.Investigation division officers have smashed what is believed to be the biggest ever case of excise duty fraud, involving likely revenue losses of more than £ 100 million.

4.Police and Customs joined forces to launch the «Coastwatch» project.

Assisted by police, 280 officers raided almost 40 addresses in the London area, seizing spirits, beers and other excise goods worth millions of pounds. The goods were intended for export, tax free, but had been diverted onto the home market with no taxes paid.

This diversion fraud is different from bootlegging where goods are imported from other parts of Europe for resale.

The premises raided during the operation – code name Fluke – included cash and carry outlets, bonded warehouses, transport companies and private homes. A number of commercial vehicles have also been seized.

Nineteen arrests have been made and the investigation continues.

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IV. Unjumble the following sentences to make up two texts: «Fighting off the Fakers» and «VAT Fraud».

(1) Two Essex men have been arrested in connection with an alleged £300,000 VAT fraud (UK). (2) A recent seminar in Stafford, hosted by Central England Collection, demonstrated that counterfeit goods aren't all perfume and T-shirts. (3) The participants of the seminar (VAT investigators) searched the business premises in the local area and removed books and records. (4) The men were both directors of a road haulage company suspected of VAT evasion. (5) Apart from the revenue lost, there was the question of public safety if poorly-manufactured parts ended up in cars and aircraft. (6) The seminar follows a similar event organized by other Collections in the South earlier this year. (7) Senior officer Peter H. said that one of the men could have faced up to seven years' imprisonment if the case had gone to court. (8) The fraudster agreed to an out-of-court settlement of £2,000 for bootlegging after excise officers at Dover seized his vehicle – containing more than £2,000 worth of wine, beer and cigarettes. (9) The seminar demonstrated the commitment of the department to combat the growing problem. (10) He had been involved in the illegal sale of revenue goods over a period of several months. (11) The event, sponsored by the Anti-Counterfeiting Group – a trade body representing major importers and manufacturers - aimed to raise public awareness about fakes.

V. Punctuate the following text.

A Customs clearance agent who imported fruit vegetables and clothing cheating the revenue of over £400,000 in duty was jailed for three years Customs officers arrested the director of Heathrow-based Freight Services Ltd. John S. and company manager Peter J. after an eight-week trial S. was found guilty at the Court where prosecutors also proved he had obtained over £134,000 from customers by deception he was convicted of cheating the revenue evasion of Customs duties and obtaining money for deception J. was found guilty on one specimen count of evasion of duty and of obtaining money by deception he was sentenced to 100 hours' community service after the Court heard of his previous good character and that he had not gained financially from the fraud when officers of the then commercial fraud team raided the

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company's offices and seized paper-work they found it was common practice there to classify goods as non-dutiable on the Customs entry when the supplier's invoice described goods that were clearly subject to duty they had also created a mock Customs entry showing duty had been paid when it had not case officer Alan G. told the reporter it is our recent experience that this type of fraud is not uncommon it is our clear intention to show the agent community that in line with our moves towards trader facilitation fraud of this nature will not be tolerated.

VI. Fill in the table by adding the required suffixes to the words below.

VII. The paragraphs of the following text are mixed. Rearrange them in the correct logical order. Think of a title for the text.

(1)An interesting case is being investigated by the Customs Investigation Union.

(2)Later, a search of his two houses revealed detailed records of all the accommodation addresses used by him with all the various VAT publications sent to his various aliases carefully retained. Amongst the documents found were a “black book” which is apparently his record of the various false registrations and repayments received.

(3)One of the repayment payable orders was intercepted and its delivery to the London mailbox monitored. Observations were then carried out over a period of 3–4 weeks with the aid of closed-circuit television on the actual mailbox itself.

(4)During interview he admitted perpetrating the fraud but maintained that he was a writer and was only carrying on the fraud to use

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as a plot for his next book. He intended to repay all the money falsely claimed. He is currently on conditional bail charged with one sample count of VAT evasion.

(5)Patience was rewarded when a 65 year old man arrived and opened the box removing its contents including the payable order. He was arrested as he left the premises and was found in possession with three false driving licences and building society passbooks in these names.

(6)Suspect registrations in the names of Peter Morris and Peter Reed were identified at Kingston. Further enquiries revealed more suspect registrations at Oxford, Reading, Nottingham, Manchester, Leeds, and Stratford. Nearly all the registrations were in the antique dealer trade class with variations in the name Peter Reed, Reid, Read, etc.

(7)Repayment returns were deliberately pitched at amounts less than £ 1000 to reduce the chances of a pre-credibility query being raised. This appeared to have worked to a certain degree as the fraudster's attempts at approximately £ 8200 successfully netted repayments of approximately £ 4200.

(8)The fraudster scanned the Yellow Pages telephone directory for the areas concerned in order to identify accommodation addresses. These were then used to register false VAT businesses with mail redirected to a London mailbox.

VIII. Study the given types of violations1 of Customs regulations. What violations are most frequently observed in Belarus? Give your reasons. Discuss your answers with your partner. Supply some additional information.

1 Violation – the act of doing something that is not allowed by a law or rule.

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goods and transport vehicles

6. actions directed at the receipt or refund of Customs payments

IX. Translate the following texts into Russian.

Text 1

Specific examples of common invoice omissions or inaccuracies which effect Customs valuation in the USA include the following:

A foreign manufacturer produces goods using materials and machinery supplied by the U.S. importer but invoices the goods at the actual production cost, failing to include the value of the materials and machinery (assets) supplied by the importer.

A foreign seller assuming that a commission, royalty, or other charge is non-dutiable, omits the charge from the invoice.

A foreign manufacturer shipping goods to a U.S. customer invoices the goods at a price reflecting an adjustment for previously shipped goods found to be defective, rather than the actual price of the goods.

A foreign seller sells goods to a U.S. importer at a delivered price but invoices the goods at the cost of production, failing to include subsequent costs of delivery.

Text 2. MERRY-GO-ROUND

Drawback fraud is where a trader claims a refund of excise duty paid in the UK by producing evidence that the goods have been exported to the continent. Duties in near continent countries are usually lower than in

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the UK. The trader then commercially re-imports the goods – usually high-strength beer which carries high duty in this country – or recirculates it into the UK drinks market.

In more sophisticated cases of carousel1 fraud, the goods are bought and sold several times through a chain of traders, each taking a cut of the profits, eventually being exported again when another drawback claim is made. This type of carousel fraud – so called because goods go round in circles – is highly lucrative.

X. Translate into English.

Меняющееся содержание правоохранительной деятельности в таможне с акцентом на гибкие, основанные на оценке риска целевые операции определяет роль оперативной информации как основного инструмента идентификации правонарушений и контрабанды и эффективногораспределенияограниченныхресурсов.

XI. Agree or disagree with the following statements. Give your reasons. Discuss your answers with your partner. Supply some additional information.

1.In Belsrus foreign persons shall be liable for the violation of Customs regulations on the same grounds as Belarusian persons.

2.Many social changes that are perceived as progress may lead to further escalation in the incidence of crime. Economic progress, producing greater wealth, almost always leads to greater opportunities for crime in the form of more goods to steal or enhanced possibilities for successful fraud.

3.Through its involvement in IPR enforcement Customs may play a significant role in keeping defective goods out of the marketplace.

4.In many developing countries the protection of government revenues against fiscal fraud is a paramount concern, while in developed economies the issue is not only revenue but also the vital need to guard against trade fraud.

1 Carousel fraud – the practice of importing goods from a country where they are not subject to VAT, selling them with VAT added, then deliberately not paying the VAT to the government.

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5.The use of forged documents and Customs stamps is a big problem and in some countries is almost endemic. If verification is needed the fiscal liaison officer or the international liaison team of the investigation service may be able to help.

6.The use of photocopied documents as evidence of export and the diversity of foreign Customs stamps make the procedure ripe for forgery.

7.It is necessary to introduce civil penalties to replace current criminal prosecutions for minor Customs offences.

8.A single fixed penalty should be proposed for minor Customs offences.

9.Customs authorities are to make sure that «penalty fits the crime».

10.Criminal sanctions should be used only for serious Customs offences.

11.The imposition of a fixed Customs civil penalty will simplify procedures in the Customs area.

12.Customs officers are free to attend public auctions to buy goods seized by the Customs.

13.Customs staff should not have an advantage over members of the public in the purchasing of seized goods.

DO IT FOR FUN

I. Read the following text and underline the names of the professions mentioned in the text. Discuss what representatives of these professions do.

The criminal codes of modern nations are enormously complicated, growing bodies of written rules and doctrines, most of which are unknown to the average citizen. Offenders are detected, brought to court, tried, convicted, and punished by professionals especially trained for their particular functions; in the meantime other professionals, the criminologists, investigate the causes of crime and examine the ways in which correction and prevention are handled. Judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, police, prison officials, sociologists, social workers, psychiatrists and psychologists all have different functions to perform in the criminal-justice system.

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II. Divide the class into two groups A and B.

A

Read about 5 laws in different countries. Two are true and three are false. Tell B about each law, using your own words. Then discuss each one together and decide wheather you think it's true or false.

1.Singapore If you are caught dropping litter on three different occasions, you could get a very embarrassing sentence. You could be arrested and sentenced to cleaning the streets on Sundays. While you are cleaning, you have to wear a big sign saying «I'm a litter bug» (= a person who frequently drops rubbish in the streets).

2.Bolivia Kidnapping is considered to be a very serious crime in this South American country. However, if you are found guilty of this crime, the length of your prison sentence will vary depending on whether the person you kidnapped was male or female. A kidnapper will get a much longer prison sentence if the victim is a woman.

3.The USA The Arizona Desert is the only place on the planet where the Saguaro cactus grows. Cutting down one of these plants without a special permit is considered an act of vandalism under Arizona law, and you could be heavily fined if you're found guilty.

4.Brazil If a man is caught wearing a skirt in this country, he can be charged with immoral conduct and fined. However, if this crime is committed at Carnival time – then the police usually turn a blind eye (=pretended they haven't seen you).

5.The Netherlands The Dutch are a nation of dog lovers. If you are a dog owner and you commit a crime and are sentenced to go to prison, you do not need to worry about what will happen to your pet in your absence. The dog will be looked after by the state until you are released from the prison.

B

Read about 5 laws in different countries. Three are true and two are false. Tell A about each law, using your own words. Then discuss each one together and decide wheather you think it's true or false.

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