Diamonds Are A Chump's Best Friend
There are about three new developments on the diamond smuggling story, and the entire theme continues to rotate around Rodney Spiller and the rest of the Spiller family in Boquete, Panama. The "Silvergate Investment Group" is listed in the Panamanian Public Registry with Rodney Spiller's mother Christine Marie Spiller as the President, his father Andrew Rodney Spiller as the treasurer, and Rodney Spiller as the Secretary. The law firm of Mossack & Fonseca in Boquete is the resident agent for this company. When you start looking into this organization, you immediately run into Boulat.com, which is an umbrella for everything being run by the Spiller family organization. These guys apparently subscribe to the philosophy of the "sovereign individual" which is a nice way of saying "I'm not paying any more taxes" and they are setting up shop in Panama. I bet the extradition of Eddie Ray Kahn was a wake-up call for these guys, or maybe it should have been. Anyway, the more I dig, the more I find. So... (more) 
Smile...
Picking Up the Scent: I like beagles. They're hunting dogs that run through open fields and sniff out rabbits and birds and stuff. They have fantastic dispositions, are hard working, and they almost never make a noise until they've picked up the trail at which point they "trumpet" to let the other dogs in the pack know they've got a live one. The rest of the dogs then head over to see what the first guy found. They all start chasing down the prey and the chorus of trumpeting beagles grows. Once a beagle is on a scent they become entirely focused and they simply will not be distracted. Beagles are fun to watch when they are working.
I'm Kinda Confused...
The Question Remains: I'm still trying to contact the Spiller's. I've called the numbers listed on their websites and I'm not getting any answers, all of the numbers go to voice mail. From the sound of the quality of the lines they appear to be Vonage numbers, and they're not listed in White Pages or Yellow Pages anywhere that I can find, so until I'm told otherwise I'm going to assume they're Vonage. Anyway, since the Spiller's are Net Citizens, I'm sure they are reading these articles. Please give me a call at (507) 214-3197, cell (507) 6614-0451, or email me at don@panama-guide.com. I really want to talk to the Spiller's about this whole thing and get their take on it, but I'm not going to penetrate an anonymity firewall to do it, based on integrity and principle.
Similar To the Environmentalists: I have been looking into the Red Frog Beach thing and a website that is supposed to be an environmentalist site that's "anti-Red Frog." I still have not been able to identify the owners of that site, and I can't get them to step forward. I want to talk to a real person. All of the websites the Spiller family runs have a "contact us" section but it's all done through an anonymous "help ticket" system. You submit a question or an application for services or whatever, and then they get make to you (maybe.) The entire point of this series of articles is that if the Spiller's are not doing anything wrong or illegal, then why are all of the firewalls needed?
Breaking The Law, Or Not? All of the service organizations that have been providing professional services to this set-up have been taking giant steps backward as hard as they can. You know, like the "anyone who wants to volunteer to go to Vietnam take one giant step forward..." and the other 99 guys in the company take one step backwards. The law firm of Mossack & Fonseca has made it perfectly clear that they only set up the foundation and sent a messenger to the airport to pick up the package (on orders from a customer) but they didn't know there were diamonds in there. They said they would be happy to cooperate with authorities on any investigation (giant step back.) DHL was ready to sue La Prensa because they just hauled the freight into Panama but had no way of knowing what was in there, and they were not the courier of record (giant step back.) I spent an hour on the phone to Romania talking to Ciprian Dimofte. He sets up all of the websites for the Spiller's and runs the technical side of things, but has no access to the internal workings and records of these companies. So, while they are one of his biggest clients and a good source of income for him, he has no way of knowing if what they are doing with those websites is illegal or not. And as far as he's concerned the Spillers have made several "adjustments" to the way they operate in order to comply with one legal requirement or another. In the end, he's just a dude running websites (smaller step back.)
Is It HYIP? Apparently. This from the Boulat.com website - "While you inevitably will have some losses by the way, good and fast profits are still achievable with HYIP. We are proud to see most of our core HYIPs in good standing and performing as expected. This is a proof of reasonable good quality of our Portfolio. We are making steady and substantial income, but we learned how to do this the hard way. You need not follow the same painful learning curve at all--you have the chance to take advantage of our experience. Investing with High Yield Programs certainly is not the best way to build your wealth in the long run. On the other hand, you can raise substantial capital in a relatively short time to invest with other Programs--Investment-Grade Programs and Private Programs. Success in HYIP only can be achieved with strict discipline, use of the right money management system and careful selection of the Program to invest with. HYIP Investing is too complex and huge a topic to be covered here, but you can find some useful basic rules of High Yield Investing listed below (which by the way are the same as for any other sort of investing). Try to understand these rules and do not let your emotions overhead your trading discipline. Happy HYIP Investing!" Now that's some good advice.
One Big Misunderstanding? If you are so inclined to give the Spiller's the benefit of the doubt, and since I have not been able to talk to them so far, let's assume they are not breaking the law in any way. What if it was just one big fat screw-up on the import taxes thing. The diamonds are apparently worth the amount showed on the invoice at $76,901 for which approximately $20,000 in taxes will be due. Maybe they just filled out the paperwork incorrectly?
Getting Mail In Panama: It helps a lot to have gone through this process myself about a hundred times. Once I bought a used hammer-drill on eBay and had it shipped down here. It was a really nice heavy-duty drill that was great for busting through concrete, and I bought it for like $12.00 or something. When it arrive here the guys from Mail Boxes Etc. called me up and said that the package had arrived in Panama and was at customs. They wanted to know how much it was worth. I told them, and basically the customs guys didn't believe them. They said that such a great looking drill should cost around $300. So, I had to print out my receipts from eBay and Pay-Pal and bring them mover to Mail Boxes Etc., which they faxed to their guys at the airport, who showed them to the customs guys, who then let it into the country.
"No Commercial Value" That's a key phrase for those who receive mail in Panama. When you get that call from your mail carrier, they are asking you "what's in there" and if you respond "it's just documents with no commercial value" then that's what they will tell the Panamanian customs authorities. If you tell the truth, that there are 45 diamonds in the pouch worth $76,901 and that you are using them as (basically) collateral for D-Carat.com then, then the customs guys are going to need about $20,000 from you before you can get your package. If you lied to anyone along the line, then that constitutes an attempt to defraud the Panamanian government and is a crime.
A "Zero Corruption" Platform: Panama's President Martin Torrijos was elected on a political platform based around cleaning up corruption. The Ambassador from the United States in Panama has hammered on the Panamanian government in public with regards to Panama's apparent lack of will to go after high-profile and well connected corrupt politicians. The International Development Bank and other international financial watchdogs are paying very close attention to the actions of the Torrijos government and how they are handling the $5.25 billion dollar expansion of the Panama Canal. The cases of the contaminated medicines from the Office of Social Security which has left 40 dead by last count and the bus fire that killed 18 both had roots in weak enforcement of existing laws. The grand strategy of the Torrijos regime has been to do a better job through increased transparency, reduced corruption, and better enforcement of existing laws.
Recent Gringo-Crime: The gringos that are coming down to Panama to break the law are pretty much proving their ability to make stupid mistakes. Like, the the convicted pedophile who came down on his own passport. Then there was Eddie Ray Kahn, another guy who was mixing religion with a tax-avoidance scheme, who was stupid enough to get up in front of a community gathering to say a prayer for salvation (from taxes.) And another pedophile Bruce Crosby killed himself after he was discovered running a pedophile ring in Bocas del Toro, in which he was using a website to attract customers.
Pig On A Stick: This case comes down to a big, fat, juicy "gotcha" for the Panamanian government. Panama is getting better at tracking down money laundering and proceeds from drug trafficking. In Panama the cocaine goes north and the money goes south. Since 9/11 the international community has been working together to track the financial assets from organized crime, and terrorism is just another form of organized crime. Anyone who is using (manipulating) the Panamanian legal or banking systems to establish "offshore" havens for the purposes of avoiding income taxes better take note. The Panamanian government is talking the talk and walking the walk when it comes to enforcement of existing law lately. Diamonds are a money launderer's wet dream because you can send a lot of money in a very small package. It represents condensed cash.
Looking For a Victim: People who fall victim to these schemes find themselves in a sort of "legal catch-22" with regards to reporting the crime. In the end the "victims" were actively conspiring with the "facilitators" to avoid taxes they were supposed to pay according to law. So, if the guy that was supposed to be leading you down the road to "individual sovereignty" suddenly disappears, then you are left holding a worthless e-gold account and a guilty conscience. Since I published the original article last night I've received several emails from people who have fallen victim to these kinds of schemes, one to the tune of $600,000. Now, how anyone allows themselves to fall victim to such a scam is beyond my personal comprehension, but it happens. And, I can understand that if you moved your money into overseas accounts to avoid taxes, you have a choice of either trying to hunt the guy down yourself, report it to the authorities and risk doing a couple of years in a federal pen, or writing it off and forgetting about it.
Hounds On the Scent: My good friend Brett Mikkelson is the owner of BM Investigations Inc. and he's been helping me to investigate this case and track down the details. If there is anyone out there that falls into the category of having fallen victim to this kind of a scam, and if you want some justice but can't talk to the feds, shoot an email to Brett. He has a network of collaborators inside of Panama as well as throughout Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe that can help you find the scammer that nailed you, especially if you think they might be in Panama.
Some Kind Of A Cult: Things get really weird when you get into this world. A link to the "Sovereign Manifesto - The 8 Deadly Myths That Conspire to Enslave You" by David MacGregor, who runs a network of websites centered around SovereignLife.com. David MacGregor apparently moved to Panama in 2000 and it seems like the Spiller's are following the same path. I did some searching into David MacGregor and turned up much of the same kinds of things. In the end the basic philosophy is that you can turn yourself into some kinds of an international net citizen and they will be happy to tell you how (for $47 dollars.) Then they open the gates and give you their "secrets" to things that are all basically felonies.
The Twin Horns of the Internet Dilemma: This entire concept creates a problem - how do you run this Internet based business and set up ATM accounts based on diamond deposits or whatever in secret. You can't. You have to be "out there" on the Internet, trying to covert new people over to your no-tax religion, but you can't let people know who you are or where you are because the IRS probably wants to talk to you, really bad. So you have to do things like establish websites in far-away places, skip over international jurisdictions, and move around "electronically" often to sweep your tracks. But you're taking money from people so they have to know how to find you. For example, the Spiller's website formally known as udachu.com is now known as "Private 2" on Boulat.com. You can't have it both ways. Either you're out there, or you're not.
Not My Job... I don't make the rules. I don't make the laws or establish import or export taxes. It might turn out that the Spillers, David MacGregor, and guys like Eddie Ray Kahn are not breaking the law. Maybe they do have a "right" to live their independent international e-lifestyle. Maybe God told them not to pay anymore taxes. Maybe their pissed because of the way their home government is spending their taxes. But my common sense-o-meter tells me that they are simply breaking the law, fooling themselves, and fooling a whole bunch of other people in the process. If I'm wrong, I wish someone would explain it to me.
Copyright 2006 Panama-Guide.com by Don Winner. No other source is carrying this story as of yet. So far I'm the only one that has the whole thing wired together. I've shared what I know with local media, and Brett is doing his thing. If you want to pick up the story go ahead and use whatever you want, just please give credit to this website and the original source. Thanks.
Related Websites:
- BlueBanking.com
- How An Offshore Account Can Be Your Key To: International Living, Global Opportunities, Financial Privacy And Personal Freedom by David MacGregor
- Sovereignlife.com
- The Sovereign Manifesto
- Ciprian Dimofte's Resume
- http://www.udachufundforum.com/
- Discussion About the Udachu Fund
- Boulat.com
- D-Carat.com
- Swedish Merchant Savings S&L
