#463 – The Expat Files: Transporting Gold, Safety Deposit Boxes, and Political Corruption in Latin America

Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.

[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now I wonder Hello there all you expat wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started Okay, before we get into some heavier topics Let me finish off on what I was gonna say about Transporting gold around because if you remember on last show where you read an email with some questions about how to move gold around Either walking with it on your person or flying with it yourself

[00:48] Well, my suggestion is if you have a couple ounces, let's say 10 or under even 20 Maybe just shove them all in a little coin collector sleeve and I'm out like that would take up a tiny little space Ten of them for example, just a little bigger in volume than ten US half dollars Of course, they'll weigh probably double that but that's not much So just have them nicely tucked away in your pocket or one of those zipper vests and walk them right through your customs And your border control points. No problem. I've done it myself many times though. I admit not lately However, I always carry a nicely hidden one ounce gold Canadian maple leaf along with a much smaller quarter ounce Canadian maple leaf as a Precaution, let's say if I'm stuck somewhere like for example, Argentina or Venezuela

[01:34] Or any other country on the verge of financial collapse and you know, there's a big financial collapse coming sooner or later Anyway, you don't necessarily have to be in Argentina or Venezuela For example to wake up the next morning and find there's currency controls or the ATMs don't work or perhaps They'll pull a bank holiday and no one will be able to do a thing about it No matter because gold and silver are always real money and you know carrying a maple leaf or a cool grand or two around with You is great insurance if you ever get your wallet or money belt stolen, too Of course, you should never have your gold where your paper money is, but you knew that already, right? So in my case, I've been carrying around the same two coins for 25 years or so How you like that and at times I completely forget I've got them on me too and the funny thing is in the last few years

[02:22] I must have walked through 50 even more border crossings and a couple dozen international airports It never even came to my mind that I had those things on me I guess it's kind of like carrying a pocket knife or a comb or a picture of your kid or your dog in your wallet There are habits you just completely forget about and so at international airports and stuff when they make you take your belt off and throw Your cell phone and keys and all that in the x-ray machine conveyor It just never crosses my mind that there are two nice pieces of gold going through that machine And you know what not once as an agent or inspector ever said a thing to me about it So anyway, if you've got 10 gold ounces or less you have to move from one place to another Go ahead and carry it right on you. Just have a little backup story if anybody questions you about the stuff

[03:09] You know the coin collector hobby going to a coin show a bit I know I've mentioned that in a couple of past shows That's always a great one and totally logical because every city big and small has at least one coin show going every weekend That's some hotel salon The thing is you just don't want to stand there with a dead blank look on your face If some custom agents or whatever want to know why you're carrying this stuff You don't want to give them any excuse or any stupid reason to detain you if I had 10 ounces of gold on me And some TSA agent said what you got that for I'm gonna be ready with a nice logical answer It's not gonna be be little little little little little little Otherwise they're gonna shove you into a room somewhere and call in their buddies for some more questions And you're gonna miss your connecting flights. So then what about bigger hordes of gold and silver? What about shipping the stuff?

[03:59] Well, if you're of the mindset that since gold and silver are so valuable There's gonna be some hanky-panky when shipping this stuff or it's gonna cost you an arm and leg That is to do it with a hundred percent confidence and get it insured. You're gonna want to do that Well get on your search engine and I hope it's start page and plug in gold silver or precious metal dealers And you'll see there are virtually hundreds of these companies and they all have beautiful websites And note some of the very well-known ones have been around for 30 40 years Now also note that with most all these companies if you buy gold and silver from them They'll ship anywhere in the world a hundred percent insured guaranteed delivery So obviously if they're doing it and having no problems at all, why can't you and I well? We can now note that FedEx and UPS ship gold and silver, too

[04:47] But I understand to ensure this stuff can be pretty expensive So why not find out who the big boys are using to ship their stuff securely? Just go to their website send out a few emails to some of these companies and say look I want to buy some gold how you're gonna ship it to me I want to ship to Argentina or Peru or Guatemala or Honduras or whatever Tell them you're a little bit concerned about getting there Okay, and guess what they'll be glad to tell you exactly who they use and how much it's gonna cost and then for example If you got 50 ounces of gold sitting in Cleveland or perhaps you're in England or Germany or have your gold in Vienna Austria Anywhere you just use that service to ship this stuff anywhere you want And another thing if you want to be completely anonymous about it And why wouldn't you want to be don't have it shipped to you in your name have it shipped to your lawyers office

[05:39] Because like I said in last week's show when you have a trusted Latin lawyer That's one of the many services they offer their foreign clients Often at no charge at all not to mention your Latin lawyer will hold your gold and other valuables for as long as you like Or feel necessary perhaps Indefinitely. In fact, that's recommended for a lot of expats who want to stay way under the radar Now a number of expat wannabes and goodbies have asked me about using Safety deposit boxes in Latin America since a lot of them use them up in the states By the way, I think any and all bank safety deposit boxes are a bad choice I've even had people say well look Citibank is in Latin America and so is Lloyd's bank and Barclay's bank And Scotiabank, you know first world banks

[06:26] So if and when I come down wouldn't I be much better off using a safety deposit box from one of those first world banks Who'll have you know first world standards, of course other than taking a chance on a latin bank I know nothing of in fact i've heard stories that latin banks crash and burn regularly Yep, I get emails like that to which I say no no and no You should never use a safety deposit box even up in the states You're nuts if you do It's the same reason you don't want to have anyone else holding your gold in some kind of so-called safe vault somewhere out of the country It's really always best to have your valuables in your possession Tell no one about them and hide them where only you can find them and if you haven't got a safe place to hide them

[07:14] Let's say for example, you're living in a hotel or in an apartment That's not all that secure your second best alternative is always your latin lawyer now It's true first world banks are down here and many latin american banks have safety deposit boxes too But I know this is going to rub some people the wrong way The way I see it only people who are foolish enough to trust the banking systems of the world use safety deposit boxes Sure, they were okay in your parents and your grandparents day back when there really was such a thing as bank secrecy But I have to know by now and especially if you're listening to my program or programs like richard martin's wake-up call Your bank is not your friend, but you knew that already, right? Speaking of not trusting banks. How about this one now since I often do my latin american seminars in guatemala

[08:01] You might have read recently that there's been some turmoil in guatemala politics So much turmoil in fact that some of it has broken into the first world news media And since those breaking stories of the last week or two Some listeners have sent me emails asking my opinion of what's happening down there since I occasionally mention guatemala honduras Salvador peru etc as some great off the gringo tourist trail places to become expats That said let's talk about what's really happening down in guatemala and why it's been in the news And of course what effect if any that might have on gringos and expats down there Okay, then. Let me start off by reading one of last week's articles that came off the international newswires in spanish, of course

[08:46] And it says guatemala's central bank governor was arrested on wednesday in a bribery probe That also targeted a friend and former top aide of president otto perez Who has faced mounting pressure since his vice president quit two weeks ago over a separate graft scandal The guatemalan attorney general's office said it had arrested central bank chief Julio suarez and issued a warrant arrest for Juan de dios rodriguez That's the president's former personal secretary and head of the guatemala social security institute reports say suarez guatemalan's central bank head has been arrested along with 14 other high level guatemalan officials over a

[09:34] 14.5 million dollar medical services contract charging those officials with fraud influence trafficking bribery skimming and charging illegal commissions prosecutors said Meanwhile a central bank spokesman said the institution will continue to operate as normal. Yeah, right Then it goes on to say the social security institute also involved in the scandal was not available for comment Meanwhile a very nervous white as a ghost very shaky president former general otto perez Said in a televised address Nobody is above the law I'm the first one to regret that these situations are occurring and the first to demand that justice is served Now a very good source tells me that the public who saw him give that address

[10:24] Bood flipped him the finger and laughed in his face Now as I get into this discussion You'll see that he'll be the next one to go the president is as big a scumbag as any of them The guatemalan public has been hearing this for years But until now no one's been able to do anything about it But just like in the states you get the politicians you deserve right speaking of obama and other political scumbags Voters deserve let's talk about guatemala's first lady vice president. Her name is roxanna baldetti She's had her passport pulled and she's pretty much under house arrest now. Why? Well in the last two weeks 24 top customs and guatemalan irs administrators have been arrested and there are 12 more

[11:11] high-level guatemalan government officials who are now fugitives on the run Thing is you see they all reported to the vice president. She was their boss Accordingly, the vice president's battered public image could take no more when on friday may 8th She stepped down amid mass protests calling for her resignation and arrest since then over 30 000 people a day have lined up in front of the national palace Also demanding the resignation of guatemalan president auto perez It all started saturday april 25th when police revealed Vice president baldetti's personal executive secretary was the main suspect behind the illegal customs and port bribery schemes

[11:58] Now listen to this and it kind of tells you why this kind of stuff is just ubiquitous in all latin countries And why these guys just keep getting away with it So pay attention to this point the article says for vice president rock santa baldetti Corruption allegations are nothing new in 2012 the guatemalan daily newspaper alpedeotico Released an investigation detailing the vice president's unexplained wealth Hmm according to the report baldetti and her husband's 70 000 a year in total income which would put her in solid middle-class standing if she were in the states Now according to that report which took place three years ago now That income cannot possibly account for their net worth which is estimated at well over 13

[12:50] Million us dollars. Hmm. How'd that happen? How many people do you know who've accumulated over 13 million on a 70k a year salary? Then just six months ago the vice president was nailed for approving a payment of four million dollars on a no-bid contract To a very questionable foreign corporation that offered quote a magical chemical formula Unquote that would clean up the nation's second biggest lake The chronically polluted and totally dead lake amatitlan not to be confused with lake atitlan Which is one of the wonders of the world that cleanup project was for lake Amatitlan not lake atitlan. So don't confuse them

[13:37] Anyway, some months ago the chemical was poured in it didn't work Independent chemical engineers and chemists were called in they reported the whole scheme was a pure fraud And that no such magic cleanup chemical or formula ever existed The project was suspended the company being outside guadamala's jurisdiction Could not be reached for a comment surprise surprise and that four million dollar payment authorized by the vice president never recovered Now do note that with all these high level politicians newspaper articles appear all the time reporting their abuses and schemes and thievery and the reason why nothing ever seems to happen is because It's so damn easy to buy off the judges in third world countries

[14:23] In fact, the easiest way to buy off a judge down here is to appoint him and that's what all presidents and vice presidents do Once their party gets an office They stack the local courts and the supreme courts because those jobs pay three times more than the public sector So judges are forever beholden to the guy in the party that gave him the job Which is why you might recall I spoke about an apesho of a president named alfonso portillo about three or four presidents ago so portillo when he was president stole over 200 million dollars from the public trough and He stole a multi-million dollar donation from south korea, too After his presidential term, he went to mexico to live and when the indictment came down He remained a fugitive for three years in mexico

[15:09] Mexico wouldn't extradite him because well he had 200 million to spread around now, didn't he? Anyway, he finally did come back to guatemala when he found out for sure That the supreme court was going to drop his case Why? Because he appointed most of them and sure enough when he came back and went to trial They dropped it for lack of evidence However, because of his many million dollar international wire transfers He committed international money laundering offenses and was extradited to new york and served six years in jail for that Now he's back and he's a hero. That's how it works down here in latin america Well, that was a while ago and now we're talking about what's happened in the last month or so Now as far as guatemala's first lady vice president for some time now There have been reports surfacing of her connection with a lady called

[15:58] malori chacon An international drug trafficker known as the queen of the south Now to the u.s. She was such a big fish. She was extradited and sentenced just two weeks ago Now the u.s. Treasury department describes her as one of the most prolific narcotics traffickers in the world based out of guatemala honduras and panama She and her organization supplied cocaine shipments to mexican drug enterprises like the zettas and the senola cartel And until she got busted her organization had laundered tens of millions of dollars each month Okay, that said newspapers here have been reporting of roxana baldetti the vice president of guatemala's ties with this queen of the south Journalists have repeatedly questioned her about her ties and friendship with the queen of the south

[16:49] The vp denies knowing her and says she never met her Meanwhile, there are photos and videos of the queen of the south and baldetti at various events Including get this the vice president's 50th birthday party Not to mention she donated two million us dollars to the president and vice president's party Hey, that's latin america, huh in the us. It's monsanto merc sharpened dome and general dynamics Contributing their dirty money to u.s. Politics and down here in latin america It's narcos some would say same difference now note the incident that triggered all these dominoes falling Was an intercepted telephone conversation from the vp's personal executive secretary

[17:35] Juan carlos monzon where he and the government's top customs officials Are discussing the split and the payout of all the skimmed revenues at the ports and docks to the tune of five Million dollars a week now about three weeks ago All latin american news channels got a hold of those secret telephone conversations and kept playing them endlessly on tv news reports And this is how surreal things are while all this was going on the vice president and her executive secretary Were in south korea attending a ceremony where she received an honorary doctorate For her quote efforts in helping the poor and her social work Confucius say south korea put big foot in mouth

[18:25] shades of obama and the peace prize, huh So get this there She was in south korea when all this broke and reporters rushed up to her and asked her Why she hired this guy monzon as her executive secretary when get this they discovered This guy monzon had in his past been convicted of being a professional car thief I mean, come on. Can it get weirder than that? Now about this convicted car thief who became the vice president's executive secretary now He just didn't steal one car. He was the head of a ring that stole dozens of cars So I guess he was good at his job until he got caught Which these days is a prerequisite for going into politics in any country, right? So anyway, the vice president came back to guadamala. She's under house arrest, but our executive secretary slash car thief

[19:16] He's on the run. He's an international fugitive and in the past few weeks Investigations have discovered he's got over 10 multi-million dollar homes in the states around the world one of them You guessed it in miami Not to mention in the last year alone. He's had over 130 country stamps on his passport Boy does that guy get around, huh? Anyway interpoles on his ass now and he will turn up eventually They always do now get this when they went to one of his three multi-million dollar houses in guadamala. They discovered over 3 million dollars in cash Hidden inside his living room furniture. Meanwhile, the 24 top customs administrators have been arrested And get this three fourths of them were able to put up their sixty thousand dollar bail

[20:07] That very afternoon, which is pretty amazing since in latin america. There are no bail bond agents Not like in the states where you can put up 10 percent and some collateral and they'll lend you the rest down here You have to have the cash now follow this none of those 24 customs administrators made over 25 000 a year But three quarters of them came up with 60 grand cash that very afternoon Meanwhile, there are 12 other customs administrators who are fugitives, too They just never got picked up and depending how much dough they've got stashed They might never get picked up because as you probably figured out you can buy your way out of anything down here If you're a politician up in the states and you've got trouble You too can have the rules bent and broken for you if you've got powerful friends, but down here in latin america

[20:55] It's all about the money Now normally with any latin american government when the government stink gets way too foul People at the top end just start resigning That way they can take their stolen millions and just leave However, if they stick around too long and actually get nabbed get indicted and enter the court system What happens then is predictable. They get their passport blocked, which is called an embargo Then they're placed under house arrest, which means they pretty much can go anywhere in the country As free as they ever were in fact if you have a costco membership card You can often see these guys under house arrest shopping with their maids and bodyguards Then they drive away in their bulletproof suvs You think i'm joking, right? Then when the trial comes around and that could be five or so years after the indictment by then every witness

[21:47] Has disappeared or has been paid off Now the smart government scumbags just resign or slip away before they become headlines Now one guy who was a guatemalan president in the 80s After his term, he took the 50 million that he stole and went straight to panama Even though there's an open warrant out for his arrest in guatemala panama welcomed him with open arms Why'd they do that? Because 50 million bucks opens a lot of doors and creates a lot of jobs in a little country like panama Now if you think this kind of stuff only happens in guatemala you are wrong Every single latin country have their scandals month over month and year over year and the public They're just so callous to it after about a week of outrage and protests. They're back to business as usual

[22:34] In fact right now the previous president of panama is under indictment for taking some millions of dollars of kickbacks From the recent upgrade in the panama canal Meanwhile Nicaragua's president daniel artega is being accused by his stepdaughter of repeated pedophilia rape and incest Oh and surprise surprise mexico's previous president and vice president Will shortly be in court facing corruption charges, too Though like I said in latin america when a politician goes up for trial It's usually five years or so down the road and everybody's long gone and they forget and witnesses disappear, etc So all this latin american corruption stuff is business as usual And as far as i'm concerned One of the worst things about it is when a guy gets caught and eventually

[23:21] Does go up in front of a judge and gets convicted and goes to jail or maybe in the first six months The millions that this guy took is never ever paid back These guys do their time become local heroes again And get away with it. It's the perfect crime By the way, like I said, most latin presidents only get one four or five year term And this guy auto perez the president of guatemala only has about a half year left on his term And everybody knows this guy's is corrupt his sin But he'll never step down because that would be a stain on him and his family forever So no matter what happens and what they dig up on him. Believe me There's a lot I could tell you but i'm not gonna say anymore on the air because I might get disappeared, too My mother wouldn't like that

[24:07] Anyway, it's politics as usual for the next election the same old corrupt jerks in a different package As far as the front line choices you've got a guy named baltison Who newspapers revealed last year had falsified his doctorate theses How is that for an honorable dickhead and the other buying candidate is a real witch. Let me tell you She's the owner behind this huge chain of latin american clothing stores But very few people know she's the one behind it They don't sell new but used clothing all the clothes you've donated to places like goodwill and salvation army And when they get down here, they're not donated to the poor and needy They're sold to the poor and needy meanwhile first world do-gooders think those clothes get distributed free to the poor

[24:56] Not so she gets her cut from even the used donated clothes on the backs of the poor So that said with all the extreme political corruption throughout latin america specifically in guatemala How does that affect gringos living there? That's the real question. How does it affect expats? Well just yesterday I was on the phone with two gringo friends of mine one who's been living in guatemala 35 years now He's part of a very thriving business and makes what you might call a king's ransom He's a guy who's got his kids going to one of those expensive private helicopter schools And you know, we were on the phone about a half an hour talking about things It was only after we hung up that I realized we never even touched on the subject of what's happening in the political arena

[25:42] Why it's just not a concern to us expats and gringos. It doesn't affect us Then just this morning. I spoke with another expat gringle friend of mine who owns about three factories He's been down here maybe 20 years has done very very well for himself too. Also has a kid at a high-end helicopter school He's a guy with lots of property now and lots of rental units, too We were on the phone maybe 15 or 20 minutes and we never touched on the subject of the government either Well, I take that back. He did say one thing He said the only time he pays attention to government politics at all Is when some idiot candidate tries to get elected by promising to raise the minimum wage Now that affects him because he's got factories. So then who suffers not us gringos or expats

[26:32] We don't send our kids to those filthy public schools with broken lights and windows and toilets that don't flush We don't count on that hundred dollar a month check from the latin social security division the check that usually bounces We'd never be in their social security plan Not to mention us expats use private hospitals We don't use those free public hospitals guaranteed to the common man down here that don't have gloves syringes medicine or even running water So you can see however much these ass white politicians try to steal It's the common man that suffers not us gringos and expats Oops, we're getting to the end right now. Don't forget my july 2015 latin american seminar

[27:18] Just go to expatwisdom.com and click on the latin seminar link You need boots on the ground and that very important network of people that can ease your transition from day one And that's just what you'll get when you come down to my seminar You've been listening to the expat files living in latin america coming to you twice a week from somewhere south of the border Email me the expat files at gmail.com And don't forget to check out expatwisdom.com to sign up for your free reports on latin america See you next time. Nos vemos