PRESIDENT OBAMA ADDS INTERNATIONAL DRUG “KINGPIN” TO
OFAC LIST
BOSTON –
Today President Barack Obama identified
Mihael Karner as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker, or “drug kingpin,”
for purposes of sanctions under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act
(the “Kingpin Act”).
This announcement, along
with the identification of five other foreign persons and organizations, is only
the 15th
Presidential determination under the Kingpin Act since June 2000. Karner’s
designation is based on evidence that, since 2000, Karner has run a global
distribution network for anabolic steroids that has sold millions of steroid
dosages worldwide, including to thousands of customers in the United
States.
The Kingpin Act is
administered by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset
Control (“OFAC”). It is designed to bring financial pressure against high-level
foreign drug traffickers, terrorists, and related organizations by blocking
their interactions with the U.S. financial system. Other recent Kingpin Act
designations have included Mexican cartel members and related corporate
entities, and persons and entities related to Syria and Iran. Today’s action
against Karner generally bars U.S. persons and companies from conducting
financial or commercial transactions with Karner, and freezes any assets Karner
may have that are within U.S. jurisdiction.
The six drug kingpin
designations announced today were recommended to the President through an
interagency consultation process among the Departments of Treasury, State,
Defense, Justice, and the Central Intelligence Agency. Although not required by
the Kingpin statute, the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the
Director of National Intelligence were also consulted.
Karner, a Slovenian national, and two co-conspirators,
Alenka Karner and Matevz Karner, were indicted in March 2010 on charges of
conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, and
conspiracy to import controlled substances to the United States. Based on
allegations in the unsealed indictment and in extradition paperwork submitted to
the Federal Republic of Austria in June 2011, beginning in about 2000, Karner
set up a network of hundreds of web sites and numerous corporate shells to
facilitate selling anabolic steroids to customers in any country. Karner
sourced precursor chemicals for his products from Southeast Asia, among other
places, after which the steroids were assembled and packaged in a factory in
Eastern Europe. As internet orders were received, Karner shipped the steroids
in bulk to “remailers” in the United Kingdom, Italy, Greece and elsewhere, who
repackaged the drugs as individual orders and mailed them out. Through this
method Karner was able to disguise the true geographical origins of the
drugs.
It is alleged that since
2000, through the use of a constantly shifting network of web sites, Karner
shipped tens of thousands of anabolic steroid dosages to thousands of customers
in the United States, including to customers in Massachusetts. Nationwide,
these customers came from all walks of life, including amateur athletes, weight
lifters, people recovering from injuries, doctors and
others.
Karner allegedly
laundered the proceeds of his steroid trafficking using bank accounts in
Austria, Bulgaria and elsewhere, and through the use of internet-based payment
processors in France, Iceland, Germany and Luxembourg. Karner and his
co-conspirators hid the true ownership of his web sites and accounts by setting
up corporate shells in Gibraltar, Panama, Liechtenstein, Dominica, Hong Kong,
the Seychelles, and elsewhere. Much of the activity was run out of a post
office box based in Klagenfurt, Austria, near the Slovenian border. According
to the indictment, Karner has received over $50,000,000 in illicit proceeds from
his trafficking activities. Karner has also used drug trafficking profits to
buy, among other things, a ski lodge in the Austrian Alps, beachfront lots in
Croatia, substantial real property in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and a yacht moored on
the Croatian coast.
Karner is presently a
fugitive. Based on a formal extradition request from the United States, in
December 2011 Karner was arrested at his ski lodge in Austria and detained by
Austrian authorities. In March 2012, U.S. Marshals were sent to Vienna,
Austria, to take custody of Karner and a co-conspirator with whom he had been
arrested, but at the last moment an Austrian court stayed extradition. After
being allowed to pay 1,250,000 Euros (about $1,630,000) in bail, Karner fled
across the border to Slovenia, where he now resides and continues to
operate.
Karner has been the
subject of prior European investigations, including efforts undertaken by the
Italian Carabinieri in 2003 and the Austrian State Police in
2005.
If convicted on the U.S.
charges, Karner faces up to 20 years in prison on the charge of conspiring to
launder money, to be followed by three years of supervised release and a fine of
$500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the offense. On the
charges of conspiracy to distribute and import controlled substances, Karner
faces up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a
fine of up to $500,000.
United States Attorney
Carmen M. Ortiz, Kevin Lane, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug
Enforcement Administration - Boston Field Office and John Gibbons, U.S. Marshal
for the District of Massachusetts made the announcement today. The case is
being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling of Ortiz’s
Economic Crimes Unit.
The details contained in
the indictment and extradition paperwork are allegations. The defendant is
presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of
law.
麻州大學波士頓分校中國項目中心和波士頓華埠的昆士小學、廣教學校、亞美社區發展協會等機構合作，6月1日推出首屆中國文化日，為廣大社區展示中國文化，導覽波士頓華埠歷史。
麻州大學波士頓分校深造及專業研究學院及中國項目中心舉辦的這中國文化日活動，在6月1日時，分昆士小學、廣教學校、亞美社區發展中心等三地同步進行。出席者領取有波士頓市長簽名的「護照」後，中午還憑證享十幾家中餐館的10%折扣。昆士小學校長何少華，廣教學校校長曾秀芬紛紛配合中國文化日，在各校安排活動。
昆士小學部份，分別在體育館、禮堂，兩個場地舉辦活動。禮堂部份，早上有胡萬里為開幕、閉幕致詞，北牛頓高中暨天使表演藝術會現代中國舞學生Sydni
Lockeby (Jiang Hong)為開幕做舞蹈表演後，麻州大學波士頓分校深造及專業研究學院副院長Dennis
Maxey擔任主持人，邀來麻大學術事務資深副校長的資深顧問Edmund
Beard，波士頓市新波士頓人辦公室主任陳清音，麻大波士頓分校管理學院市場行銷副教授劉瑞明，麻大註冊管理部及孔子學院的行政及財務主任Michael
Todorsky等人講談該校與中國有關的各種中文項目，以及移民經驗。講者名單上有波士頓華埠社區中心行政主任伍綺玲，但她並未出席。
下午有昆士小學交響樂團演奏，麻大波士頓分校亞美研究項目主任江念祖以「外賣、刪掉的：分享波士頓華埠的過去與未來(Take-Out Out-Takes: Sharing Boston Chinatown’s
Past and Future)」為主題，分享他的個人經驗。
江念祖說明他本人是混血兒，父親是華人，母親是愛爾蘭人。小時候，長相更有華人影子，在學校經常面對族裔歧視困擾，因這親身體驗，他深知移民在美國社會生存所面對的困難。對波士頓華埠有著極深感情的江念祖，為出席活動者介紹了華埠曾經歷排華法案，政府建公路拆屋等等衝擊，望合墳場葬有許多葉落未能歸根的落寞遊子等歷史，一度忍不住哽咽。他也介紹了社區內出現華美福利會、華人前進會等為移民服務機構，陸續建造大同村、華信屋、信義大廈等住宅。他指出，每個人，每一家，都有自己的故事。他鼓勵出席者回家後和父母深談，找出自己家的歷史。
廣教學校部份，有李平老師率揚琴班演奏，粵劇演唱、茉莉花舞蹈團演出中國民族舞蹈、音樂演奏、波士頓少林功夫中心林明輝率隊示範功夫等表演活動。廣教學校的各個正在上課的教室，供出席者實地參觀廣東話角落、中國民族樂器教學、普通話角落等教學活動，參觀學生展出的藝術作品，麻大中國項目中心的星談教學項目，穿越中國地理旅遊等。
