On Wednesday October 17th, upon an application by the Attorney General of The Commonwealth of the Bahamas, The Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas ordered the freeze of two bank accounts in a financial institution in said jurisdiction.

The order prohibits Mr Lazaro Baez, Martin Antonio Baez, Leandro Antonio Baez, Luciana Sabrina Baez, Melina Soledad Baez, Fondation Kinsky, Kinsky S.A., and/or Eastern Shoreline Limited from disposing of or otherwise dealing with the funds held in said bank accounts, and any funds of interest accruing on all accounts in the name of, or for the benefit of, the above mentioned persons, as well as all the income or interest granted up to the date of the order, whether capitalized, due and to fall due at the financial institution.

The order responds to a mutual legal assistance request from the Federal Justice of the Republic of Argentina (Federal Criminal Oral Court N°. 4 of the City of Buenos Aires), where Mr. Baez and his relatives are being held on trial for money laundering derived from corruption. The request was dully processed and channelled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Argentina.

Pursuant to the latest financial intelligence gathered in the case, the accounts held together more than three million (3,000,000) Euros.

In addition to the prompt responses by the Attorney General and the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, to the mutual legal assistance request issued by the Federal Justice of Argentina and processed and channelled by the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is worth highlighting the effectiveness of the international cooperation among the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Bahamas and the Financial Intelligence Unit of Argentina, which through their corresponding exchanges helped detect and protect the funds while the mutual legal assistance request was dully implemented.

The case demonstrates an excellent example of international legal cooperation between the Republic of Argentina and The Commonwealth of the Bahamas as well as their commitment to effectively tackle transnational money laundering and corruption, in line with international conventions and standards.