Briefs

Texas Doctor Pleads Guilty in Attempted Smuggling of South African Man
Canada - A Cadillac that stopped at Chief Mountain last summer carried a South African man and a Texas physician who tried to smuggle him into the United States.

Dr Lew Begley said he provided medical care for the man, described in a defence document as infected with HIV.

Begley told a border officer that both were US citizens. Under questioning, the South African acknowledged that was untrue, said he carried a bogus birth certificate to suggest US citizenship and told officials he had lived in the United States illegally for about 12 years.

At sentencing, Begley agreed to pay US$10,000 rather than forfeit his 1999 Cadillac DeVille. (Source: www.canada.com)

China Cracks Down on Online 'Virtual Money'
China - Regulators have ordered Chinese websites to limit the use of 'virtual money' after concerns that online credits might be used for money laundering or illicit trade. The most popular Chinese online credits are 'QQ coins' issued by the website Tencent.com, which has 220 million registered users.

Financial experts said the growing popularity of 'QQ coins' could complicate the government's ability to control the flow of money, and the central bank has issued a warning about the use of virtual money. ?China has the world's second-largest population of Internet users after the United States, with 137 million people online, according to the government. (Source: www.lawinfo?china.com)

China Set to Loosen Exchange Rate of Yuan
Beijing - The People's Bank of China said that it would gradually increase the flexibility in the exchange rate of the yuan, the national currency.

China has come under increasing pressure, particularly from the United States, to loosen artificial controls on the yuan and permit it to rise in value. The current rate is about 7.74 yuan to the dollar.

Many economists say a stronger yuan would ease the yawning American trade deficit with China by making Chinese exports to the United States more expensive and American exports to China cheaper. (Source: www.nytimes.com)

Clamp Down Launched to Foil Cross-border Fraudsters
Europe - The European Commission has launched an EU-wide crackdown on cross-border scams such as phoney lotteries and bogus holiday clubs and on companies abusing consumer protection rules.

The new Bulgarian Consumer Affairs Commissioner, Meglena Kuneva said, 'Con artists are using mass emails or false promises of big earnings to trap vulnerable people. The fraudsters are clever, taking advantage of different legal systems across the EU to target their victims. Their crafty schemes, such as personalising letters and making them look professional, are costing EU consumers billions of euros and, in the UK alone, more than 3 million adults fall victim to scams each year, costing each one on average £1,000 ( 1,500).'

National authorities have been given cross-border powers, under the enforcement co-operation regulation, to combat criminals who operate in different countries from their victims, via onsite inspections, fines, court action and asset freezing.

The fraudulent schemes include bogus holiday clubs, international prize draws, lottery and sweepstake frauds, so-called clairvoyant mailings, miracle health and slimming cures, loans and investment schemes as well as foreign money offers, often from Africa. Almost a third of victims fall for subsequent scams because they are placed on a 'suckers list'. (Source: www.euroactiv.com)

Couples Divorce, Remarry to Avoid Taxes
Korea - These days people are willing to do anything to avoid paying taxes, even using the institution of marriage to do so.

Under current tax law, when a couple, each owning a house, gets married, they are not viewed as multiple homeowners and thus not subject to a 50 per cent capital gains taxes rule for two years from the date of marriage.

To take advantage of the loophole in the taxation system, some couples divorce and marry again before selling a unit to avoid paying 50 per cent capital gains taxes, according to the National Tax Service ('NTS').

An NTS official said, 'If anyone is found to have intentionally divorced and married again to evade capital gains taxes, the agency will impose up to 40 per cent penalty and the NTS will refer the case to the prosecution.' (Source: http://times.hankooki.com)