The bank, owned by a former trustee and donor to King Charles’ main charity, was closed and stormed by a police task force armed with machine guns who blew a hole in the front door of the head office.
In the raid that detonated in Riga, Latvia, special forces broke into the Baltic International Bank owned by businessman Valērijas Pelokoņis, a Latvian businessman with a criminal record for money laundering.
Last month, the Bank of Latvia acknowledged the suspension of financial services.
The Latvian regulator stated that the bank “suffers from serious internal management deficiencies, including the prevention of money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation (financing of nuclear and chemical weapons production)”.
Valerija Pelokoņa (right) had his bank raided by the Latvian police. He donated to the King Charles Prince Trust (left) and was a trustee of his main charity for more than three years and even set up joint ventures together.
Special forces raided the Baltic International Bank, which belongs to Valērijas Pelokoņas, a Latvian businessman with a money laundering conviction (pictured).
This dramatic development would be embarrassing for King Charles, as Bellocone made a donation to the Prince’s Trust, was a trustee of his main charity for more than three years and even had joint ventures.
Pelocon, a former co-owner of Blackpool Football Club, was a “long-time friend” of King Charles, according to an interview with VIP-Lounge magazine in 2017.
The article mentions that the Latvian banker was a trustee of the Prince’s built environment fund and was also “involved in the management of the prince’s properties for three years” (see the joint picture of Pelokonis and Charles)
In February 2010, Pelokons announced with great resonance in Latvia that he and King Charles would start a business together.
He said that his company Latvijas a/s Hercogiste, which is Latvian for the Duchy of Latvia – an obvious reference to the Duchy of Cornwall – has joined forces with the Prince’s Foundation to create a company called PF Urban Ltd to provide services in environmental construction and urban planning, which based on the principles of sustainable development.
The joint venture involved PF Urban Ltd, which handled projects led by the Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment, an arm of the Prince’s Foundation. Some of Prince’s staff even worked for PF Urban Ltd, led by Douglas Connell, then head of the Prince Foundation.
PF Urban Ltd was formerly known as Prince’s Foundation Enterprises Ltd and Belokon was a director from 20 September 2010 to 13 June 2013. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Prince’s Foundation for Building Community from 12 January 2010 to 4 June 2013. .
He listed his occupation as “Superintendent of the Prince’s Institution”.
Pelocon’s relationship with King Charles is controversial, as he was a director of those companies for two years after the criminal proceedings against him began. He was accused of a multi-million dollar money laundering scheme that led to the seizure of his Baltic International Bank by the Kyrgyz Republic in Central Asia.
Pelocon denied the charges, but the Paris Court of Appeal found him guilty of buying the bank “to develop money-laundering practices.”
The banker claimed the 20-year jail term and conviction were politically motivated based on “baseless allegations” and “fabricated evidence”. Pelokons did not end up in prison because he refused to attend court hearings.
Baltic International Bank, whose clients included Russian oligarch Boriss Berezovskis, is currently being investigated by the Financial and Capital Market Commission of Latvia, which has suspended operations to protect its clients and creditors.
The regulator stated that the bank “operates at a loss, is unable to recover profitability” and “the requirements of the law are not respected”.
The private bank admitted that it has suspended its services and that the decision will definitely “prevent the bank from running and protect the interests of the bank’s customers and creditors until other decisions are made.”
Baltic International Bank (pictured), whose clients included Russian oligarch Boriss Berezovskis, is currently being investigated by the Financial and Capital Market Commission of Latvia, which has suspended operations to protect its clients and creditors.
Valery Pelokon and his brother own 59 percent of Baltic International Bank and modeled their bank on Charles Hoare and Co, the UK’s oldest private bank founded in 1672.
But the Latvian version suffered from problems, and last March Pelokoņs agreed to sell the bank to Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, a prominent member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, for just $12 million. However, the Latvian authorities did not approve this transaction.
Pelokons told The Mail on Sunday: “The Baltic International Bank respects the FCMC’s decision, although, in our opinion, BIB’s financial indications did not justify the suspension of operations. We have always cooperated and will continue to do so. with all supervisory institutions. Breaking into a bank by force is considered unjustified.
The Belokonis controversy is another blow to King Charles’ reputation after the Mail on Sunday first revealed how another Latvian businessman with a criminal record, Dimitrijs Leos, had donated £500,000 to the Prince’s foundation in exchange for private access.
