“In all probability,” Veale said, “ransom payments are finding their way into financial systems outside Somalia.” Specifically, the money that insurers and shipowners paid, in cash, was being magicked into bank accounts in Dubai, moving from there into the global financial system and investments like real estate and restaurants, some of them a long way from the Horn of Africa. That flow of funds represented a vulnerability that Veale was proposing to exploit. “We’re not talking about trying to seize money from guys with guns,” he said. “We’re talking about frustrating their financial
...more
