A young Chinese couple have been sent to jail in Monaco for attempting to steal a dozen bottles of Chanel perfume in a shop in Monte-Carlo.
The man and woman made a first visit to the Paris 8 boutique on avenue Princess Alice on November 29, where their behaviour aroused suspicion. Only after they had left was it discovered that four bottles of the fragrance had also left the building.
When the two came back for a second visit on December 21, the police were alerted and eight bottles of the same brand of perfume were found in their bags as soon as they were stopped after leaving the store. A metal box the couple were carrying had been used to disarm the theft detectors, Monaco’s Criminal Court was told.
The court accepted that the theft was not a one-off misdemeanour, but part of a pattern of crime. The young woman had previously appeared in court in France for theft and her name is registered with Sirasco, a crime agency charged with investigating and recording organised crime.
The tribunal agreed with the prosecution, and sentenced the two defendants to 45 days in jail and ordered them to pay €448.50 in damages.
Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism agency, Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), has named Monaco as one of the destinations for money transfers that have grown very substantially in volume in recent years. The other two are also both in Europe: Luxembourg and Estonia.
AUSTRAC said that transfers to Monaco had grown at the fastest pace, although from a small amount in 2010, when just 3,347 Australian dollars were sent from Australia to the Principality. The figure had jumped to AUD $1.6 million in 2016, still a very small amount in comparison to other countries.
Of the three small states, it was Estonia that seems to have attracted most of the agency’s attention, with the figure of $77,500 in 2010 growing to $8.9 million this year.
A former AUSTRAC intelligence official who now works in the private sector, Todd Harland, said: “The purpose of financial intelligence is to provide triggers. If anything, that [increase] is a trigger for a question.”
However, in terms of overall international money transfers originating in Australia, all three European destinations are dwarfed by China, which received $1.3 billion in transfer requests this year. Mysteriously, the US, identified by many observers as a growing magnet for “offshore” funds, attracted just $400 million in 2016, compared to $1.3 billion in 2010.
The minimum wage – otherwise known as SMIC – will rise in France from January 1, 2017, but by a very small amount, from €9.67 to €9.76 an hour. This translates into a monthly take-home salary of €1,153, after tax, an increase of just over €11.
Also in the New Year, patients visiting a French doctor will no longer have to pay the standard fee of €23 upfront, and then wait for reimbursement, although this change will be staggered during 2017 and applies only to pregnant women and sufferers from long-term illnesses from January 1.
Amongst many other small changes and adjustments, holders of a bank account and a debit card will pay higher fees, possibly by as much as 13 percent on average.
As fewer people use traditional postal services in the age of the internet, higher charges will also begin in January in France. The cost of sending a priority letter will rise by 6.3 percent.
The number of migrants applying for refugee status in France climbed to 90,000 in 2016, the French national press reports. Most of those seeking official status will remain on French territory.
Although the Dublin Accord calls for refugees to apply for asylum in the first country of arrival in Europe, almost certainly either Greece or Italy, in practice fewer than nine out of ten refugees who present themselves for legalisation will stay in France.
While France is not necessarily the eventual destination of choice for asylum seekers in the European Union, with the UK, Scandinavia and Germany the favourites, legalisation in France enables refugees to travel on to other countries with a degree of legal recognition.
Unemployment has fallen again in France, for the third month in a row, but not in the Alpes-Maritimes. In the Var, the jobless rate increased slightly in November.
In France as a whole, the quarter comprising September, October and November, saw a drop in the number of unemployed of 110,000, the biggest quarterly drop since 2001, representing an improvement in the French economy that has arrived too late to revive the electoral fortunes of the outgoing socialist government of Francois Hollande.
Overall, the French economy has grown by 1.2 percent in 2016. The poor jobs figures for the local region have been laid at the door of July’s terror attack in Nice that cost 86 lives.
A wholly-owned subsidiary of GasLog has entered into a sale and purchase agreement to acquire a twenty percent shareholding in Gastrade S.A., which is licensed to develop an independent natural gas system offshore Alexandroupolis, in Northern Greece, utilising a floating storage and regasification unit along with other fixed infrastructure.
Gastrade is a private limited company, incorporated in Greece, and wholly owned by Asimina-Eleni Copelouzou, that has been involved in the development of this FSRU project over a number of years. GasLog, as well as being a shareholder, will provide operations and maintenance services for the FSRU through an operating and maintenance agreement.
Gastrade is currently in discussions with a number of additional potential investors, including DEPA, the Greek state-owned gas company, and Bulgarian Energy Holding, the holding company of the Bulgarian Ministry of Energy, and major gas suppliers. Other large-scale international companies have expressed an intention to participate in the ownership and development of the terminal. A number of companies have also communicated an interest in supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the project.
This FSRU project would provide a new route and a vital source of gas diversification to a number of European countries that are currently highly dependent on pipeline gas in South East and Central Europe. As well as enhancing security of supply in the region, it will promote competition and pricing flexibility.
The project has the backing of the Greek and the Bulgarian governments, as well as the support of the EU. It has been assigned the status of an EU Project of Common Interest, that is further designated as a priority EU energy infrastructure project. The front-end engineering and design study is expected to be partly-funded by a grant from the EU, and is due to start in early 2017.
Gastrade targets to take final investment decision by the end of 2017 with the FSRU scheduled to be operational by end of 2019.
Paul Wogan, Chief Executive Officer of GasLog Ltd., said: “I am delighted that GasLog has been invited to join Gastrade. This is a strategically important energy import project for the region. The FSRU will be used as a gateway for LNG imports into Southern Europe, where there is a growing demand and a need to diversify existing gas supply.”
Konstantinos Spyropoulos, Chairman and Managing Director of Gastrade, also added, “We are very pleased to have GasLog involved in the project. Their long, successful track record in the maritime and in particular in the LNG sector, coupled with their leading innovation initiatives, make them an excellent partner to take the project forward. We look forward to working with GasLog to bring this project to commercial operation.”
GasLog is an international owner, operator and manager of LNG carriers. GasLog’s fully-owned fleet includes 18 LNG carriers, including 13 ships in operation and five LNG carriers on order, and has four LNG carriers operating under its technical management for third parties. GasLog Partners LP, a master limited partnership formed by GasLog, owns a further nine LNG carriers. GasLog’s principal executive offices are at Gildo Pastor Center in Monaco.
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A young Chinese couple have been sent to jail in Monaco for attempting to steal a dozen bottles of Chanel perfume in a shop in Monte-Carlo.
