RSS« Review of Amin Maalouf's "Origins..." & Hirsi Ali | Al Qaeda fil Maghreb Al Islami: The Franchising Concept Gains new ground.... »
July 12, 2008
Strange Contacts
Working out on emerging markets finance sometimes gets one the most peculiar contacts. This past Friday I received a most peculiar phone call from a young fellow national chick who apparently got it into her head to marry a Maghrebine fellow.
The scatterbrained young lady has run into an issue with getting her, their, money out as the fine Maghreb countries have capital controls, but they need some dinero at "home" to get .... well something related to the visa process or whatnot. And surprisingly her husband was shocked, shocked, that he could not wire his capital as foreseen. Why the Exchange Controls Bureau was just so bloody unreasonable.
Being a kind sort of person, I patiently explained to the young idiot that (i) I am not in retail banking, (ii) her problem was not with Exchange Controls Bureau or Western Union or a particular bank, but with exchange controls that are well known and in place since decades, (iii) that if she wished to be involved in visa scams that was none of my concern, but she would be well-advised to do better due diligence in the future.
Oddly the last part she considered most unhelpful.
How she got my direct line actually puzzled me more.
But then otherwise literate professionals in my building are always asking me for some odd assistance with visas to various Anglo Saxon countries, in some strange belief that just because I get invited to various diplo events, that I have some influence over the AngloSaxon community visa officers.
Posted by The Lounsbury at July 12, 2008 10:54 PM
Filed Under:
Perso-Expatedness
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.aqoul.com/movabletype/mt-tb.cgi/3676
Comments
And surprisingly her husband was shocked, shocked, that he could not wire his capital as foreseen.
I'm not sure I understand this one. The hubby-to-be is Maghrebi and he didn't know about forex control??
Posted by: Shaheen ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://lounsbury.aqoul.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at July 12, 2008 11:39 PM
That was sarcasm. Yes, he claimed to her that he was shocked and upset. Stupid little git clearly believed him.
Posted by: The Lounsbury at July 12, 2008 11:46 PM
Ah, the beauty of love hormones, acting as blind inducing drugs.
Posted by: Shaheen at July 13, 2008 12:17 AM
Well, that and plain stupidity. Thus my advice about better due diligence. Trust, but verify.
Posted by: The Lounsbury at July 13, 2008 01:46 PM
