BUHARI SET TO CRASH THE DOLLAR

Nigeria To Become Clearinghouse For Yuan Denominated 

Transactions For The Whole Of Africa Following Agreement

SAN FRANCISCO, April 12, (THEWILL) – President Muhammadu Buhari and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele moved closer to actualizing their promise to strengthen the naira against the United States dollars by signing a landmark currency deal with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd on Tuesday in Beijing, China.

The agreement will allow Nigerian traders and businesses, which imports mainly from China conclude their transactions in the Chinese currency, the Renminbi (Yuan), instead of the dollar.

THEWILL further gathered that the new agreement would see Nigeria-China trades, which accounts for over 70 percent of imports into Nigeria, concluded in the Yuan.

Until now over 90 percent of international trades between Nigeria and the world is done in dollars, and in the process putting so much pressure on the naira. Nigeria imports almost all it needs from the West, Middle East and Asia.

The CBN is expected to diversify a huge chunk of Nigeria’s foreign reserve from the dollars to the Yuan to perfect the agreement.

“It means that the renminbi (Yuan) is free to flow among different banks in Nigeria, and the renminbi has been included in the foreign exchange reserves of Nigeria,” Lin Songtian, director general of the African affairs department of China’s foreign ministry, told reporters in Beijing a few minutes after the agreement was signed between the Governors of the nations’ reserve banks in the presence of President Buhari and President Xi Jingping of China, who is hosting Buhari and top Nigerian officials to a state visit.

Lin said a framework on currency swaps has been agreed with Nigeria, making it easier to settle trade deals in Yuan. China has signed currency swap deals with countries ranging from Kazakhstan to Argentina as it promotes wider use of its Yuan.

THEWILL exclusively gathered that Nigeria would become the clearinghouse for Yuan denominated transactions for the whole of Africa following the agreement.

Beijing also signed agreements to develop infrastructure in Nigeria, part of a drive to deepen its ties with Africa. It has offered Nigeria a loan worth $6 billion to fund infrastructure projects.

Also, ICBC signed a $2 billion loan deal with Dangote group, the company owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, to fund two cement plants it plans to build, Lin told Reuters.

China’s official Xinhua news agency cited President Xi as telling Buhari that there was huge potential for economic cooperation, naming oil refining and mining.

Nigeria is also considering issuing Panda bonds (mainly Yuan denominated) as against euro bonds because they are cheaper.

Southeast Economic Integration under focus at Oganiru

The development of an Economic Agenda, which would promote the integration and shared prosperity of Nigeria’s southeast region, is one of the focal areas of the Oganiru Enugu State Investment Summit scheduled to hold from April 12 – 14, 2016 at the Michael Okpara Square, Independence Layout, Enugu.

 

According to Ike Chioke, Director-General of Oganiru, “Statistics show that close to 30% of world trade is undertaken through cross border value chains. Regional integration initiatives expand the market for goods and services, allowing companies, factories and industries to produce on a larger scale and sell to a bigger market.”

 

“Based on this fact, the Summit will host a session on southeast economic integration, the objective of which is to highlight region-wide finance and investment opportunities in Nigeria’s southeast across key economic sectors including power, solid minerals and transportation.”

 

Chioke also disclosed that all the Southeastern Governors have been invited and will be represented at the session holding on Thursday, April 14, 2016. 

“Naturally, all the Governors from the 5 southeastern states are co-hosts, and have already confirmed their participation. Speakers and panelists will include Professor Barth Nnaji of Geometric Powers, Dr. Alex Otti, former GMD, Diamond Bank Plc, Dr. Leo Stan Ekeh of Zinox Technologies, Dr. Innocent Chukwuma of Innoson Motors, Chief Sam Onyishi of Peace Mass Transit and Mr. Allen Onyema of Air Peace Limited,” he said.

 

The three-day summit with the theme “Beyond Oil: Fostering Inclusive Economic Growth & Sustainable Development” will bring together local and international business leaders and investors, bankers, financiers, the diplomatic community and the academia to explore Enugu’s rich potential – and the entire South-East - in a wide range of industries including agriculture, solid minerals and mining, power generation and distribution, infrastructure and real estate development, tourism and hospitality, education, ICT, media and entertainment.

The Enugu State Investment Summit (Oganiru) is a platform through which the government of Enugu State seeks to collaborate with the private sector to promote enterprise and improve economic productivity.

It is an initiative of the Enugu State Economic Advisory Committee, which was set up by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in June 2015 to advise and guide the state on the best economic policies that would help to engender sustainable economic growth.

 

PANAMA DOCUMENTS: The Saraki Connection, Toyin only a pawn

Toyin, the wife of the President of the Nigerian Senate, is a mere business front for her husband, fresh documents retrieved by PREMIUM TIMES from the massive Mossack Fonseca database have shown.

According to the new documents, the assets in Toyin’s name in tax havens are actually held in trust for Bukola Saraki, Nigeria’s third most powerful official.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported on Monday that Mr. Saraki failed to disclose four assets found to be in his wife’s name offshore, in violation of Nigeria’s code of conduct law.

That revelation came to light following the leak of a trove of internal data from the Panama-based offshore-provider, Mossack Fonseca, obtained by the German newspaper, Süddeutsche Zeitung, and shared by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) with PREMIUM TIMES and over 100 other media partners in 82 countries.

In his response to that publication, Mr. Saraki said the controversial assets belonged to the estate of his wife’s rich and famous family, and that the law did not mandate him to declare such a category of assets.

But PREMIUM TIMES has now found that the assets neither belong to Toyin nor to her family’s estate. They are clearly Mr. Saraki’s.

Sandon Development Limited and Number 8 Whittaker Street

One of the companies in Mrs Saraki’s name in Seychelles Island is Sandon Development Limited, a vehicle used in acquiring a property on 8 Whittaker Street, Belgravia, London, in 2012.  Another shareholder listed for that company is Babatunde Morakinyo, a long-term personal aide and friend of Mr. Saraki.

Foramfera

However fresh evidence has shown that Mrs. Saraki and Mr. Morakinyo were mere fronts, nominee directors holding assets in trust for the Senate president.

According to one of the documents in our possession, in April 2012, while still Kwara governor, Mr. Saraki, describing himself as landlord of 8 Whittaker Street, London and 70 Bourne Street, London, executed a deed granting his tenants licence to alter the premises of the properties.

Part three of the deed read, “This license is supplemental. The reversion immediately expectant on the determination of the lease is now vested in the landlord.

“The unexpired residue of the No. 70 (Bourne Street) lease is still vested in Dr. Saraki and the unexpired residue of the number 8 (Whittaker Street) lease is now vested in the companies.”

The deed was “signed, sealed and delivered” by Mr. Saraki on behalf of himself, Sandon Development Limited and Renocon Property Development Limited.

Recall that it was from Renocon that Mrs Saraki, posing as owner of Sandon, purportedly bought Number 8 Whittaker Street in July 2011.

But it is now clear that both companies actually belong to Mr. Saraki, and that he only used a company owned by him to buy a property from another of his companies.

His wife, Toyin, fronted for him in the purported transaction, and it is not clear why the Senate president acted that way.

Girol Properties Ltd and Toyin the nominee director

Girol Properties Ltd, was registered on August 25, 2004 (a year after Mrs. Saraki’s husband became governor of Nigeria’s north-central state of Kwara) in the British Virgin Island (BVI).

Company documents show that Mrs. Saraki owns 25,000 numbers of shares with a par value of US$ 1,00 each, and was appointed the first and only director of the company.

Mrs Saraki however, in a letter to ICIJ, through her lawyers, denies ever owning any shareholding in Girol Properties.

But we have now retrieved a document linking her firmly to the firm, as well as another handwritten document suggesting that Mrs Saraki was known within Mossack Fonseca as just a nominee director and not the beneficial owner of the company.

Landfield International Developments Ltd., a company registered in the British Virgin Islands on April 8, 2014, had Mrs. Saraki as sole shareholder.

But it is now clear she was a mere front, as Mr. Saraki has since discreetly taken over the company using Longmeadow Holdings Limited, another shell company registered in Jersey.

To effect the take-over, a board meeting of Landfield purportedly held on January 28, 2015, where it was agreed that the company be sold to Mr. Saraki for over three million pounds.

The minute of that meeting, retrieved from the company’s file, as contained in the Mossack Fonseca database, reads in part,

“3. BUSINESS OF THE MEETING 3.1

“lt was noted that there had been ongoing negotiations and discussions between Dr Bukola Saraki, Oluwatoyin Saraki and Longmeadow Holdings Limited, a company registered in Jersey (the ‘Buyer‘) in relation to:

“3.1.1 The transfer of the entire issued shares of the Company from Oluwatoyin Saraki to the Buyer for the purchase price of £3,000,000 (three million pounds sterling) (‘Transfer’);

“3.2 4.1 5.1 3.1.2 an intercompany loan in favour of the Company from the Buyer of £3,050,000 (three million and fifty thousand pounds starting) (the ‘lntercompany Loan’); and

“3.1.3 the transfer of 7 Whittaker Street, London SW1W 810. (the Property) Into the name of the Company pursuant to a sale agreement between Alain Charbit (1) and Speed 7674 Limited (2) and Dr Bukola Saraki (3).

Accordingiy, the Chairman noted that the meeting had been convened to consider and, if thought fit, approve: 1.1.1 the Transfer; 1.1.2 the registration of the transfer pursuant to the Transfer; 1.1.3 the intercompany loan; and 1.1.4 the transfer of the Property into the name of the Company.

“DOCUMENTS PRODUCED TO THE MEETING

“There were produced to the meeting the following documents: 1.1.5 the sale agreement for the Property; 1.1.6 the share purchase agreement for the Transfer (the ‘SPA’); 1.1.7 the share certificate ¡n favour of the Buyer; 1.1.8 the executed stock transfer form in respect of the transfer pursuant to the Transfer; 1.1.9 the lntercompany Loan agreement; and 1.1.10 the agreement for the transfer of the Property into the name of the Company.

“CONSIDERATION OF DOCUMENTS

It was noted that the stock transfer form in respect of the Transfer had been executed and was in a form acceptabie to the Company. 1476133W18Q-3

RESOLUTIONS 6.1 After due and careful consideration IT WAS RESOLVED:

“7. FILING) That the registration of the Transfer be approved; that the Intercompany Loan be approved; that the transfer of the Property into the name of the Company be approved; and to do all such acts and things and agree and execute on behalf of the Company all such documents to which the Company is a party and all other documents as may be required in connection with the business of the meeting and generally to sign all such certificates and notices and other documents as may be necessary or desirable in connection with the business of the meeting, subject to such amendments as those executing the same on behalf of the Company consider fit.

“7.1 lT WAS FURTHER RESOLVED to authorise any one or more of the directors of the Company to cancel the share certificate in the name of Oiuwatoyin Saraki and to execute a share certificate in the name of the Buyer; to register the Transfer in the register of members and register of transfers of the Company and make all other necessary and appropriate entries in the books and registers of the Company; “1.1.19 to arrange for the necessary filings to be made at the Registry of Corporate Affairs.”

That same day, Mrs. Saraki wrote to Mossack Fonseca informing it that she was transferring the beneficial ownership of Landfield to Mr. Saraki and his company.

She wrote:

“Dear Sirs

“Landfield International Developments Limited (the “Company”)

We refer to the Company, for which you provide registered agent services and with respect to which I, Oluwatoyin Saraki, am your client of record.

Change, of Client of Record 2. Please be advised that as of today’s date the entire legal and beneficial ownership of the Company held by me has been transferred to Longmeadow Holdings Limited (“Longmeadow”).

I therefore instruct you that with immediate effect, I should cease to be regarded as your client of record and that, going forward, your client of record will be Longmeadow. Accordingly, henceforth you should take instructions from Longmeadow relation to the Company.”

By that letter, Mr. Saraki assumed full control of the company through Longmeadow.

A fresh trouble for the Senator

This fresh revelation that Mr. Saraki actually owns the assets hidden in his wife’s name may complicate issues for the politician who is being tried by the Code of Conduct Tribunal for allegedly failing to declare his assets in full.

While not all owners or operators of such offshore entities are criminals, owning or maintaining interest in private companies while serving as a public official is against Nigerian laws.

Section 6(b) of the Code of Conduct Act says a public office holder shall not, “except where he is not employed on full‐time basis, engage or participate in the management or running of any private business, profession or trade”.

The Code of Conduct Bureau had on September 16, 2015 slammed charges on Mr. Saraki, accusing him of offences ranging from anticipatory declaration of assets, to making false declaration of assets in forms he filed before the Bureau while he was governor of Kwara state.

The Senate President was also accused of failing to declare some of his assets, acquiring assets beyond his legitimate earnings, and operating foreign accounts while being a public officer – governor and senator.

The offences, the charge said, violated sections of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended.

Mr. Saraki is also said to have breached Section 2 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act and punishable under paragraph 9 of the said Fifth Schedule of the Constitution.

The Senate President has denied wrongdoings, saying the case was politically motivated and that he was merely being persecuted for emerging the President of the Nigerian Senate against the wishes of his political party, the ruling All Progressives Congress, which preferred a different candidate.

The African Network of African Reporting Centres (ANCIR) contributed reporting for this story.

 

 

" I WILL NOT RESIGN", says Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki who is facing corruption charges before the Code of Conduct Tribunal and other allegations outside the court bordering on tax evasion, has said he will not step down from office.

Mr Saraki was arraigned by the Code of Conduct Tribunal and was also expose about his secret offshore assets in tax havens. 

Several anti-corruption groups have called for Mr Saraki’s resignation asking to leave the office before he is disgraced. 

The embattled politician said those calling for his resignation were being sponsored by politicians who had always opposed his leadership since he emerged Senate President last June “There’s a case in the Tribunal and a resultant appeal at the Court of Appeal. The underlining philosophy of our legal system is that an accused person is presumed innocent until found guilty". 

“Those who are contemplating calls for resignation want to circumvent the judicial system. 

They are obviously being sponsored by some politicians. The Senate President is not contemplating any resignation. He will surely have his day in court,” Saraki’s special adviser on media, Yusuph Olaniyonu said in a text message sent to Premium Times. 

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is set to swing into action and arrest Nigerians named in the Panama Paper leaks with secret offshore companies. 

So far, Nigerians named in the leak are embattled senate president, Bukola Saraki, Former Senate President David Mark, Saraki’s wife, Toyin, former Delta State Governor James Ibori, Mr. Laolu Saraki, Mr. Obi Asika, Olufela Ibidapo and former Defence Minister Gen. Yakubu Danjuma.

Regional Operations: FAAN has exposed its hypocrisy, says Bi-Courtney

Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), operator of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Two (MMA2), Lagos, has drawn the attention of the public and the relevant government agencies, particularly the Ministry of Aviation and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), to the open admission by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) that it was responsible for the wing tip brush incident involving two First Nation Airline’s planes at MMA2’s apron, last year.

A statement by Bi-Courtney, on Thursday, observed that during the incident, the wing tip of an arriving First Nation aircraft clipped the wing tip of another aircraft on the ground, while it was being marshalled to the parking area by a marshaller of FAAN deployed in MMA2. The firm noted that marshalling duties are handled by FAAN in all Nigerian airports.

It further stated that investigation had revealed conclusively that the incident was due to marshalling error by FAAN’s staff on duty, and not because of inadequate space on the apron of MMA2 to park the affected aircraft as touted by FAAN.

According to Bi-Courtney, it was shocking to read recent media reports that FAAN had written a letter to the Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, to oppose the commencement of regional operations at MMA2, on the ground that the size of the apron was inadequate for parking aircrafts and had cited that particular incident as the only justification for this “false and misleading allegation”.

Bi-Courtney said it was, however, delighted to read further media reports that quoted FAAN’s General Manager, Corporate Communications, Yakubu Dati, admitting that the agency is singularly responsible for managing all aprons and runways and also provides marshalling services in all the terminals. He also said “it is FAAN marshallers that also work to help pilots at the tarmac in all the terminals”.

The statement was contained in a report in the Leadership Newspapers of April 6, 2016, entitled, FAAN Confirms Talks With Medview Over Relocation To GAT, in which Dati was quoted as follows: “We are aware that Medview Airline is considering coming to GAT (the General Aviation Terminal) and we have had talks about it, but that is the only airline having such a plan. We have enough space to welcome any airline and you know that we manage runway and the aprons as it were. It is FAAN marshallers that also work to help pilots at the tarmac in all the terminals”.

Bi-Courtney said the statement credited to Dati had clearly exposed the hypocrisy in FAAN’s opposition to the commencement of regional operations at MMA2, while also questioning the agency’s motivation for going as far as concocting outright falsehood in a bid to mislead the honourable minister and the public.

The company further stated: “According to media reports, another excuse given by FAAN for opposing regional operations at MMA2 was that it does not have the personnel to deploy in MMA2 for the regional flights. It claimed its AVSEC and ARFFS staff are overstretched due to retired and retiring personnel. This is the same FAAN that signed a valid agreement with us for the regional operations as far back as May, last year, after exhaustive negotiations with us. It is instructive to point out the fact that the current Managing Director of FAAN was part of the negotiating team and also that as far back as May 2015, the immediate past Minster of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka, had given FAAN the go ahead to hire AVSEC and ARFFS staff.”

“And it was on the strength of this agreement that we proceeded to make huge investments in the preparation for the operation. We, therefore, affirm that a statutory body like FAAN that executes an agreement and then turns round to state that it has no personnel to carry out its contractual and statutory obligations under the agreement cannot be regarded as acting in the public interest. This reason, as proffered by FAAN, is totally unacceptable,” the statement added.

How ISIS Fund its reign of Terror

We know -- in surprising detail -- how ISIS pays for its reign of terror.

ISIS buys bombs and pays fighters with the billions of dollars it makes from the oil fields, mineral mines, and banks under its control. ISIS also imposes taxes on the people living inside its territory in Iraq and Syria. 

ISIS raked in $2 billion in 2014 alone. 

CNNMoney has interviewed military scholars and financial investigators, and it has reviewed dozens of reports from ISIS, the U.S. Treasury, Defense Department, United Nations, British government, and several terrorism research institutes. 

Together, they show why ISIS is so powerful. It ditched Al-Qaeda's old model of relying on rich donors in the Arabian Gulf. Instead, the Islamic State is a self-funded powerhouse. 

ISIS subsidizes bread for the public, experts say. Soldiers earn $400 to $1,200 a month, plus a $50 stipend for their wives and $25 for each child, according to the Congressional Research Service. Highly skilled engineers and technicians can make upwards of $1,500 a month, according to an investigative team of UN researchers. 

"The Islamic State is certainly the best financially endowed terrorist organization in history. That is particularly due to its ability to govern ungoverned spaces," said Andreas Krieg, a military scholar at King's College London in Qatar. 

Here's how ISIS pays for it all.

axes: $360 million-plus a year

A huge amount of the money comes from the 8 million civilians who live and work in territory taken over by ISIS soldiers. Everything in the Islamic State is taxed. According to the Geneva Centre for Security Policy: 

* Income tax: 10%

* Business tax: 10%-15%

* Sales tax: 2%

* All bank cash withdrawals: 5%

* Pharmaceutical drugs: 10%-35%

ISIS says all taxes are zakat, Islamic religious alms similar to a Christian tithe. 

But ISIS also extorts its residents at every corner. Schoolchildren must pay monthly fees: $22 for elementary students, $43 for older kids and $65 for university students, according to congressional researchers. These are fees residents didn't have to pay before. 

It costs anywhere from $200 to $1,000 to bribe ISIS guards when traveling on Iraqi roads into their territory, according to congressional researchers. 

There's even a special tax on Christians, mafia-like "protection insurance" called jizyah. The Islamic State's official magazine proudly speaks of "imposing jizyah." 

ISIS has also figured out how to apply special taxes to siphon money away from the legitimate Iraqi government, according to the Financial Action Task Force, which tracks terrorist financing. There are Iraqi government employees living in the northern part of the country that ISIS has taken over. ISIS lets these workers go to the nearby city of Tikrit to pick up their salaries. But they pay a 50% income tax on the way back into ISIS territory. 

And if you try to leave ISIS land, say, to visit family? The Islamic State demands a $1,000 departure tax and temporarily claims all of your property -- just in case you plan to plan to leave permanently, according to the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. 

Altogether, these taxes and fees brought in $360 million in 2014, according to a study by terrorism experts Jean-Charles Brisard and Damien Martinez. They estimate it could be even higher in 2015 - as much as $800 million. 

ISIS can also squeeze money out of the many businesses operating in that region. ISIS controls one-third of Iraq's wheat and barley, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. It frequently steals agricultural machines and rents them back to farmers. 

The terrorists also took over a huge phosphate mine, phosphate and sulfur plants, and cement-making facilities. Together, they can produce upwards of $1.3 billion a year, according to Brisard and Martinez. ISIS can claim some or all of that, potentially doubling or tripling its tax and extortion revenue. 

"ISIS's most valuable asset and center of gravity is the terrain it holds in Iraq and Syria. Taking that territory away... is the most vital thing we can do," said Harleen Gambhir, a military scholar at the Institute for the Study of War. 

Oil: $500 million a year

ISIS has hijacked oil wells and refineries. But it doesn't have the expertise or equipment to properly manage it at full capacity. 

Numbers are all over the place. But the best estimates say ISIS in 2014 was producing close to 50,000 barrels per day, less than half the region's potential. And it was still raking in up to $1.6 million daily, according to the UN. 

International sanctions prevented ISIS from selling this oil legally, so it has resorted to unregulated underground markets. But that's not hard. ISIS tapped into long-established smuggling routes that were set up back in the 1990s. Back then, Saddam Hussein used them to circumvent United Nations sanctions. 

ISIS draws crude oil from captured wells. It sells that to middlemen at a quarter of the market price. When oil was at $80 a barrel last year, ISIS was selling it at $20 a barrel, according to the Financial Action Task Force. 

ISIS is selling oil to its enemies. Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad needs oil to keep lights on his part of the country. U.S.-backed Syrian rebels need diesel to keep engines running. 

ISIS doesn't mind literally fueling its enemies for now, because its goal is to keep funding the expansion of the Islamic State -- in any direction -- said Christina Schori Liang, senior fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. 

"They have to keep the war economy going, because they don't have legitimate economies," she said. "The problem with war is everything is very blurry. They fight in the day and make deals at night." 

Last week, Russia publicly accused the Turkish government of tacitly allowing an illegal oil trade that brings $1.5 million of oil into Turkey every day. Turkey's president denied those claims. 

While oil is still an important source of ISIS income, it's no longer number one, according to the U.S. Defense Department. The U.S.-led coalition airstrikes that started in September 2014 have severely crippled the ability for ISIS to transport and refine oil. 8,573 strikes have hit 260 "oil infrastructure" targets, as well as thousands of fighters, buildings and equipment, according to the Defense Department. In October, they helped the Iraqi army take back the huge Bayji refinery from ISIS. 

Without massive refinery facilities, ISIS has resorted to using small, mobile refineries that can produce up to 500 barrels per day. But the coalition is bombing those too. In the 45 days leading up to Oct. 21, remotely-piloted drones, U.S. bombers and Saudi jets hit 30 of them. 

Now, ISIS can only produce and smuggle a fraction of what it used to. Rock-bottom oil prices limit that revenue even further.

Bank looting: $500 million to $1 billion

When ISIS gains new territory, it claims control of banks. In 2014, the Islamic State stole up to $1 billion from banks this way, according to the U.S. Treasury. "Importantly, though, this source of revenue is not renewable," a Treasury representative said. 

But that one-time injection of money made ISIS the wealthiest terrorist organization on the planet. 

ISIS treats private banks and state banks differently. It's trying to build a functioning country, so it needs to maintain some sense of normalcy for the people stuck there. For example, ISIS doesn't touch the money in private banks -- it would rather tax that cash as people withdraw it. 

But Iraq's central bank branches get looted. When ISIS overran the Iraqi city of Mosul last year, it seized an estimated $450 million in cash and gold from the central bank branch there. 

ISIS now claims it's using gold to mint its own gold coin currency. 

Kidnapping ransoms: $20 million to $45 million a year

American journalist James Foley was kidnapped in 2012, and ISIS demanded $132 million. It wanted $200 million for two Japanese hostages, Kenji Goto Jogo and Haruna Yukawa. Neither country paid, and both were murdered on video. 

Most countries stick to a UN resolution to not fund terrorists this way -- under any circumstances. 

It's an agonizing decision to make. Don't pay, and family members watch loved ones die. Pay up, and you buy terrorists weapons that kill thousands more. Plus, you give incentive for them to do it again. 

But some nations do pay ransoms. One by one, Foley's cell mates in Raqqa, Syria were released because their countries paid for them. French, Italian and Spanish hostages were freed, according to a New York Times investigation last year. 

ISIS collected $20 million to $45 million this way in 2014, according to the U.S. Treasury. 

But the vast majority of people kidnapped and tortured aren't foreign aid workers and journalists. They're local Assyrian Christians and Yazidi people. 

Yazidis live in the region and have their own religion. ISIS punishes them for not being Sunni Muslim. ISIS regularly grabs Yazidi family members, then demands $3,000 payments overnight, according to the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. ISIS has kidnapped hundreds of Assyrian Christians, sometimes releasing them for $1,700 each, according to AFP. 

"Kidnap-for-ransom" is a less lucrative part of the ISIS terror business. But its corporate approach to this -- and everything else -- is just another sign the Islamic State is living up to its name, said Ola Johan Kaldager. He's a retired intelligence officer who started E-14, Norway's equivalent of the CIA special operations team. 

"We are always talking about the Islamic State as a terrorist organization. But we have to talk about them as a state. It's a state now," Kaldager said. "They have their own economy, border control, customs, taxation. These make it very hard to get rid of them in the near future."

@CNNMoney