"As this case demonstrates, financial institutions - no matter how large - will be held accountable when they allow dirty money to pollute the U.S. banking system," said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer.
Tuesday March 23, 2010
Big Bad Bank
The already not-so-pretty public face of Big Banking just got a little muddier, as Wachovia N.A. has agreed to pay fines totaling $160 million for failing to monitor $420 billion worth of transactions with Mexican currency exchange houses involved in laundering illegal drug trade money.
The fines will settle charges that Wachovia willfully failed to establish an anti-money laundering program and failed to monitor potential money laundering activity involved in more than $420 billion in financial transactions with Mexican currency exchange houses, commonly known as "casas de cambio" (CDCs).
According to the Justice Department, court documents revealed that Wachovia was aware, as early as 1996 and through 2004 of a likelihood that drug money was being laundered through its transactions with the Mexican CDCs, and that other U.S. banks had stopped dealing with the CDCs because of the potential for money laundering.
"According to the documents, Wachovia allowed Mexican Currency Exchange houses (CDCs) to wire transfer funds through accounts at Wachovia to recipients throughout the world. Wachovia also offered a 'bulk cash' service to CDCs, through which the CDCs collected large sums of dollars that would be physically transported to the United States for deposit," stated the Justice Department in a press release.
Money and Drugs: The investigation showed that "millions of dollars" transferred between Wachovia and the Mexican CDCs went to purchase airplanes from which more than 20,000 kilograms of smuggled cocaine were seized.
The Justice Department agreed to defer criminal charges arising from the investigation for 12 months because of Wachovia's cooperation and "willingness to acknowledge responsibility for its actions and omissions."
"As this case demonstrates, financial institutions - no matter how large - will be held accountable when they allow dirty money to pollute the U.S. banking system," said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer.
Big Bad Bank
The already not-so-pretty public face of Big Banking just got a little muddier, as Wachovia N.A. has agreed to pay fines totaling $160 million for failing to monitor $420 billion worth of transactions with Mexican currency exchange houses involved in laundering illegal drug trade money.
The fines will settle charges that Wachovia willfully failed to establish an anti-money laundering program and failed to monitor potential money laundering activity involved in more than $420 billion in financial transactions with Mexican currency exchange houses, commonly known as "casas de cambio" (CDCs).
According to the Justice Department, court documents revealed that Wachovia was aware, as early as 1996 and through 2004 of a likelihood that drug money was being laundered through its transactions with the Mexican CDCs, and that other U.S. banks had stopped dealing with the CDCs because of the potential for money laundering.
"According to the documents, Wachovia allowed Mexican Currency Exchange houses (CDCs) to wire transfer funds through accounts at Wachovia to recipients throughout the world. Wachovia also offered a 'bulk cash' service to CDCs, through which the CDCs collected large sums of dollars that would be physically transported to the United States for deposit," stated the Justice Department in a press release.
Money and Drugs: The investigation showed that "millions of dollars" transferred between Wachovia and the Mexican CDCs went to purchase airplanes from which more than 20,000 kilograms of smuggled cocaine were seized.
The Justice Department agreed to defer criminal charges arising from the investigation for 12 months because of Wachovia's cooperation and "willingness to acknowledge responsibility for its actions and omissions."
"As this case demonstrates, financial institutions - no matter how large - will be held accountable when they allow dirty money to pollute the U.S. banking system," said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer.
"With billions of dollars flowing through our financial institutions each day, it is imperative that banks maintain robust anti-money laundering controls to identify possible illegal activity."
related articles ~ go to link where there are highlighted links for more info. on this subject ...
http://usgovinfo.about.com/b/2010/03/23/big-bad-bank.htm
also related ~
How Stuff Works ~ Fighting Money Laundering
