Sunday, May 16, 2004

Riggs Bank: Terrorism Financier Extraordinaire

Riggs Bank Logo It seems that Riggs Bank, local to DC, apparently, has just accepted civil penalties of $25 million, increased oversight, and the stepping-down of some execs for this:


In imposing the fine on Thursday, regulators at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a bank regulator, and at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a law enforcement unit of the Treasury Department, said the bank failed to report, detect or even look for clearly suspicious transactions in accounts related to foreign embassies.

Riggs officials have acknowledged years of deficiencies in reporting to law enforcement hundreds of millions of dollars in suspicious financial transactions by foreign customers, particularly those connected with the embassies of Saudi Arabia and Equatorial Guinea.

Man, Saudi connections all over 9/11. So, for an easy $25 million, Riggs gets off without having to admit to funding 9/11. Seems fair, right?

It gets better. The bank is connected to whom? You guessed it - Bush:

A political Web site written by a Democratic operative drew attention yesterday to the fact that President Bush's uncle, Jonathan J. Bush, is a top executive at Riggs Bank, which this week agreed to pay a record $25 million in civil fines for violations of law intended to thwart money laundering.

Sirota's blog has more details and links.

So, President Bush, how do you feel about the fact that your uncle's bank laundered money that funded the 9/11 terrorists? Just asking...

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