Begin forwarded message:
> From: "Sardar" <sar...@spiritone.com> > Date: July 3, 2010 7:01:02 PM PDT > To: "Sardar" <recon1968br...@yahoo.com> > Subject: Report: US banks laundering money for Mexican drug war > > Report: US banks laundering money for Mexican drug war > a.. > > Raw Story > July 3, 2010 > > US banks are playing a crucial role in the running of the Mexican drug trade, > allowing their facilities to be used to launder money in a drug war that has > taken the lives of more than 22,000 people in the past four years, a new > investigative report reveals. > > According to a report from the August, 2010, issue of Bloomberg Markets > magazine, both Bank of America and Wachovia are implicated in drug-money > laundering schemes to purchase jets to smuggle drugs. > > The report, by Michael Smith, chronicles the seizure of a DC-9 jet at a > Mexican airport in 2006 when it was discovered that it contained $100 > million-worth of cocaine. Investigators found that drug smugglers had bought > the plane with money laundered through BofA and through Wachovia, which was > bought out by Wells Fargo in 2008. > > Smith reports: > > This was no isolated incident. Wachovia, it turns out, had made a habit of > helping move money for Mexican drug smugglers. Wells Fargo & Co., which > bought Wachovia in 2008, has admitted in court that its unit failed to > monitor and report suspected money laundering by narcotics traffickers - > including the cash used to buy four planes that shipped a total of 22 tons of > cocaine. > > Bloomberg obtained a copy of an agreement (PDF) between prosecutors and > Wachovia, signed in March, in which the bank admitted it had not done enough > to watch for money-laundering schemes among some $378 billion it transferred > between its branches and Mexican currency-exchange houses from 2004 to 2007. > > "The investigation has identified at least $110 million in drug proceeds that > were funneled through the [currency-exchange] accounts held at Wachovia," the > agreement states. > > "Wachovia's blatant disregard for our banking laws gave international cocaine > cartels a virtual carte blanche to finance their operations," Bloomberg > quotes federal prosecutor Jeffrey Sloman. > > > Wachovia agreed to pay $160 million to settle the court case in exchange for > charges being dropped, a move Sloman described as "historic." > > Bloomberg also reports that a former Wachovia executive in charge of > anti-money laundering operations "quit the bank in disgust" after managers > ignored his reports that drug money was being laundered through its > facilities. > > "If you don't see the correlation between the money laundering by banks and > the 22,000 people killed in Mexico, you're missing the point," Woods said. > > Bank of America and UK-based HSBC have been connected to money laundering > schemes, according to the Bloomberg report. > > Drug traffickers used accounts at Bank of America in Oklahoma City to buy > three planes that carried 10 tons of cocaine, according to Mexican court > filings. > > Federal agents caught people who work for Mexican cartels depositing illicit > funds in Bank of America accounts in Atlanta, Chicago and Brownsville, Texas, > from 2002 to 2009. Mexican drug dealers used shell companies to open accounts > at London-based HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe's biggest bank by assets, an > investigation by the Mexican Finance Ministry found. > > Drug-related violence has been spiraling out of control along the US-Mexican > border in recent years. Ciudad Juarez, across the river from El Paso, Texas, > has recorded 700 murders so far this year. Earlier this week, a "clash" > between rival drug gangs left 21 people dead. > > The violence has even begun to permeate Mexican politics, with three > drug-related assassinations against government officials in just the past two > weeks. A mayor and city councilor were killed Wednesday evening. Hours later, > a deputy attorney general in Cihuahua state was killed. The recent > disappearance of a former presidential candidate has drawn speculation > linking the incident to the drug wars. > > http://www.prisonplanet.com/report-us-banks-laundering-money-for-mexican-drug-war.html >
