Comment: Time and time again, especially since the 2008 financial crisis, banks have been let off the hook for high crimes with only a fine. They are deemed to big or important to jail. Little or no criminal prosecutions have gone forward, which would actually curtail such activities. Instead banks are fined paltry amounts as compared to the profits they make and therefore continue to break the law. It is still profitable for them to do so.
Another possibility is that the money laundering being done and allowed by banks such as Citigroup is tied to transactions of the US Deep State. Prosecution of such activities would lead to discovery in criminal proceedings and the truth of such activities would reach the light of day. The War on Drugs and Terrorism and the intimate ties between organizations such as the CIA and smuggling drugs and weapons for profits to fund black budgets and fomenting terrorism would then reach the public in a wider sense.
Legal woes for Citigroup continue.
The New York-based bank (NYSE: C) has agreed to pay nearly $100 million to federal authorities to settle claims of money laundering. The charge comes a little less than three years after it agreed to a $7 billion settlement over an investigation into subprime mortgages.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday that Citi's Los Angeles-based Banamex division will pay $97.4 million for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act.
Federal authorities alleged that — for five years — a lack of internal controls and negligence may have allowed customers to commit money laundering ( ht Justice.gov).
From 2007 to 2012, Banamex officials allowed more than 30 million remittances from the U.S. to Mexico valued at about $8.8 billion.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday that Citi's Los Angeles-based Banamex division will pay $97.4 million for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act.
Federal authorities alleged that — for five years — a lack of internal controls and negligence may have allowed customers to commit money laundering ( ht Justice.gov).
From 2007 to 2012, Banamex officials allowed more than 30 million remittances from the U.S. to Mexico valued at about $8.8 billion.
The bank's monitoring system issued more than 18,000 alerts involving more than $142 million in potentially suspicious remittance transactions. Banamex, however, conducted fewer than 10 investigations and filed only nine suspicious activity reports in connection with these 18,000-plus alerts. None were reported between 2010 and 2012.
Citi bought Banamex in 2001. Since then, the Justice Department cited Banamex's U.S. division on several occasions for wrongdoing.
In July 2015, in a related matter, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) and California Department of Business Oversight ordered Banamex to pay a $140 million civil money penalty to resolve separate regulatory investigations.
In March 2017, the FDIC also announced related enforcement actions against four former senior executives relating to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. Two executives were fined and prohibited from working at financial institutions in the future.
Citi did not admit any fault in the settlement. The bank, which previously announced it was winding down Banamex's Los Angeles operations, has entered into a "non-prosecution agreement" with authorities.
The combined penalties paid by Banamex associated with the criminal and regulatory investigations is $237.44 million.
Reader Comments