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Press Release
For Immediate release
October 3, 2005
Contacts:
Contact: Karen Cohen
Phone: 305-530-0500
www.moneylaundering.com
www.lavadodinero.com
From catching crooks to rounding up aliens
Once-glittering U.S. Customs anti-money laundering force suffers
under post-9/11 reorganization, demoralized investigators say:
paying for own gas, stamps, sleeping in tents is only part of it
The morale and effectiveness of what had been one of the most accomplished U.S.
anti-money laundering agencies has suffered serious harm under the sweeping, post-9/11
governmental reorganization that merged the U.S. Customs Service with the Immigration
and Naturalization Service, according to an exclusive report in the October issue
of Money Laundering Alert. The story was written by our Washington D.C. correspondent
Rob Garver after exclusive interviews with ICE investigators.
Current and former agents describe an agency in disarray, its goals unclear, its
funding shaky and its commitment to the complex financial investigations that once
distinguished the Customs Service largely gone. Agents who once cracked celebrated
cases such as Operation Casablanca say they now spend their time chasing illegal
immigrants, part of their duties within the Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Bureau (ICE) of the new Department of Homeland Security, created after the attacks
of September 11, 2001.
Dispirited investigators are even finding themselves paying their own postage and
travel expenses and were forced to bed down in tents while deployed to aid Hurricane
Katrina recovery efforts as their counterparts at other agencies slept in hotels.
While the agency attributes some of the complaints to a resistance to change and
insists money laundering operations continue undiminished, it admits a lack of funding
is only now being addressed. Meanwhile, the agents say the situation is slowing
and hampering money laundering investigations.
“Imagine not having money to go out and travel and meet your confidential
informants,” said one former ICE attorney. “It’s amazing to tell
your guys, ‘Stay positive, keep cultivating your sources ¾ but try
to do it over the telephone.’”
Also in MLA’s October issue:
Currency transaction report reduction provision steams ahead:In a hearing before
a House Financial Services subcommittee, FinCEN’s director William J. Fox
said that a current proposal seems to strike a balance between giving law enforcement
necessary tools and relieving bankers of the need to file so many reports.
On the Job with Richard Weber: The new head of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering
Section at the Department of Justice talks about how following the money often leads
to finding the goods.
American Bankers Association veteran makes a change: John Byrne, a 22-year veteran
of the association, has left to become Bank of America’s Senior Vice President,
Anti-Money Laundering Strategy Executive.
About Money Laundering Alert:
Since 1989, Money Laundering Alert has been published by Miami, Florida-based Alert
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on money laundering issues.
Money Laundering Alert is a monthly newsletter covering money laundering and terrorist
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The publication provides practical compliance guidance and analysis of laws and
regulations, and is used as an anti-money laundering (AML) training tool by members
of affected industries such as financial institutions, broker-dealers, money services
businesses, securities, lawyers, real estate brokers, accountants, law enforcement,
and government regulatory and intelligence agencies.
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