News
Data Handover in $102 Million Lebanese Bank Settlement Could Spur New Investigations
By Brian Monroe
printA transactional data handover mandated under a $102 million settlement disclosed Tuesday between the U.S. Justice Department and a defunct Beirut bank will likely lead to new financial crime investigations. The settlement order concludes a department lawsuit against Lebanese Canadian Bank (LCB) and one of five companies accused of processing wire transactions to the United States on behalf of Hezbollah members. Accomplices used the funds to purchase over $1 billion in used cars that were shipped to West Africa and sold, U.S. officials said in December 2011. The group, blacklisted by the United States since 2001, commingled the proceeds with...
TO READ THE FULL STORY
Related News
The U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday unanimously passed a bill aimed at foreign banks that provide financial services to Hezbollah, an Iran-backed, Lebanon-based Shiite militant group.
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs Thursday unanimously approved a measure that would penalize foreign banks that offer financial services to Hezbollah, an Iran-backed, Lebanon-based Shiite militant group.
A bipartisan bill targeting banks that offer financial services to Hezbollah is likely to garner broad political support among U.S. lawmakers, according to advocates of strong counterterrorist measures.
The U.S. Treasury Department Tuesday proposed designating two Beirut-based currency exchange houses under the Patriot Act for allegedly helping Lebanese drug traffickers launder millions of dollars.
As U.S. officials work to shield American prepaid cards from abuse by financial crooks, foreign-issued stored value products remain a relatively easy avenue to move money into the United States anonymously.
A decision by the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirming sanctions against Jordan's largest bank for not turning over data on suspicious accounts could leave some financial institutions with an unwanted choice, say attorneys.
The U.S. Treasury Department Friday fined a Sioux Falls, SD bank branch $10 million for not properly reporting instances of suspected structuring and terrorist financing.
Increases in the rates that U.S. states tax cigarette purchasers has led to a rise in tobacco smuggling by organized crime groups and terrorist financiers, say governmental officials.
U.S. officials have launched a criminal investigation after linking data seized at Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan to a Bank Secrecy Act report, counterterrorism investigators said Monday.
The U.S. Justice Department seized $150 million held for a Lebanese financial institution at accounts at five U.S. banks, as part of a crackdown on a purported terrorist financing network.
The U.S. Treasury Department's ability to freeze the funds of suspected terror financiers without a warrant is likely curtailed to emergency circumstances under a court order handed down last week.
Lawmakers are asking the U.S. Justice Department to clarify how it will prosecute individuals and groups that aid terrorist organizations, and whether those cases could involve innocent charity groups.
U.S. efforts to clamp down on terror financiers have been largely a success, a federal official told American lawmakers at a hearing in downtown Manhattan Tuesday.
U.S. lawmakers Thursday questioned how a blacklisted Lebanese terrorist organization works with political leaders and narco-traffickers in Latin America.
The Senate Thursday named David Cohen the nation's top sanctions official after legislators agreed to end a standoff over the U.S. Treasury Department's implementation of financial measures aimed at Iran.
Less than two years after U.S. diplomats mentioned concerns that Qatar's terrorist financing problems may be "the worst in the region," the country has done little to effectively limit the crime, say experts.
Egypt's decision to reopen the Gaza Strip's most important land-based port of entry will complicate international efforts to stem funding for designated terrorist group Hamas, say critics of the move.
A Beirut-based lender acted as a "primary money laundering concern" by handling hundreds of millions of dollars for drug traffickers and a designated terrorist organization, U.S. officials said Thursday.
A federal court's dismissal of a two-year old lawsuit against five Lebanese banks for allegedly providing financial services to Hizbollah could impact lawsuits against other banks facing similar cases.
A group of 90 American, Israeli and Canadian citizens are suing American Express Bank and Lebanese Canadian Bank for $650 million, alleging the institutions provided financial services to blacklisted terror group Hizbollah.