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Hawaiian Commercial Real Estate Draws Focus of Banks, Investigators

By Daniel Bethencourt

Hawaii may not be the first place that springs to mind as a hotspot for organized crime and illicit finance, but this Pacific archipelago and others like it face significant exposure to the proceeds of drug trafficking, human trafficking and corruption, according to a senior U.S. investigator. The state's relatively isolated banks have responded in past months by screening payments associated with real estate purchases for signs of financial crime and reviewing other transactions to pinpoint funds tied to narcotics and human trafficking operations, said John Tobon, acting special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in Honolulu. Tobon, who...

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