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New Mexico Increased AML Investigators After Western Union Deal, Says AG
printThe New Mexico Attorney General's Office has expanded its team of anti-money laundering investigators as a result of a 2010 settlement between the state of Arizona and Western Union, according to the state's top prosecutor. In an interview, Attorney General Gary King described the deal, which included a $94 million payment by the Englewood, CO-based money services business for failing to block remittances for human traffickers, as a game changer in terms of public-private cooperation on money laundering investigations. Under arrangements signed in February 2010, Western Union granted officials in Arizona, California, Texas and New Mexico access to wire data...
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A U.S. program supplementing Mexico’s efforts to clamp down on drug trafficking and money laundering should be extended for years to come, American investigators say.
One of the world's largest money services businesses will pay nearly $10 million and share transactional data with U.S. states and Mexico as part of an extension to a 2010 settlement.
The nation's largest money services business has begun imposing new anti-money laundering checks on subagents in Mexico in an effort to comply with its March 2010 agreement with Arizona prosecutors, say sources.
For the second time this year, the nation's largest money transmitter has asked Arizona for additional time to upgrade its anti-money laundering program, according to sources familiar with the matter.
A measure that will impose anti-money laundering program requirements on a broad range of non-bank businesses and professions in Mexico will take effect next month, according to a notice published Friday in the country's official journal.
Without the threat of larger monetary settlements or prosecutions, financial institutions have little economic incentive to seriously enforce their anti-money laundering compliance controls, according to Peter Reuter, a professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of Maryland.
Arizona has granted the nation's largest money transmitter an additional three months to improve its anti-money laundering compliance program and avoid criminal prosecution.
One of the world's largest money services businesses is in danger of criminal indictment for failing to meet the terms of a 2010 settlement with the state of Arizona, say sources.
Unscrupulous financial institutions, legislative delays and a lack of quick action by U.S. federal officials are allowing drug cartels to wash money in the United States "right before our eyes," according to Terry Goddard, the former Attorney General of Arizona.
When the DOJ accused 14 in June of washing Mexican cartel money via a horse racing operation, it signified a rare feat in the drug war: a prosecution built solely on money laundering charges. Despite years of trying to choke the cash networks of Mexicans drug gangs, such cases remain the exception.
A 2010 agreement by Western Union to share data with Arizona and other Southwestern states is the catalyst for a major AML prosecution that came to light Thursday.
An agreement by one the nation's largest money transmitters to better share transactional data with investigators has resulted in greater scrutiny, both for the business and its chief competitor.
The implementation of U.S. dollar deposit limits at Mexican financial institutions has sparked an influx of cash deposits into U.S. banks, who are failing to properly scrutinize the funds, according to Cameron Holmes, a senior litigation counsel in the Arizona Attorney General's office.
Exemptions for Mexican hotels and other businesses from Mexico's limits on U.S. dollar deposits can be readily exploited by narco-traffickers and money launderers, say compliance professionals.
A broad anti-money laundering measure that would create and strengthen criminal penalties and impose reporting requirements on non-bank institutions in Mexico is likely to pass into law this month, say former government officials.
Mexico President Felipe Calderon introduced a bevy of measures Thursday designed to crimp the flow of illicit drug proceeds from entering the country's financial system, including by limiting cash transactions on purchasing aircraft, vehicles, and real estate.
Revisions to Mexico's anti-money laundering strategy promised earlier this month must account for regulatory-gaps in trade-based money laundering, the continuing problem of casas de cambio and the use of U.S. dollars in Mexico, say ex-law enforcement officials and compliance professionals.
New rules restricting U.S. dollar deposits at Mexican banks could end up pushing billions in illicit cash through U.S. and Latin American financial institutions, say compliance professionals.
Dozens of U.S. banks along the country's southern border are denying new accounts to wealthy Mexican nationals and corporations because of due diligence troubles caused by drug-related violence in Mexico.
Western Union will pay $94 million to resolve claims by the Arizona Attorney General's office that the company wasn't doing enough to combat Mexican money launderers and human traffickers.