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US Officials Label Lebanese Bank a ‘Primary Money Laundering Concern’

By Brian Monroe

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. Lebanese Canadian Bank and its subsidiaries assisted Lebanon-based drug traffickers who ran trade-based money laundering operations involving consumer goods, including used cars purchased in the United States,  the U.S. Treasury Department claimed, adding that bank executives were likely "complicit in the network's money laundering activities." LCB also maintains ties with Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shiite organization deemed a terrorist group by the United States since 1997, according to the department. In addition...

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