NYC'S (un-named) Terror Bank ($3bil to Hamas, Al Qaeda & Hexbollah)

[KurtNYC]

Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau has shut down a massive terror-finance pipeline in which a whopping $3 billion in profits from drug deals and other crimes flowed through a major New York bank to Middle East fanatics, The Post has learned.

Morgenthau told The Post his office is pursuing a settlement involving possible penalties against one of the largest and most prominent banks in New York - which he declined to identify - for maintaining an account where funds that originated in South America's notorious "tri-border region" were rerouted to suspect accounts in the Middle East.

Evidence developed in the course of a three-year probe, which has already resulted in charges against other New York-based financial institutions, revealed that about $3 billion that flowed through the account over a two-year period was going to terror groups Hamas, al Qaeda and Hezbollah, Morgenthau said.

http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/print.php?url=http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/61931.htm

Okay... why the local DA rather than the Fed's? Why not name the "most prominent bank"? And one more time we see authorities asserting that they are monitoring activities for years on end (phone calls and banking) rather than stopping them and arresting people. This story raises more questions than it answers.

[meegbear]

1. Wouldn't be surprised if it's Bank of America ...

they don't give a fuck how or where they get their money.

[seemslikeadream]

2. Robert Morgenthau

Wasn't he involved in the BCCI

yes I thought so
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:vqcWzigPb98J:www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0409.sirota.html+Robert+Morgenthau+bcci&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1
Kerry opted in 1989 to take the same information that had been coldly received at the Justice Department and bring it to New York District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, who agreed to begin a criminal investigation of BCCI, based on Kerry's leads. Kerry also continued to keep up the public pressure. In 1990, when the Bush administration gave the bank a minor slap on the wrist for its money laundering practices, Kerry went on national television to slam the decision. "We send drug people to jail for the rest of their life," he said, "and these guys who are bankers in the corporate world seem to just walk away, and it's business as usual…When banks engage knowingly in the laundering of money, they should be shut down. It's that simple, it really is."

[underpants]

3. I sure hope they don't let whatever country it is in to run our ports

GOD forbid.

[anotherdrew]

4. bank big-wig went to columbia a few years ago, anyone remeber that story?

It was clear he was courting drug money and many said so. Would have been 2 to 3 years ago.

[Just Me]

5. It'll sure be interesting to see how far the tenacles spread on this one.

Laundering just hops from one large financial institution to another it seems.

[anotherdrew]

6. bet they spread right to the top, let's hope this isn't the end of this

[Just Me]

7. Tit for tat profiteering always does involve the top financiers.

Drugs for guns. Infrastructure for oil. Babies for bombs. Ports for terrorism.

Just once, I'd like to witness a total blow-out of all the profiteering blow-hards selling out human rights and safety to the highest bidder.

[anotherdrew]

8. why would any of this money be going to the middle east I wonder?

How exactly do arab terorists on the other side of the planet muscle their way into tightly controled black cash flows from drug money laundering? Perhaps Al'CIAda might be a little cash strapped for a few weeks now?

[anotherdrew]

9. my bet is on: Citibank - they've done such fine work for Raul Salinas

or Citigroup to be more exact

[Just Me]

10. I'd like to see more attention drawn to your question, "why the local DA,.

,...rather than the feds?"

If the feds are tracking like they say they are,...how come this is still happening? :shrug:

[efhmc]

11. Recommened so these questions can be answered and DU

is where one goes to find answers.

[anotherdrew]

12. whatever happened to Operation Greenquest? FBI ruined it

http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/entity.jsp?id=1521846767-2057

[m0nkeyneck]

13. CIA accounts?

[Sven77]

14. Bush Banks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riggs_Bank

Why is Jonathan J. Bush never mention in relation to Riggs Bank. The President's uncle was named President, CEO, and Director of the bank on 5/31/2000.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52591-2004Jul15.html

[Minstrel Boy]

15. Now disclosed to be the Bank of America

April 4, 2006 -- WASHINGTON - The Manhattan DA is pursuing a settlement with the Bank of America in a major money-laundering probe of more than $3 billion that flowed from Latin America through one of the bank's accounts to Mideast fanatics, sources said yesterday.

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/66443.htm

[newspeak]

16. ever wonder who is really propping up

drug traffickers, and real terrorists? Didn't Clinton attempt to get legislation passed to monitor money laundering, specifically for terrorist activities, and the Republican Congress voted against it?

[karynnj]

17. No - Kerry wrote and attempted to get money laundering legislation

after his work on BCCI. After 911, Kerry's international money laundering work was included in the Patriot Act. During the Clinton administration, he got little help or support from Clinton. Clinton also didn't have the justice department reopen the BCCI case. In the summary that Kerry wrote of outstanding issues - one mentioned was learning more about BCCI funding of AQ Khan's bomb. (It also noted the need for more investigation of Marc Rich.)

The sad thing is that if the BCCI work was continued, there was a possibility that we could have prevented Khan's technology and materials going to Iran and North Korea. Kerry did as much as he could - he worked on it until his committee and supoena power ended, he then atempted to get the Bush justice department to handle it, then finally gave it to Morgenthau. He also wrote "New War" that warned about these risks. Clinton, who did far more than W on terrorism, didn't do all he could on these issues - likely not seeing them as worth the political capital to fight for.

[newspeak]

18. thanks for the info

I was disappointed with Clinton because he didn't delve into the Iran-Contra and BCCI scandal. However, I thought during his second term he attempted to do money laundering legislation and was voted down by Congress. If Iran-Contra and the BCCI connections were fully exposed and those who were involved truly punished, I don't think we'd be in the mess we are today and dealing with the same felons. Also, I remember Casolero writing that it was much deeper, even with the theft of the Promis Software.