US Wants Shady Bank Moves Reported Faster

[seemslikeadream]

July 27, 2004 6:08:00 PM ET

By Caroline Drees, Security Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury is looking at ways to speed up filing of suspicious activity reports by banks as part of efforts to fight financial crime and terrorism, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday.

Measures could include technological and regulatory changes to ensure law enforcement officials can act on reports of suspicious dealings as quickly as possible, said William Fox, the head of Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

Banks currently have two months to notify the government of activities that could signal possible crime, such as unusually large transfers of cash, and can notify FinCEN using the Internet, mailed computer disks or paper filing.


The issue of filing SARs and other Bank Secrecy Act reports took on renewed urgency after Washington-based Riggs Bank received a $25 million fine in May to settle regulators' allegations it failed to report several suspicious transactions.

more
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/breaking/breakingnewsarticle.asp?feed=OBR&Date=20040727&ID=3927979

Ex-dictator's millions targeted in new probes
Miami Herald (subscription), FL - 15 hours ago
... supporters in the US Congress have announced they will vote in favor of an inquest into the funds, deposited with the Washington, DC-based Riggs Bank. ...
https://registration.realcities.com/reg/login.do?url=http://www.miami.com%2Fmld%2Fmiamiherald%2Fnews%2Fworld%2Famericas%2F9250390.htm

[Snazzy]

1. some snips from Herald

CHILE


Ex-dictator's millions targeted in new probes

BY CLINTON PORTEOUS

Special to The Herald


SANTIAGO, Chile - He never was far from the limelight, but now former military ruler Gen. Augusto Pinochet is squarely back on Chile's front pages, facing at least three inquiries into how he accumulated millions of dollars in bank accounts.

Even his former political supporters in the U.S. Congress have announced they will vote in favor of an inquest into the funds, deposited with the Washington, D.C.-based Riggs Bank.

...

SUPPORTERS BAIL OUT

The revelation of the Riggs bank accounts, found by U.S. officials who investigated the bank's records, appears to have been the final straw that has silenced traditional supporters in Chile and left the general isolated.

Even the previously loyal head of the army, Gen. Juan Emilio Cheyre, declared that the Riggs accounts were a personal matter and the military would cooperate with investigators.

....

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/9250390.htm

[Snazzy]

2. Reuters: Pinochet Defense to Audit Former Dictator's Assets

Pinochet Defense to Audit Former Dictator's Assets
Tue Jul 27, 2004 08:17 PM ET

SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) - Attorneys for former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet have begun to audit his assets to determine the origin of millions of dollars he maintained in secret accounts in Washington-based Riggs Bank, his defense team said on Tuesday.
A Chilean court last week opened an investigation into Pinochet's finances after a human rights lawyer lodged fraud accusations based on information from a U.S. Senate probe into Riggs Bank that found Pinochet accounts held some $4 million to $8 million between 1994 and 2002.

The information from the audit will be handed over to the judge investigating the accounts, Pablo Rodriguez, head of Pinochet's legal defense team, told reporters.

....

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=5791244

[seemslikeadream]

3. Seems things are moving quickly, no?

I'm just gona sit here for awhile

[leesa]

4. Right. I'll bet they do. So will they be investigating Jonathan Bush?

[7th_Sephiroth]

5. US Wants Shady Bank Moves Reported Faster

ecept for the accounts of halliburton and enron