Saudi Ambassador Bandar , Bush, & Laundering Money For Terrorists

[Oilwellian]

The latest story about the Saudi Ambassador being privvy to top secret information, could get really stinky.

<snip>
Regulators and congressional investigators say the Saudi accounts at Riggs provide a window into how the Saudi royal family moves millions of dollars around the world each year without sufficient monitoring of where the money ends up. They say the records indicate lax oversight by Riggs and by bank regulators. For example, the officials say, Riggs rarely until last year filed suspicious-activity reports, or SARs, to law enforcement agencies when spotting unusual and unexplained activity in embassy bank accounts.

Copies of more than a dozen SARs were obtained by The Washington Post. The reports detail various transactions by Riggs's embassy customers, but mostly about those involving Saudi officials. Riggs filed about 30 SARs in 2003 for transactions totaling $25 million to $30 million after an internal audit of recent years of activity in Saudi accounts, the sources said.

Information from the reports and the Saudi accounts are being studied by investigators including those in the FBI, which has been looking into Saudi-funded charities for several years for any potential financial links to al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.

According to one SAR, on Jan. 13, 2003, the Muslim World League, an Islamic charitable organization, wired $461,341.72 into an account at Riggs in the name of the "Ministry of Defense and Aviation-Riyadh, Saudi Arabia." The Muslim World League, which was founded by Osama bin Laden but was taken over by the Saudi government years ago, is largely funded by the Saudi royal family and by most accounts funds a variety of worthy causes around the world. But it is also the subject of scrutiny by congressional investigators and federal law enforcement agencies for possible terrorist connections in some countries, and some of its officials abroad have been linked to al Qaeda. Treasury agents seized files at the league's offices in Falls Church in March 2002.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20942-2004Apr17.html

[stellanoir]

1. shade of Iran/Contra. . .

good thing that all the perps got away with that one. Negriponte (sp?) was a player and now lucky us, have him as our new ambassador to Iraq. This is about as appropriate as putting Kissinger on the 9/11 commission.

I just hope this "scandal of the week" has some legs.

When will these thugs get exposed and penalized. . .?

[Carni]

2. Isn't bush's Uncle the head of Riggs bank?

I may have this confused but it seems to me that he is.

[Carni]

3. Jonathan bush founded Riggs bank in 1970

According to this anyway, he's Prescott's son

http://www.dailynexus.com/opinion/2003/5962.html

[hedda_foil]

4. Uncle Jonathon Bush is a major player in Riggs Bank.

They are an investment bank. His company is one of the three investment advisor subsidiaries of Riggs Bank. It appears from the info below that he must be one of the owners of Riggs, itself, but it's not clear.
http://www.riggsbank.com/Wealth_Management/investment_advisors/inv_advisors.html

Expertise and insight tailored to your objectives
Regardless of the investment team you work with, you can expect the highest level of personalized service and an investment strategy that is customized to help you achieve your goals. Consider working with a Riggs professional from one of the groups below:

Riggs Securities: Riggs Securities offers investment guidance and a full range of competitive products to suit the needs of individuals and institutions. To contact an investment associate, call [phone] or 1-800-934-3883, or e-mail us at [e-mail].

Riggs Investment Advisors Inc.: Riggs Investment Advisors manage assets for endowments, government pension plans, corporate retirement plans, cultural institutions and presidential libraries, and high net-worth individuals. Riggs Investment Advisors work with clients or their financial consultants to develop and maintain investment guidelines. We then monitor assets to be sure they are in compliance with these guidelines. To contact the Riggs Investment Advisors, call [phone] or 1-800-917-4626 or e-mail us at [e-mail].

J. Bush & Co.: J. Bush & Company manages assets for high net-worth individuals, corporate benefit plans and foundations. J. Bush seeks to build wealth on behalf of clients primarily by investing in growth-oriented stocks and endeavors to develop long-term relationships with clients. J. Bush accepts accounts of $1 million or more. To contact J. Bush & Co., call [phone].

On edit: J Bush & Co. is definitely a formal unit of Riggs according to Riggs' annual report. (Riggs itself has been around since the 1800's, so Bush isn't a founder of the bank).

http://www.riggsbank.com/Discover_Riggs/annualreport2002.pdf

[Carni]

5. Thanks Heddafoil

I am faving those sources and I love the name BTW lol

[Minstrel Boy]

7. Uncky Jonathan hooked up George with investors for Arbusto, like

Al Qaeda financier Khalid bin Mahfouz and Osama's big brother, Salem bin Laden.

[blm]

9. Riggs was always the fallback bank from BCCI.

If BCCI couldn't be used by interested parties they used Riggs.

[hedda_foil]

8. Here's more from an '01 Riggs Press Release

Riggs & Co., the centerpiece of Riggs' full-service wealth management strategy, provides a comprehensive array of financial products in a highly personal manner to customers with extensive needs for financial services. Such services include financial planning, trust, investment management and life insurance, in addition to traditional banking products such as loans and deposits. Riggs & Co. has two investment management subsidiaries: RIMCO, founded by Riggs 11 years ago, and J. Bush & Co., a 30-year-old investment management firm. A broker-dealer subsidiary launched in 1999, Riggs Investment Corporation, has responsibility for Riggs & Co.'s sale of stocks, bonds and mutual funds, including the "Riggs Funds," a family of nine well-managed and diversified proprietary mutual funds. Riggs & Co. International operates two offices - one in London and the other in Jersey (Channel Islands).

http://www.riggsbank.com/Discover_Riggs/2apr11_01.html

Bush is (or was as of May 31, 2000), President, CEO and Director of
RIMCO. (From Disinfopedia, but it's a cut and paste of a press release if you want to track it down to Riggs as original source.) This also verifies the fact that his company was acquired by Riggs in 1997.

http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Jonathan_J._Bush


May 31, 2000: Riggs Bank N.A. today announced that the Board of Directors of RIMCO, a wholly owned investment management subsidiary, has elected Jonathan J. Bush President & Chief Executive Officer and a Director, replacing Philip Tasho who resigned. In addition, Henry A. Dudley, Jr. was elected Chairman.

"Mr. Bush will continue as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of J. Bush & Co., an investment management company he founded in 1970, which Riggs acquired in 1997. Mr. Dudley, a 24-year veteran of Riggs, will continue to be responsible for all of Riggs Bank's investment management, trust and private banking business.

"Located in the nation's capital, Riggs Bank has 53 branches in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, as well as banking offices in Miami, London and Berlin."

[phoebe]

12. somewhat telling in the Riggs "blurb" is the references to

"highly personal manner" of treating the customer who becomes part of the "family". "Regardless of the investment team you work with...an investment strategy that is customized to help you achieve your goals." "Expertise and insight tailored to your objectives."

Sounds like Special Ops/Delta Force banking!!

Mr. Dudley has some interesting connections..

http://216.239.53.104/search?q=cache:6emnXHZB1PEJ:www.riggsbank.com/Discover_Riggs/2apr11_01.html+Henry+A.+Dudley+%2B+Riggs&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
snip

Dudley is actively involved in the community and sits on numerous boards, including Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Landon School, Chairman of the Finance Committee of the White House Historical Society (says a lot too), and Member of the Board of the Marjorie Merriweather Post Foundation. He earned his master's degree in business administration from Florida Atlantic University and his bachelor's degree from the University of Virginia.

Found this very, very enlightening article:
http://www.washingtonian.com/schools/landon.html

snip

“It is the school for the military-industrial complex,” says Charles Castaldi, a film producer who attended Landon in the 1970s.

By many measures, Landon delivers a very good education and creates a strong loyalty. Most graduates get into top colleges. Among its alumni are historian Alan Brinkley, DC Superior Court Chief Judge Rufus King, Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun (huh??)

More than most prep schools, Landon trumpets tradition and honor. Legacies of fathers and sons and uncles and cousins stretch back generations that define the term “old-boy network.” Along with tradition and honor, the school is known to have its share of elitism and arrogance. All of those traits came to the surface in the moral choices made along the way by the students who cheated and the adults who meted out the punishment.

snip
On October 12, 2002, the day of the Scholastic Aptitude Tests, the Washington region was in fear of a sniper—or snipers—who were shooting people seemingly at random in schoolyards, parking lots, and other public places. The eleventh known victim had died the day before. Most schools were locked down during the week and had canceled weekend activities. Many called off the SATs scheduled that Saturday.

In part because of confusion over the sniper attacks, Holton-Arms was short on proctors on October 12. Some arrived late; some never showed.

[teryang]

6. These countries need to change banks

If they go to the right bank they won't have to worry about government scutiny.

[hedda_foil]

10. kick

[DoYouEverWonder]

11. Remember the story about Bandar's Wife and the 2 hijackers?

http://www.sptimes.com/2002/11/24/Worldandnation/Princess__money_for_s.shtml

Princess' money for sick wife, not hijackers, Saudis say

© St. Petersburg Times
published November 24, 2002

WASHINGTON -- White House officials on Saturday defended the FBI's handling of a diplomatically sensitive investigation into reports that Saudi Arabia provided money that helped support two of the Sept. 11 hijackers.

Embassy spokesman Nail al-Jubeir said the allegations that the wife of the Saudi ambassador to Washington supported terrorists are "untrue and irresponsible."

Princess Haifa al-Faisal is fully cooperating with the FBI, Jubeir said. "She wants her name cleared."

The princess, wife of ambassador Bandar bin Sultan, provided tens of thousands of dollars in what she believed were charitable gifts to the family of a Saudi man in San Diego who befriended and assisted two of the Sept. 11 hijackers, the Saudi government said Saturday.