Cyprus branch ruled a notorious institution for laundering money internationally
After a three-year court battle, a US district court judge in Washington, DC has in effect put a rogue Tanzanian bank out of business that was accused of laundering money through its Cyprus branch for a failed Indonesian bank, the Russian Mafia, the Lebanon-based Shi’a Islamist group Hezbollah, al Qaeda and a long list of others.
US District Judge Christopher Cooper, in a ruling on April 14 granted a motion by the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN – the US Treasury Department’s lead financial money-laundering combatant – to bar FBME Bank from US operations.
The so-called “Fifth Special Measure” of the Patriot Act blocks FBME from doing business in the United States or using US dollars and prohibits domestic financial institutions from opening or maintaining correspondent bank accounts on behalf of FBME.
FBME has fought the ruling tenaciously. On April 14, FBME again asked the court for a 14-day stay to request an appeal from the Washington, DC Circuit Court.
The stay was granted after the US government didn’t object, but, FinCEN Said, “the government does not concede any of the factual or legal representations.”
The stay is considered to be a procedural matter and is not likely to materially affect the liquidation process.
The court decision is now to be sent to the Central Bank of Cyprus and the Central Bank of Tanzania, which are expected to hire an accounting firm to begin the process of disposing of US$ 2.6 billion in depositors’ funds. Depositors are to be given 90 days to file claims for the return of their money.
FBME featured prominently in an Asia Sentinel story on April 10 regarding the laundering of hundreds of millions of dollars out of Indonesia for what was first known as Bank Century, then Bank Mutiara. The bank was later sold to a Japan-based concern and is now known as J Trust Bank. The parent’s investors include Wilbur Ross, the Commerce Secretary in the Trump administration and the California Public Employees Retirement System.
After a three-year court battle, a US district court judge in Washington, DC has in effect put a rogue Tanzanian bank out of business that was accused of laundering money through its Cyprus branch for a failed Indonesian bank, the Russian Mafia, the Lebanon-based Shi’a Islamist group Hezbollah, al Qaeda and a long list of others.
US District Judge Christopher Cooper, in a ruling on April 14 granted a motion by the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN – the US Treasury Department’s lead financial money-laundering combatant – to bar FBME Bank from US operations.
The so-called “Fifth Special Measure” of the Patriot Act blocks FBME from doing business in the United States or using US dollars and prohibits domestic financial institutions from opening or maintaining correspondent bank accounts on behalf of FBME.
FBME has fought the ruling tenaciously. On April 14, FBME again asked the court for a 14-day stay to request an appeal from the Washington, DC Circuit Court.
The stay was granted after the US government didn’t object, but, FinCEN Said, “the government does not concede any of the factual or legal representations.”
The stay is considered to be a procedural matter and is not likely to materially affect the liquidation process.
The court decision is now to be sent to the Central Bank of Cyprus and the Central Bank of Tanzania, which are expected to hire an accounting firm to begin the process of disposing of US$ 2.6 billion in depositors’ funds. Depositors are to be given 90 days to file claims for the return of their money.
FBME featured prominently in an Asia Sentinel story on April 10 regarding the laundering of hundreds of millions of dollars out of Indonesia for what was first known as Bank Century, then Bank Mutiara. The bank was later sold to a Japan-based concern and is now known as J Trust Bank. The parent’s investors include Wilbur Ross, the Commerce Secretary in the Trump administration and the California Public Employees Retirement System.
