Ex-Riggs Bank executive arrested over E. Guinea money

[Minstrel Boy]

Ex-Riggs Bank executive arrested over E. Guinea money

Fri May 27, 2005 9:09 AM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - FBI agents arrested a former Riggs Bank vice president and his wife on Thursday in an investigation of alleged embezzlement of money from the account of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, The Washington Post reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the case.

The only two people to be arrested in an 18-month probe of Riggs's international and embassy banking business, Simon Kareri and his wife Nene Fall Kareri were to be arraigned on Friday, the newspaper reported, citing the sources.

In January, Riggs pleaded guilty to a criminal violation of the Bank Secrecy Act, an anti-money-laundering law, and agreed to pay $16 million for failing to report suspicious activity in accounts held by former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and officials of Equatorial Guinea.

The Kareris were investigated for money he is said to have embezzled from the account of Equatorial Guinea and possibly from other Riggs clients, the newspaper said, citing a government source.

http://www.reuters.co.za/locales/c_newsArticle.jsp?type=businessNews&localeKey=en_ZA&storyID=8624320

[emad]

1. First domino to tumble in the Riggs debacle? Riggs UK/Europe

CEO David Bachetti next on the list?

[Robbien]

3. The way the article is written

"the Kareris were the only two people to be arrested in an 18-month probe" makes it seem as if the Kareris team will be the only ones arrested. As if these two are going to be the fall guys for the whole mess. BushCo probably wanted the whole thing to be swept under the rug but had to give the investigators a bone by allowing them to have the Kareris.

[Octafish]

2. Riggs bank launders money for BFEE. Jonathan Bush is on the board...

Gee. How come this stuff isn't on the TV?

BANKING

The Bush-Riggs Connection

The decision last week by federal regulators to fine Riggs Bank $25 million for a "willful, systemic" violation of anti-money-laundering laws is raising new questions about whether the Bush administration's ties to powerful moneyed interests is unduly influencing U.S. foreign and national security policy. Riggs Bank is headed by longtime Bush family friend Joe Allbritton, employs President Bush's uncle Jonathan as a top executive, and other executives have been financial donors to the Bush campaign. The bank is at the center of a controversy, according to the Wall Street Journal, for failing to monitor "tens of millions of dollars in cash withdrawals from accounts related to the Saudi Arabian and Equatorial Guinean embassy," including "suspicious incidents involving dozens of sequentially numbered cashier's checks and international drafts written by Saudi officials, including Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan." Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) "said members of the bank's board of directors should be held to account for failing to exercise their watchdog role over Riggs's operations" and said refusal to follow money laundering laws "allows terrorists to funnel their blood money through the system."

CONNECTION – JONATHAN BUSH AND RIGGS: Jonathan Bush, President Bush's uncle, was appointed CEO of Riggs Bank's investment arm in May of 2000, just months after his nephew secured the nomination for the presidency. At the time of the appointment, Jonathan Bush had already become a major financial backer of his nephew, rising to "Bush Pioneer" status by raising more than $100,000 for his nephew in 2000. The move solidified the relationship between Jonathan Bush and Riggs, which was originally initiated in 1997 when, according to American Banker newsletter, Riggs paid Bush $5.5 million for his smaller investment firm. That transaction, according to the NYT, "deepened links to the Bushes." While Riggs denies any connection between Bush and the accounts being investigated in the money laundering probe, Riggs President Timothy Lex told the Washington Times in 1997 that "there's a blurring of distinctions between banks, mutual-fund families, broker dealers and everything else across the board."

CONNECTION - ALLBRITTON-BUSH LINK: Allbritton, who said during the federal probe that he was stepping down from Riggs's board, also was close to the Bush family. As the NYT reported, he (along with Riggs client Saudi Prince Bandar) was a financial backer of the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, with National Journal noting he contributed between $100,000 - $250,000 to the project. And there also appears to be a personal bond with the current President Bush: As the 2/15/01 WP noted, "When President Bush climbed out of his limousine on Inauguration Day at the corner of 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, he spotted Allbritton, waved and said, 'Hey Joe, how are you doing?'" That might have something to do with the fact that, according to the 11/7/2000 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Allbritton-owned TV station KATV in Little Rock broke 39 years of precedent and publicly endorsed Bush in the 2000 presidential election. The station, which is the biggest in the state, proceeded to air its endorsement 10 times throughout Arkansas, and refused to give equal time to Democrats "who asked for the time to present an alternative to the station's endorsement."

ACTION – LOOSENING BANKING REGS THAT COULD AFFECT RIGGS: According to Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon's "Age of Sacred Terror," upon taking office the Bush administration tried to halt efforts to tighten international banking laws – some of which may have affected Riggs. As he notes, the new Bush Treasury Department "disapproved of the Clinton administration's approach to money laundering issues, which had been an important part of the drive to cut off the money flow to bin Laden." Specifically, the Bush administration opposed Clinton administration-backed efforts by the G-7 and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that targeted countries with "loose banking regulations" being abused by terrorist financiers. Meanwhile, the Bush administration provided "no funding for the new National Terrorist Asset Tracking Center."

ACTION - HIDING INFORMATION THAT COULD BE DAMAGING TO RIGGS: Newsweek reported that checks to "two Saudi students in the United States who provided assistance to two of the September 11 hijackers" may have come "from an account at Washington's Riggs Bank in the name of Princess Haifa Al-Faisal, the wife of Saudi Ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan." This, and other details, were reportedly part of the bipartisan House-Senate Intelligence Committee investigation into the Saudi money flow after 9/11. Yet, instead of allowing the committee's final report to be published in full, "Bush administration officials, led by Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller, have adamantly refused to declassify the evidence" surrounding the transactions.

CONTINUED(Excellent Resource w. Loads o' Links)...

http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=78928#3

[Mizmoon]

4. Did you say something?

we're watching "American Idol" :popcorn:


:silly:

[Octafish]

7. Wow! Is that on FOX?

Those who actually follow the news may enjoy the lengths the Post goes to avoid answering the question:

Riggs Bank Senate Investigation
Senate Probe Investigation

Terence O'Hara
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 16, 2004; 11:00 AM

Senate investigators report that Riggs Bank courted business from the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and helped him hide millions of dollars in assets from international prosecutors. Investigators say the top federal bank examiner in charge of supervising the District's largest bank kept details about the relationship hidden and aided Pinochet while he was under house arrest in Britain.

Post staff writer Terence O'Hara was online Friday, July 16, at 11 a.m. ET to discuss the Senate probe of Riggs Bank and its involvement with Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.


SNIP...

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SNIP...

Denver, Colo.:
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.

Terence O'Hara: Perhaps Eleanor could paste in a link to our story of May 27. He was never president and CEO of the bank, though he was chief executive of an investment management subsidiary the bank bought.

CONTINUED...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52591-2004Jul15.html

Thus they run free. On a technicality, no doubt.

BTW: Hope you and yours are doing well, Mizmoon!

[UpInArms]

5. didn't you hear, Michael Jackson was in his

PAJAMAS!

:popcorn:

[Octafish]

8. No way! Does he bank at Riggs, too?

Hey, UpInArms! Here's a site I reeeeeeeeeealy like (read in the voice of Al MNF-turd Michaels):

Riggs Bank

Riggs Bank is a Quick Facts about: Washington, DC
Quick Summary not found for this subjectWashington, DC-based commercial bank with branches located in the surrounding metropolitan area and offices around the world. Since the Quick Facts about: 1980s
The decade from 1980 to 19891980s Riggs was controlled by the Albritton family, but control of the bank was lost due to Quick Facts about: corporate scandal
Quick Summary not found for this subjectcorporate scandals and management problems.

SNIP...

Trivia Twenty-two U.S. Presidents or their families have banked at Riggs, including Quick Facts about: John Tyler
Elected Vice President and became the 10th President of the United States when Harrison died (1790-1862)John Tyler, Quick Facts about: Abraham Lincoln
16th President of the United States; saved the Union during the Civil War and emancipated the slaves; was assassinated by Booth (1809-1865)Abraham Lincoln, Quick Facts about: Ulysses S. Grant
18th President of the United States; commander of the Union armies in the American Civil War (1822-1885)Ulysses S. Grant, and Quick Facts about: Dwight D. Eisenhower
United States general who supervised the invasion of Normandy and the defeat of Nazi Germany; 34th President of the United States (1890-1961)Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Accounts have also been held by Senators Quick Facts about: Henry Clay
United States politician responsible for the Missouri Compromise between free and slave states (1777-1852)Henry Clay, Quick Facts about: John C. Calhoun
Quick Summary not found for this subjectJohn C. Calhoun, and Quick Facts about: Daniel Webster
United States politician and orator (1782-1817)Daniel Webster, Confederate president Quick Facts about: Jefferson Davis
IAmerican statesman; president of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War (1808-1889)Jefferson Davis, Quick Facts about: American Red Cross
Quick Summary not found for this subjectAmerican Red Cross founder Quick Facts about: Clara Barton
Quick Summary not found for this subjectClara Barton, suffragist Quick Facts about: Susan B. Anthony
United States suffragist (1820-1906)Susan B. Anthony, and generals Quick Facts about: William Tecumseh Sherman
United States general who was commander of all Union troops in the West; he captured Atlanta and led a destructive march to the sea that cut the Confederacy in two (1820-1891)William Tecumseh Sherman and Quick Facts about: Douglas MacArthur
United States general who served as chief of staff and commanded Allied forces in the South Pacific during World War II; he accepted the surrender of Japan (1880-1964)Douglas MacArthur.
Corcoran & Riggs financed Samual Morse's invention of the telegraph in 1845.
The bank lent $16 million to the U.S. government to pay for the Mexican War in 1847.
In 1868, Riggs provided $7.2 million in financing for the purchase of Quick Facts about: Alaska
A state in northwestern North America; the 49th state admitted to the unionAlaska.
In 1909, Riggs' president formally presented to the U.S. Congress a plan for economic relief. Many financial reforms were implemented as a result of this plan, including the establishment of the Quick Facts about: Federal Reserve
The central bank of the United States; incorporates 12 Federal Reserve branch banks and all national banks and state charted commercial banks and some trust companiesFederal Reserve in 1913.
In 2002, Joe L. Allbritton, the Chairman of the Board, was inducted into the Washington Business Hall of Fame. This may be considered ironic due to the scandals that would unfold over the next two years.

Political connections

Riggs has always had useful political connections from its inception. In recent years Riggs bank has invested a great deal in solidifying its relationship with President Quick Facts about: George W. Bush
43rd President of the United States; son of George Herbert Walker Bush (born in 1946)George W. Bush. In 2000, Quick Facts about: Jonathan Bush
Quick Summary not found for this subjectJonathan Bush, President Bush's uncle, was appointed CEO of Riggs Bank's investment arm. The Allbritton family, which controlled the bank for decades, has made itself extremely well-connected to the Bush family.(*) During Bush's inauguration parade, he waved to Mr. Albritton and yelled "Hey, Joe, how are you?" Mr. Albritton has raised money for Bush's campaign and donated the portrait of Quick Facts about: Ronald Reagan
40th President of the United States (1911-)Ronald Reagan that hangs in the White House.(*)

SOURCE PLUS:

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/R/Ri/Riggs_Bank.htm

[Al-CIAda]

6. Margaret Thatcher's son was indicted in a coup on Equatorial Guinea...n/t

[emad]

10. Indicted, found guilty and fined. Hos mom had to fork out over

£500,000+ in fees/expenses and now her slush fund the Thatcher Foundation has had to close due to huge financial losses and lack of backers filling up the coffers...

[Al-CIAda]

9. .