Arab Bank Fined $24M for Terror Funding
Charles Johnson
Sat Aug 20, 2005 at 5:20 pm PDT • Views: 246
The Arab world’s largest bank has been fined $24 million for funding Palestinian terrorism. (Hat tip: LGF readers.)
The New York branch of the Arab Bank has been ordered to pay $24 million to the US Treasury Department for failing to monitor transactions aimed at funding terror and money laundering, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said Wednesday.
FinCEN and OCC brought two actions against the bank in February for violation of suspicious reporting requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act.
“When functioning as a correspondent or intermediary institution for funds transfers, the New York branch of Arab Bank failed to implement sufficient internal controls and testing procedures to ensure compliance with the act, for transactions involving beneficiaries that did not maintain an account directly with the branch,” the agencies said in a joint statement following their decision.
The Arab Bank said in response that it did not believe the law required the same anti-money laundering controls to be applied to wire transfers, in which the branch had only an intermediary role.
“The Arab Bank neither admits nor denies any wrongdoing,” the bank said in a statement. “We have agreed to the consent orders and will pay the fine in order to put this behind us.”
Previous LGF entries about Arab Bank’s dirty dealings:
Arab Bank ‘Martyr Kits’
Arab Bank Major Supporter of Terrorism
Arab Bank Told to Stop Wire Transfers
Arab Bank: ‘The Climate of the US is Not Expedient’
Going After the Terror Financiers
The Terror Gangs’ Preferred Channel
Frank says: