(B (J
(B (JBusiness: Riggs Bank hid Assets of Pinochet
(B (JPosted by admin on 2004/7/15 8:47:28 (170 reads)
(B (J
(B (JJonathan Bush, President Bush's uncle, was appointed CEO of Riggs Bank's
(B (Jinvestment arm in May of 2000
(B (J---------------
(B (JCONNECTION $B!>(J JONATHAN BUSH AND RIGGS: Jonathan Bush, President Bush's uncle,
(B (Jwas appointed CEO of Riggs Bank's investment arm in May of 2000, just months
(B (Jafter his nephew secured the nomination for the presidency. At the time of
(B (Jthe appointment, Jonathan Bush had already become a major financial backer
(B (Jof his nephew, rising to "Bush Pioneer" status by raising more than $100,000
(B (Jfor his nephew in 2000. The move solidified the relationship between
(B (JJonathan Bush and Riggs, which was originally initiated in 1997 when,
(B (Jaccording to American Banker newsletter, Riggs paid Bush $5.5 million for
(B (Jhis smaller investment firm. That transaction, according to the NYT,
(B (J"deepened [Riggs's] links to the Bushes." While Riggs denies any connection
(B (Jbetween Bush and the accounts being investigated in the money laundering
(B (Jprobe, Riggs President Timothy Lex told the Washington Times in 1997 that
(B (J"there's a blurring of distinctions between banks, mutual-fund families,
(B (Jbroker dealers and everything else across the board."
(B (JCONNECTION - ALLBRITTON-BUSH LINK: Allbritton, who said during the federal
(B (Jprobe that he was stepping down from Riggs's board, also was close to the
(B (JBush family. As the NYT reported, he (along with Riggs client Saudi Prince
(B (JBandar) was a financial backer of the George Bush Presidential Library and
(B (JMuseum, with National Journal noting he contributed between $100,000 -
(B (J$250,000 to the project. And there also appears to be a personal bond with
(B (Jthe current President Bush: As the 2/15/01 WP noted, "When President Bush
(B (Jclimbed out of his limousine on Inauguration Day at the corner of 15th
(B (JStreet and Pennsylvania Avenue, he spotted Allbritton, waved and said, 'Hey
(B (JJoe, how are you doing?'" That might have something to do with the fact
(B (Jthat, according to the 11/7/2000 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Allbritton-owned
(B (JTV station KATV in Little Rock broke 39 years of precedent and publicly
(B (Jendorsed Bush in the 2000 presidential election. The station, which is the
(B (Jbiggest in the state, proceeded to air its endorsement 10 times throughout
(B (JArkansas, and refused to give equal time to Democrats "who asked for the
(B (Jtime to present an alternative to the station's endorsement."
(B (J--------------
(B (JRiggs Bank Hid Assets Of Pinochet, Report Says
(B (JWP -Thursday, July 15, 2004; Page A01
(B (J
(B (JRiggs Bank courted business from former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet
(B (Jand helped him hide millions of dollars in assets from international
(B (Jprosecutors while he was under house arrest in Britain, according to a
(B (Jreport by Senate investigators.
(B (J
(B (JThe report also says the top federal bank examiner in charge of supervising
(B (Jthe District's largest bank kept details about Riggs's relationship with
(B (JPinochet out of the Riggs case file. That happened a few months before the
(B (Jexaminer retired from the government and joined Riggs as a senior executive.
(B (JThe examiner, R. Ashley Lee, denied the allegations to Senate
(B (Jinvestigators...
(B (J
(B (JThe Senate report also said Lee recommended, while still working for the
(B (Jgovernment, that the bank not be punished for failing to take steps designed
(B (Jto prevent money laundering.
(B (JThe report, which includes the first account of Riggs's dealings with
(B (JPinochet, is the latest blow to an institution that once billed itself as
(B (J"the most important bank in the most important city in the world." In May
(B (Jthe bank agreed to pay $25 million in civil penalties for what federal
(B (Jregulators called "willful, systemic" violation of anti-money-laundering
(B (Jlaws in its dealings with the embassies of Saudi Arabia and Equatorial
(B (JGuinea. Several other federal investigations continue into the bank's
(B (Jactivities, and Riggs has hired investment bankers to explore a sale of the
(B (Jcompany.
(B (JSenate investigators, who spent more than a year looking into Riggs, found
(B (Jthat the bank attempted to use offshore and other accounts that were
(B (Jmisleadingly named to obscure their connection to Pinochet. In documents
(B (Jrequired by federal regulators, for example, the bank referred to Pinochet
(B (Jnot by name but as "a retired professional" who held a "high paying position
(B (Jin public sector for many years."
(B (JSenior bank officials, including former chairman and chief executive Joseph
(B (JL. Allbritton, were part of an effort to win Pinochet's business and were
(B (Jfamiliar with the activities in his accounts, the former dictator's legal
(B (Jstatus and efforts to seize his assets around the world, the Senate report
(B (Jsays.
(B (JIn addition to its account of Riggs's relationship with Pinochet, who was
(B (Jheld in Britain after an indictment in Spain on charges of "crimes against
(B (Jhumanity," the Senate report provides new details about Riggs's dealings
(B (Jwith Teodoro Obiang Nguema, the dictator of Equatorial Guinea.
(B (J"It's a sordid story of a bank with a prestigious name that blatantly
(B (Jignored its obligations under anti-money-laundering laws," said Sen. Carl M.
(B (JLevin (D-Mich.), the ranking minority member of the subcommittee whose staff
(B (Joversaw the investigation. "And it took our regulators five years to act in
(B (Jany substantive way. . . . They tolerated Riggs failures and tolerated their
(B (Jdysfunctional AML [anti-money-laundering] program."
(B (JRiggs officials declined to discuss the Pinochet allegations...
(B (J...Yesterday a source with knowledge of the matter who spoke on the
(B (Jcondition of anonymity said that the inspector general has subpoenaed the
(B (Jbank's phone and meeting logs in an effort to determine, among other things,
(B (Jwhether Lee attended meetings with his former agency since he joined Riggs
(B (J-- which could be a violation of government ethics rules.
(B (JThe report found that Pinochet's deposits at Riggs varied from $4 million to
(B (J$8 million, held in several personal and corporate accounts. A "senior
(B (Jdelegation" of bank officials traveled to South America in 1996 to solicit
(B (Jbusiness, including Pinochet's, the report said.
(B (JPinochet has been linked to corruption, illegal arms and drug trafficking,
(B (Jand the disappearance or murder of thousands of political opponents during
(B (Jhis reign, which began with a 1973 coup and ended in 1990. Pinochet was
(B (Jfound unfit to be extradited to stand trial in Spain in 2000 and was allowed
(B (Jto return to Chile, where he still lives.
(B (JAccording to the report, in July 1996, about 18 months after opening a
(B (Jpersonal account at Riggs, Pinochet was indicted by Spain on charges of
(B (Jgenocide, terrorism and torture against Spanish citizens during his rule. A
(B (JRiggs subsidiary in the Bahamas then established two companies, Ashburton
(B (JCo. Ltd. and Althorp Investment Co. Ltd., both putatively owned by trusts
(B (Jset up by Riggs.
(B (JNowhere on the trust or company documentation does Pinochet's name appear,
(B (Jthough he and his family were the ultimate beneficiaries, according to
(B (Jinvestigators. Ashburton held the most Pinochet money; it had a $4.5 million
(B (Jbalance when it was closed in 2002, the report said.
(B (J...Two other bank examiners told Senate investigators that in 2002, a month
(B (Jbefore Lee was approached by Riggs about a job, he "specifically instructed"
(B (Jthem not to include the Pinochet findings in the OCC's electronic database.
(B (JLee told the investigators that the examiners under him may have been
(B (J"confused" about his instruction to ensure the privacy of the Pinochet
(B (Jmatter. The examiners disputed that, saying Lee's instructions were "clear,"
(B (Jthe report says.
(B (JThe subcommittee report also laid out new details of Riggs's relationship
(B (Jwith Equatorial Guinea and of transfers into the accounts controlled by the
(B (Jcountry's dictator of millions of dollars of deposits made by U.S. oil
(B (Jcompanies. The West African country's government has been cited by the State
(B (JDepartment and various nongovernmental and human rights groups as one of the
(B (Jmost corrupt in the world.
(B (JA spokesman for Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), chairman of the investigations
(B (Jsubcommittee, said Coleman agrees with the findings of the report but not a
(B (Jrecommendation that oil companies be required to publicly disclose all
(B (Jpayments to foreign companies or individuals. The spokesman said Coleman
(B (Jwants to hear from oil companies before endorsing that suggestion and
(B (Jtherefore withheld his signature from the report.
(B (JColeman spokesman Tom Steward said, "We agree with 99.9 percent of the
(B (Jreport."
(B (JIn addition to the Pinochet and Equatorial Guinea accounts, the subcommittee
(B (Jfound others "equally troubling," including more than 150 Saudia Arabian
(B (Jaccounts. The full Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, as part of a
(B (Jlarger look into terrorist funding, is probing those accounts and has
(B (Jsubpoenaed records from both the OCC and from Riggs.
(B (JThe Bush-Riggs Connection
(B (JAmerican Progress
(B (J...The decision last week by federal regulators to fine Riggs Bank $25
(B (Jmillion for a "willful, systemic" violation of anti-money-laundering laws is
(B (Jraising new questions about whether the Bush administration's ties to
(B (Jpowerful moneyed interests is unduly influencing U.S. foreign and national
(B (Jsecurity policy. Riggs Bank is headed by longtime Bush family friend Joe
(B (JAllbritton, employs President Bush's uncle Jonathan as a top executive, and
(B (Jother executives have been financial donors to the Bush campaign. The bank
(B (Jis at the center of a controversy, according to the Wall Street Journal, for
(B (Jfailing to monitor "tens of millions of dollars in cash withdrawals from
(B (Jaccounts related to the Saudi Arabian and Equatorial Guinean embassy,"
(B (Jincluding "suspicious incidents involving dozens of sequentially numbered
(B (Jcashier's checks and international drafts written by Saudi officials,
(B (Jincluding Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan." Sen. Charles Grassley
(B (J(R-IA) "said members of the bank's board of directors should be held to
(B (Jaccount for failing to exercise their watchdog role over Riggs's operations"
(B (Jand said refusal to follow money laundering laws "allows terrorists to
(B (Jfunnel their blood money through the system."
(B (JCONNECTION $B!>(J JONATHAN BUSH AND RIGGS: Jonathan Bush, President Bush's uncle,
(B (Jwas appointed CEO of Riggs Bank's investment arm in May of 2000, just months
(B (Jafter his nephew secured the nomination for the presidency. At the time of
(B (Jthe appointment, Jonathan Bush had already become a major financial backer
(B (Jof his nephew, rising to "Bush Pioneer" status by raising more than $100,000
(B (Jfor his nephew in 2000. The move solidified the relationship between
(B (JJonathan Bush and Riggs, which was originally initiated in 1997 when,
(B (Jaccording to American Banker newsletter, Riggs paid Bush $5.5 million for
(B (Jhis smaller investment firm. That transaction, according to the NYT,
(B (J"deepened [Riggs's] links to the Bushes." While Riggs denies any connection
(B (Jbetween Bush and the accounts being investigated in the money laundering
(B (Jprobe, Riggs President Timothy Lex told the Washington Times in 1997 that
(B (J"there's a blurring of distinctions between banks, mutual-fund families,
(B (Jbroker dealers and everything else across the board."
(B (JCONNECTION - ALLBRITTON-BUSH LINK: Allbritton, who said during the federal
(B (Jprobe that he was stepping down from Riggs's board, also was close to the
(B (JBush family. As the NYT reported, he (along with Riggs client Saudi Prince
(B (JBandar) was a financial backer of the George Bush Presidential Library and
(B (JMuseum, with National Journal noting he contributed between $100,000 -
(B (J$250,000 to the project. And there also appears to be a personal bond with
(B (Jthe current President Bush: As the 2/15/01 WP noted, "When President Bush
(B (Jclimbed out of his limousine on Inauguration Day at the corner of 15th
(B (JStreet and Pennsylvania Avenue, he spotted Allbritton, waved and said, 'Hey
(B (JJoe, how are you doing?'" That might have something to do with the fact
(B (Jthat, according to the 11/7/2000 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Allbritton-owned
(B (JTV station KATV in Little Rock broke 39 years of precedent and publicly
(B (Jendorsed Bush in the 2000 presidential election. The station, which is the
(B (Jbiggest in the state, proceeded to air its endorsement 10 times throughout
(B (JArkansas, and refused to give equal time to Democrats "who asked for the
(B (Jtime to present an alternative to the station's endorsement."
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