Bush's uncle in bank scandal
Naturally, the liberal New York Times has this front and center on its story about corruption at the Riggs Bank. Waitasecond; no, it doesn't. Doesn't mention Uncle Jonathan at all! How curious . . .
nytimes.com l
At Riggs Bank, a Tangled Path Led to Scandal By TIMOTHY L. O'BRIEN
Published: July 19, 2004
WASHINGTON, July 18 — Riggs Bank, which for years billed itself as "the most important bank in the most important city in the world," now finds itself the most scrutinized bank in the most unforgiving city in the world.
The Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has concluded that Riggs executives and bank regulators, even after the events of Sept. 11, 2001, failed to monitor suspicious financial transactions involving hundreds of millions of dollars.
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The scrutiny of the bank involves accounts it held for Gen. Augusto Pinochet, the former Chilean dictator, and for the Saudi Arabian Embassy. It comes at a time when several new books and the documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" have put a spotlight on the kingdom's ties to the Bush administration. The sources of about $700 million in cash and investment accounts at Riggs Bank owned by the African nation of Equatorial Guinea or some of its leaders are also being examined, at a time when American companies have been courting that oil-rich nation to secure petroleum sources outside the Middle East.
The Chilean Congress, reacting to disclosures about General Pinochet's accounts at Riggs, said that on Tuesday it would consider establishing a commission to determine if the accounts contained looted government money. In August, the Chilean Supreme Court is expected to rule on whether General Pinochet, who is 88 and said to be in poor health, must stand trial on charges stemming from a wave of murders and disappearances that swept across the southern cone of South America in the 1970's and 1980's.
Riggs and its senior executives have for months denied any wrongdoing, although one former executive is the subject of a grand jury inquiry. Riggs and its executives now face the possibility of criminal charges. Spokesmen for the Saudi Arabian Embassy have also denied wrongdoing; the Equatorial Guinean Embassy has repeatedly declined to comment. People close to General Pinochet, including his son, have told news services in Chile that he has never had secret bank accounts and that money in the Riggs accounts may be donations from supporters sponsoring his legal defense.
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Now, what do you suppose the lead story would be if a bank that a close relative of John Kerry was helping out a murderous thug like Pinochet? And would there be any mention of the family ties? Very curious, indeed.
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