authorities called the largest such case in U.S. history.
....And the flood gates will open....
I have not learned any details yet... but common "wisdom" says that the entire Mexican 'Democracia' is better described as "Narcocracia".
Supposedly is one of those "openly known secrets"... well I guess is secret no more....
Then again Mexico is well known as a Kafkian place, so they will just shrug and go on living like nothing has happen... the typical...
"Me vale madres"... can't explain that one, you have to live it.
Roughly is "nothing matters" (but it is deeper than that).<g>
msnbc.com
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Banca Serfin's attorney has said the loss of a license could also result in a bank's ”inability to raise money in the international capital markets which would be the ultimate death penalty.”
Oh well.... Might as well, just give them the keys to the whole damned country.... what the hell... if you think about it it may not be all that bad....
Imagine all the new suckers Amazon.com could sell stock to.... hmm... say it reaches $600 again and splits 3 to 1....
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Grupo Financiero Bancomer S.A. and Grupo Financiero Serfin S.A. will each pay $500,000 in criminal fines. Bancomer also will forfeit about $9.4 million in money seized by authorities. Serfin will forfeit about $4.2 million in seized money, according to a source familiar with the case.
Prosecutors planned to drop charges against a third Mexican financial institution, Banca Confia. Confia, which sold most of its assets to Citibank after it was indicted, agreed to forfeit $12.1 million seized from its U.S. holdings.
The money is part of $100 million seized from 14 banks and dozens of individuals in Operation Casablanca, a three-year investigation of money laundering activities of Colombia's Cali drug cartel and the Juarez cartel in Mexico.
Federal prosecutors say tens of millions of dollars in drug profits were laundered through phony transactions to Mexican-owned banks to conceal their origin.
The banks had denied wrongdoing, saying any illegal activity was committed by rogue employees.
Attorneys for Bancomer and Serfin were scheduled to enter pleas this afternoon in a hearing before U.S. District Judge Lourdes Baird.
The plea agreement, originally reported by the Los Angeles Times and New York Times, doesn't end the case. Jury selection started Monday for six Mexican bankers and businessmen charged in the case.
Prosecutors also are working out a civil settlement with Banco Industrial Venezuela, one of two Venezuelan banks implicated in the case. Similar civil actions may be filed against other banks where funds were seized, the source said.
The operation raised tension between the United States and Mexico when agents arrested 167 people, including top Mexican bankers and executives. Mexico accused the United States of intruding on Mexican sovereignty by conducting a sting operation without its involvement.
Bancomer and Serfin, Mexico's second- and third-largest banks, still face possible hearings before the Federal Reserve Board to decide whether they will be allowed to continue to operate in the United States.
Banca Serfin's attorney has said the loss of a license could also result in a bank's ”inability to raise money in the international capital markets which would be the ultimate death penalty.”
© 1999 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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I wonder what is happening to all those millions being seized by the drug authorities.... I strong case against "legalizing drugs", and merely taxing it...
I could hear a DEA official think to himself....
"Hell why legalize it, we have more power than the IRS, the Federal Reserve, and god combined we don't tax anything... we keep the entire damned lot... are you kidding... we are not morons!" |
