Thread: Wachovia (IA bank) under fed probe for Mex drug money

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Wachovia part of probe into Latin drug money: Report
27 Apr, 2008, 0536 hrs IST, REUTERS
CHICAGO: Wachovia Corp is being investigated by federal prosecutors as part of a probe into alleged laundering of drug proceeds by Mexican and Colombian money-transfer companies, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal on Saturday.

An official of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Wachovia, the country's fourth largest banking firm, said the company is cooperating with the probe, the newspaper said. The Journal attributed its information about the probe to "people familiar with the matter."

A Wachovia spokeswoman did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Wachovia is one of several large banks being investigated for relationships with the money-transfer companies, the Journal said.

Regulators said on Friday that Wachovia has agreed to pay as much as $144 million to settle allegations it failed to help consumers who fell prey to schemes operated by telemarketers that maintained accounts at the bank.

Wachovia this month posted a surprise first-quarter loss as credit problems from mortgages and other debt soared.

Wachovia this month posted a surprise first-quarter loss as credit problems from mortgages and other debt soared.

I wonder how much it had to do with the boycott of bank of america for giving debit cards to IA's

Wachovia Connected To Laundering Cartel Cash
by M.B. DION (writer), November 16, 2007, published in BrooWaha San Francisco

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Several banking institutions have been hammered by both U.S. and Mexican authorities in their roles for laundering cartel cash from illegal drug trafficking profits.

In the fall season of this year, a U.S. registered Gulfstream jet carrying 3.3 tons of cocaine crashed in the Yucatán Peninsula. In 2006, a DC-9 stuffed with 5.7 tons of cocaine from Venezuela was seized in Mexico by Mexican soldiers.

What these planes have in common is they were both purchased through a Mexican exchange house called Casa de Cambio Puebla. This is troubling for Wachovia, the fourth biggest bank in the U.S., and Harris Bank, the Chicago unit of Canada's BMO Financial Group.

Last week, the Mexican government raided Casa de Cambio Puebla's offices and detained a branch manager, Pedro Alatorre, and a compliance officer, Amador Vazquez for drug-money laundering.

Federal authorities in Mexico released data this week that connects Alatorre to an account at Harris Bank holding $2.7 million and also went on to describe Alatorre as a financial operator for the Pacific Cartel, headed by the notorious JoaquÃ*n "el Chapo" Guzmán Loera.

"If these allegations are in fact true, Mr. Alatorre did these acts without the knowledge, permission or consent of the management/ownership of Casa de Cambio Puebla," Rubino said in a written statement to Forbes.

The Mexican government and U.S. authorities are moving to put the exchange house out of business.

Casa de Cambio Puebla was founded in 1985 by Mexican businessmen, say court filings, and licensed by Mexican banking regulators. It has 17 branch offices throughout Mexico, 240 employees, and maintained 46 U.S. dollar interbank accounts at Wachovia branches in Miami and New York.

Wachovia and Harris Bank declined to comment.

Apparently this is nothing new, which isn't surprising. In September, Union Bank of California, a unit of San Francisco-based UnionBanCal, agreed to pay $31.6 million in fines and penalties to settle drug-money laundering issues stemming from its business with Mexico-based Ribadeo Casa de Cambio.

The feds identified at least $22 million in drug proceeds that flowed through Mexican exchange-house accounts at Union Bank of California. Soon after the exposure the president of Ribadeo Casa de Cambio, Francisco Anton Perez was found shot to death in the back of a car.

Last year the Treasury Department identified six casas and centros used by the Arellano Felix drug cartel to launder proceeds smuggled across the border. In 2005, the feds highlighted nine casas that helped the same cartel launder $120 million.

In August, American Express agreed to pay $65 million, the biggest-ever money-laundering penalty paid by a U.S. financial institution. The penalty was made in connection with Justice Department claims that American Express' international private banking group was used to launder $55 million of Colombian drug money.

In the end with facts and connections being exposed by multiple governments and investigators we shouldn't be surprised by the claims. It would seem difficult for such huge institutions to keep track of where their deposits are coming from, especially when those on the inside are doing the dirty work.

Cocaine, cash, and profiteering mesh well. With a ripe market of U.S. based, selfish addicts who can't wait to snort a line... well what's the problem with a few tons of "white", a few million bucks on the side, and a major bank making money off the interest of laundered greenbacks?

Personally I think this is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to illegal activities such as drug dealing, money laundering, and corporate umbrellas. And this article is a small glimpse into the real world of two realities.

One reality is the hard working citizen who follows the rules believing in an honest buck, the roller coaster ride of paying the bills, getting enough to eat, and accepting well-crafted ads that shine God's light upon "honest" financial institutions.

The other reality is of the multinational corporation who will subvert law, distort facts, and break rules to get the customer and the profit from any point across the globe.

After all money is what makes the world go round.
Copyright © 2008 M.B. DION
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M.B. DION is a writer for BrooWaha. For more information, visit the author's website.

You too can send your "dinero directo to Mexico and Latin America"...Wachovia earlier this month sends out presser ...hilarious all the while the drug cartels were also sending "dinero directo" through Wachovia. Nice.


Wachovia Introduces New Foreign Remittance Card

'Dinero Directo' sends money to Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean

CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Wachovia Corporation
(NYSE: WB) today announced it is offering a foreign remittance product -- the
Wachovia Dinero Directo Card -- that customers may use to send money to
friends and family who reside in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as
Mexico. The card is part of Wachovia Cuenta con Todo, a new package of
deposit products Wachovia is offering its customers.
Customers with a Wachovia checking or savings account can fund the Dinero
Directo foreign remittance card with money from their Wachovia accounts. The
recipient then may use the card at any ATM in the Visa/PLUS network, which
consists of more than 950,000 ATMs in 160 countries. The funds are available
immediately, and the sender may add money to the card at any time using
several funding methods. Wachovia tested the card in 11 financial centers in
Naples, Fla., and Elizabeth, N.J., prior to introducing it in phases to all
markets as part of Wachovia Cuenta con Todo.
"We've seen the amount of money sent from the United States to Latin
America increase dramatically over the past several years to $36 billion,
indicating a real need for a remittance product," said Jorge Moller, director
of Wachovia's Hispanic Segment Strategy. "Fifty percent of the Hispanic
households within Wachovia's footprint are from countries other than Mexico.
For this reason, we expanded the capabilities of our Wachovia Dinero Directo
Card so customers can send money to friends and family throughout Latin
American and Caribbean countries as well as Mexico -- and we're the first
major bank to do that. We combined this remittance product and other popular
deposit products into one account offering, Wachovia Cuenta con Todo, to make
it easy for customers to get the products they want in a convenient package."
In English, Cuenta con Todo translates to "account with everything." In
addition to the Wachovia Dinero Directo Card, Wachovia Cuenta con Todo
includes a free checking account, complete with a free Visa Check Card, the
easy-to-use Visa Extras rewards program and free Online Banking with BillPay.
A savings account, systematic saver CD, and security and identity protection
are also part of the package. Additional information is available on
Wachovia's Spanish-language Web site at http://www.wachovia.com/espanol .
"We know saving is important to our customers, so in addition to the one-
of-a-kind free checking account, Wachovia Cuenta con Todo gives customers two
savings options," Moller said.
Wachovia also plans to offer Spanish-language banking statements to
customers later this year. All customers with existing accounts and customers
who open new accounts will have the option to receive their banking statements
and transaction descriptions in Spanish.

About Wachovia
Wachovia Corporation (NYSE: WB) is one of the largest providers of
financial services to retail, brokerage and corporate customers, with retail
operations from Connecticut to Florida and west to Texas, and retail brokerage
operations nationwide. Wachovia had assets of $493.3 billion, market
capitalization of $83.5 billion and stockholders' equity of $47.3 billion at
December 31, 2004. Its four core businesses, the General Bank, Capital
Management, Wealth Management, and the Corporate and Investment Bank, serve
customers primarily in 15 states and Washington, D.C. Its full-service retail
brokerage firm, Wachovia Securities, LLC, serves clients in 49 states and five
Latin American countries. Global services are offered through 33 international
offices. Online banking and brokerage products and services also are available
through Wachovia.com.


SOURCE Wachovia Corporation