culture, politics, commentary, criticism

Friday, July 16, 2004
The Saudi money laundry and the president's uncle. No, this isn't Michael Moore, it's the
Wall Street Journal:
Riggs National Corp., facing regulatory and political assault for dealings at its once-venerable embassy-banking division, agreed to sell itself to PNC Financial Services Group Inc. for $779 million in stock and cash.

The deal marks the fate of a storied institution whose roots stretch back 165 years. Known as the bank of U.S. presidents, it financed the Mexican-American War and the purchase of Alaska. Under Joe L. Allbritton, a Washington billionaire and [Bush family pal*] power broker whose family controlled Riggs, the bank cornered the market for diplomatic banking, servicing most of the embassies in the nation's capital.

But the diplomatic business, which became the bank's calling card, turned out to be its undoing. Regulators earlier this year fined Riggs $25 million, a near record, for a range of money-laundering violations related to its oversight of accounts held by diplomats and foreign leaders. And this week, a Senate panel blasted the bank for turning "a blind eye" to evidence of extensive corruption involving U.S. oil companies and the president of Equatorial Guinea. The bank allegedly also helped former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet hide millions of dollars from U.S. and European authorities.

[...]

May 13 [2004]: Federal banking agencies impose $25 million fine on Riggs for money-laundering violations related to accounts held by diplomats in Saudi Arabia.
For the uncle part of the story, unreported in the Journal, we rely instead on links provided by Holden at Atrios.

There we see that Uncle Jonathan Bush was President, Chief Executive Officer, and a Director of Riggs Bank.

As Holden asks, "Gee, what is it with the Bush family and their financial connections to notorious dictators accused of crimes against humanity?"

*When George W. Bush's inaugural parade passed the Riggs branch on Pennsylvania Avenue, he spotted [Joe] Allbritton and said, "Hey Joe, how are you doing?"

Check this out too: "Inside safe deposit boxes at Riggs Bank is more than $710 million in cashier's checks that Riggs doesn't want. Neither does any other bank. The stash, once in checking accounts held by the embassies of Saudi Arabia and Equatorial Guinea, is likely to grow."
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Greatest Hits · Alternatives to First Command Financial Planning · First Command, last resort, Part 3 · Part 2 · Part 1 · Stealing $50K from a widow: Wells Real Estate · Leo Wells, REITs and divine wealth · Sex-crazed Red State teenagers · What I hate: a manifesto · Spawn of Darleen Druyun · All-American high school sex party · Why is Ken Lay smiling? · Poppy's Enron birthday party · The Saudi money laundry and the president's uncle · The sentence of Enron's John Forney · The holiness of Neil Bush's marriage · The Silence of Cheney: a poem · South Park Christians · Capitalist against Bush: Warren Buffett · Fastow childen vs. Enron children · Give your prescription money to your old boss · Neil Bush, hard-working matchmaker · Republicans against fetuses and pregnant women · Emboldened Ken Lay · Faith-based jails · Please die for me so I can skip your funeral · A brief illustrated history of the Republican Party · Nancy Victory · Soldiers become accountants · Beware the Merrill Lynch mob · Darleen Druyun's $5.7 billion surprise · First responder funding · Hoovering the country · First Command fifty percent load · Ken Lay and the Atkins diet · Halliburton WMD · Leave no CEO behind · August in Crawford · Elaine Pagels · Profitable slave labor at Halliburton · Tom Hanks + Mujahideen · Sharon & Neilsie Bush · One weekend a month, or eternity · Is the US pumping Iraqi oil to Kuwait? · Cheney's war · Seth Glickenhaus: Capitalist against Bush · Martha's blow job · Mark Belnick: Tyco Catholic nut · Cheney's deferred Halliburton compensation · Jeb sucks sugar cane · Poindexter & LifeLog · American Family Association panic · Riley Bechtel and the crony economy · The Book of Sharon (Bush) · The Art of Enron · Plunder convention · Waiting in Kuwait: Jay Garner · What's an Army private worth? · Barbara Bodine, Queen of Baghdad · Sneaky bastards at Halliburton · Golf course and barbecue military strategy · Enron at large · Recent astroturf · Cracker Chic 2 · No business like war business · Big Brother · Martha Stewart vs. Thomas White · Roger Kimball, disappointed Republican poetry fan · Cheney, Lay, Afghanistan · Terry Lynn Barton, crimes of burning · Feasting at the Cheney trough · Who would Jesus indict? · Return of the Carlyle Group · Duct tape is for little people · GOP and bad medicine · Sears Tower vs Mt Rushmore · Scared Christians · Crooked playing field · John O'Neill: The man who knew · Back to the top






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