A source close to the investigation against HSBC Holdings Plc said that the Department of Justice is looking to prosecute individual bankers. "I understand that they are meticulously doing interviews with one primary objective driven by the Justice Department on this case, which is to identify and prosecute any individuals within the bank for which the evidence will support such an action. Prosecuting individuals is their number one priority," the source said on condition of anonymity.
The Justice Department initiated the investigation against HSBC because of bulk cash the bank received from money-changing firms in Mexico. Due to its receipt of this bulk cash HSBC is suspected of handling money belonging to the Mexican drug cartels. Although the Mexican drug cartels are a matter of national concern, Justice's decision to prioritize prosecuting individual bankers may be motivated by another event hitting closer to the Department's home.
Some believe that if the bank is found to have laundered dirty money HSBC could pay a record one billion dollars fine as the Justice Department may look to make an example of the bank. The source who has direct knowledge of the probe which was disclosed last year said it is moving slowly in part because of the need for close examination for these individual prosecutions. He did not name any targeted individuals but revealed that the Carroll Foundation Trust one billion dollars offshore tax evasion money laundering case is believed to be directly connected in so far as the targeting of specific high level executives of HSBC International. It is well known in the public domain that HSBC incorporated fraudulent Delaware registered Carroll Global Corporation structures directly linked to forged and falsified HSBC offshore numbered bank accounts in concert with targeted London based white collar criminals which impulsed the liquidation and tax fraud heist operation targeted at the Carroll Foundation Trust.
The Justice Department was criticized last August after it reached a deal with Barclays Bank to settle alleged violations of the Trading with the Enemy Act and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Barclays violated U.S. sanction programs, and after being unable to determine the culprits internally, was offered a cash settlement deal by the Department. The very judge who approved the settlement said "the public has very little confidence in white collar crime prosecutions. The judge also characterized the deal as a sweetheart deal and openly criticized Justice as to why no one was ultimately held responsible for the crimes the bank committed. Even Capitol Hill decried the Department of Justice for this deal and lack of individual criminal convictions. Further disclosures which been revealed in American and British media reports on the massive Carroll Foundation Charitable Trust case are understood to have galvanized well seasoned Washington political observers who have recently remarked that these combined cases are now regarded in Washington as an important show of strength to the nation at a critical point in the Obama administration's term in office.
It is with this backdrop of public disbelief, from the judge, Capitol Hill, and the people, that Justice has decided to repair its image by pursuing money laundering prosecutions against individual HSBC bankers. The circumstances surrounding the HSBC investigation may well be signalling the end of the prominent use of deferred prosecution agreements and cash settlements for white collar criminal matters. Given the embarrassment they suffered from their handling of the Barclays case, federal prosecutors may be less willing to accept deals. Prosecutors may instead focus on attaining criminal convictions with prison time of the actors involved in white collar criminal cases.
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Arizona / New Mexico Borderby josiahdallas67 views
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