Major Banks Moved Vast Sums of Illicit Money: ICIJ | Voice of America
WASHINGTON – Massive sums of allegedly dirty money have flowed for years through some of the world’s largest banking institutions, said an international journalism investigation published Sunday, which denounced shortcomings in sector regulations.
“Profits from deadly drug wars, fortunes embezzled from developing countries, and hard-earned savings stolen in a Ponzi scheme were all allowed to flow into and out of these financial institutions, despite warnings from the banks’ own employees,” according to the probe from Buzzfeed News and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
The investigation, which was led by 108 international media outlets from 88 different countries, is based on thousands of suspicious activity reports (SARs) submitted to the US Treasury Department’s financial law enforcement agency, FinCEN, by banks from around the world.
“These documents, compiled by banks, shared with the government, but kept from public view, expose the hollowness of banking safeguards, and the ease with which
