Les articles ci-apres viennent de l’AFP, le L. A. Times, USA Today et le London Times. Ils nous demontrent, avec chiffres s’il vous plait, comment des gens comme Bongo ont pille la tresorerie de leur pays. Que les Bongoistes osent encore defendre Bongo! 130 millions de dollars dans un seul compte aux USA; combien en Suisse, en France, A Monaco, au Luxembourg, aux iles Caimans …etc….
Agence France Presse
November 09, 1999
Blanchiment d'argent : les banques americaines vulnerables, selon le Congres
La "vulnerabilite" des banques d'affaires americaines face au blanchiment d'argent, illustree par des negligences dans plusieurs cas recents de corruption, a ete mise en avant mardi au Congres des Etats-Unis. Une sous-commission d'enquete senatoriale a notamment epluche le role de la Citibank, qui dispose d'une importante activite de banque d'affaires,dans trois scandales recents ayant implique Raoul Salinas, le frere de l'ancien president du Mexique, le president du Gabon Omar Bongo et les fils du defunt ancien president du Nigeria, le general Sani Abacha. Selon une enquete parlementaire, Raoul Salinas a pu faire sortir du Mexique entre 90 a 100 millions de dollars d'une maniere "permettant de deguiser la provenance et la destination des fonds" en ayant recours a des noms de code, des comptes off-shore et des prete-noms, le tout grace aux services de la Citibank Private Bank. "La sous-commission n'a pas decouvert de preuves que la Citibank ou toute autre banque a consciemment aide M. Salinas a blanchir de l'argent", a affirme sa presidente, le senateur republicain du Maine, Susan Collins. Mais, a-t-elle releve, "plusieurs banques ont neglige leurs procedures internes" au risque d'encourager la corruption. Plus generalement, "la sous-commission a decouvert que les criminels peuvent facilement avoir recours aux banques d'affaires americaines pour transferer d'importantes sommes d'argent", a indique Mme Collins. "On ne peut pas d'un cote condamner la corruption a l'etranger, et tolerer que les banques americaines fassent des fortunes grace a cette corruption", a declare pour sa part le senateur democrate Carl Levin. "En clair, les banques americaines aident des clients fortunes a faire a l'etranger ce qu'ils ne peuvent pas faire a l'interieur des frontieres des Etats-Unis", a-t-il dit dans un communique. John Reed, l'un des directeurs generaux de Citigroup, la plus grande institution financiere americaine, devait egalement temoigner devant la commission lors de ces auditions prevues de durer deux jours.
Los Angeles Times
November 10, 1999, Wednesday
SECTION: Business; Part C; Page 3; Financial Desk
HEADLINE: CITIBANK ADMITS LAPSES IN OVERSIGHT HELPED FOREIGNERSLAUNDER MILLIONS
BY NICK ANDERSON, TIMES STAFF WRITER
Citibank, confronted by a stinging new Senate investigation of money laundering, on Tuesday acknowledged lapses in oversight of its "private banking" operations during the 1990s--operations that helped foreign leaders and their relatives move millions of dollars overseas in questionable transactions. A report by the Senate permanent investigations subcommittee charged that the foreigners, with Citibank's help, used deliberately opaque networks of shell corporations, offshore trusts and other instruments to shield their identities as they secretly transferred money out of their own countries. Among the most glaring incidents cited by the subcommittee were those involving the brother of former Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari; the president of Gabon, an oil-producing nation in west Africa; the sons of a former Nigerian military strongman; and the husband of a former prime minister of Pakistan. The schemes, according to the report written by the subcommittee's Democratic staff, may have hindered efforts by banking regulators and law enforcement agents to investigate the legality of the financial dealings. "Like all similar institutions, we have had problems and made mistakes," John S. Reed, chairman and co-chief executive of Citigroup Inc., said in written testimony. Citigroup is the parent of Citibank. While the subcommittee took pains to note that Citibank is not alone in its vulnerability to money laundering, the investigation and Tuesday's testimony gave a remarkable dressing-down to one of the world's most sophisticated financial institutions. Citibank has not been charged with criminal wrongdoing in any of the cases. Reed asserted that the bank has taken vigorous steps in recent years to shield itself from the abuses of would-be money launderers. "Of course, the changes did not occur overnight," Reed conceded, "and in retrospect one could take issue with whether they happened fast enough. Change takes time." When pressed by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.) to explain what went wrong, Reed replied: "We're a human organization. We clearly have a number of instances where we have failed to follow policies." The inquiry and the hearing also offered a rare glimpse inside the world of private banking, in which banks cater to super-rich customers who seek to move their money around the globe with minimal hassle and maximum confidentiality. Private banking has grown in recent years as U.S. banks have sought to expand their share of an exclusive and highly lucrative market and as the ranks of super-rich clients have multiplied. Banking industry leaders maintain that private banking is a legitimate activity--a point not disputed by the subcommittee. But Levin, reviewing several cases in which private bankers have come under fire for their dealings with foreigners accused of corruption, said: "America cannot have it both ways. We can't condemn corruption abroad, be it officials taking bribes or looting their treasuries, and then tolerate American banks making profits off that corruption." The cases reviewed by the congressional investigation, each involving Citibank, included:
* Tens of millions of dollars transferred by Raul Salinas de Gortari out of Mexico and into overseas accounts in 1993 and 1994 during the presidency of his brother, Carlos Salinas de Gortari. Raul Salinas is now imprisoned in Mexico on a murder conviction and has been the subject of corruption and drug-trafficking probes in Mexico and Switzerland.
* More than $ 40 million moved through accounts controlled by Asif Ali Zardari, husband of Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister of Pakistan. A Pakistani court has convicted Zardari of taking $ 9 million in kickbacks and a Swiss court indicted him for money laundering.
* More than $ 130 million moved through accounts controlled by El Hadj Omar Bongo, president of Gabon since 1967. A French criminal investigation is examining allegations of illegal payments by an oil company to Bongo.
* More than $ 110 million moved through accounts connected to Mohammed, Ibrahim and Abba Abacha, sons of the late Gen. Sani Abacha, former military leader of Nigeria. At Nigeria's request, a Swiss court has frozen Abacha-connected accounts and begun a money-laundering probe.
In the Abacha case, Alain Ober, a Citibank executive with private banking duties for African clients, admitted he was unaware for three years that he was dealing with sons of the notoriously ruthless Nigerian military leader. Ober told investigators that his clients used another last name--"Sani," not "Abacha"—and that he took them to be ordinary businessmen. "I was embarrassed. I was appalled," Ober testified, describing his reaction upon discovering their true identities. Much of the hearing focused on the Salinas case. Amy Elliott, another Citibank private banking executive, testified that she waived certain standard background-checking procedures when she took Raul Salinas on as a client in 1992--confident that he was an upstanding businessman and member of a respected Mexican family. Elliott, according to her testimony and the report, went to great lengths to help Salinas and his wife move tens of millions of dollars out of Mexico during 1993 and 1994. But when Raul Salinas was arrested in 1995 on a murder charge and Citibank officials were scrambling to learn more about their client, they discovered that the bank had almost no information in its own records on Salinas' business background or the source of his wealth.
USA TODAY
November 10, 1999, Wednesday.
SECTION: MONEY; Pg. 2B
Citibank 'broke no laws,' co-CEO says Senator says clients included 'rogues gallery'
BY Thomas A. Fogarty
Citibank's behavior in handling million-dollar bank accounts for a highly placed Mexican criminal and Gabon's president are "open to legitimate criticism," a top bank official acknowledged Tuesday. But Citigroup co-CEO John Reed also told a Senate investigating panel that Citibank broke no laws and has instituted reforms. Seven Citibank officials testified about the bank's relations with what Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., called "a rogues gallery" of world figures suspected of accumulating at least some of their wealth through corruption or crime. "What we have to face is whether our banks should make a profit off deposits that are dirty money," Levin said. The hearing was notable for the detail in which the giant bank's activities were laid out in public view. A central figure was Raul Salinas, brother of Mexico's former president, who has been convicted of murder and who remains under investigation for official corruption and drug trafficking. Amy Elliott, the bank officer who oversaw Salinas' account, said she had no reason to question the origin of the estimated $ 100 million that flowed through from 1992 until it was frozen after his arrest in 1995. Salinas came from an "old distinguished family with wealth that went back generations," she said. Likewise, Alain Ober, another account manager, acknowledged he didn't question the source of wealth brought to the bank by Omar Bongo, Gabon's president, who is accused by French and Swiss officials of plundering his country's treasury. Under questioning by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Ober said he didn't ask the source of a $ 52 million deposit. "It was awkward to ask for that information from a head of state," Ober said. The hearing laid bare the world of "private banking," the special services large financial institutions provide customers with at least $ 1 million in deposits. Critics say the secrecy afforded private banking clients is a magnet to criminals and corrupt government officials. Reed said Citibank has adopted tough new policies to prevent money laundering and provide for more rigorous internal audits. He said the private bank strategy now excludes public figures like Salinas and Bongo, focusing instead on business owners and top corporate executives. Under a new policy, a public figure needs approval of a committee of top bank executives to be accepted as a Citibank private bank customer.
The Times (London)
November 9, 1999, Tuesday
SECTION: Business
Citigroup laundering claims go to Senate
BY Ian Brodie in Washington
Allegations that foreign leaders and their relatives secretly laundered millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains through Citigroup, America's biggest financial services company, will be aired at a Senate hearing in Washington today. Among those alleged to have opened accounts with the group's private banking division were Asif Ali Zardari, husband of Benazir Bhutto, the former Pakistani Prime Minister; Raul Salinas, brother of the former Mexican President; two sons of the late General Sani Abacha, dictator of Nigeria; and President Bongo of Gabon. The bank broke its own rules in handling the funds of these depositors, according to a report compiled by Congressional investigators for the Senate's permanent sub-committee on investigations. John Reed, co-chairman and chief executive of Citigroup, will be called before the committee to explain why his top officials paid little heed to an internal audit finding that the bank was vulnerable to helping money launderers. It is being reported that Mr Reed will emphasise that changes have now been made to the bank's monitoring procedures to guard against money laundering, but that he will concede that "one could take issue with whether they happened fast enough". The Citigroup hearing comes on the heels of other inquiries into the Bank of New York, which is at the centre of allegations that the Russian mafia, business leaders and senior government officials illegally channelled billions of dollars through its branches. The hearings were prompted by publicity a year ago over Citigroup's relationship with Raul Salinas, now in prison for murder. A Congressional watchdog claimed he moved $ 80 million (Pounds 49 million) in alleged drug money out of Mexico through the bank. Citigroup's private bank is said to have more than 40,000 clients from around the world, each holding more than $ 3 million in assets. Citigroup insists that, in the wake of the Salinas scandal, its computer systems have been upgraded to catch money launderers. Centralised software in New York can flag unusually large transfers into private accounts and each account is now policed by three bank employees. Before, the bank's computers and databases were divided into geographic regions.