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Probers Want U.S. To Block Assets Of Cuba at UBS
Congressional investigators probing whether the world's largest "wealth management" firm, UBS, may have laundered $5 billion in American currency for state sponsors of terrorism are pushing for the American government to block or seize any assets that may be held by the Castro regime at the Swiss bank's vault in Zurich, according to correspondence obtained by The New York Sun.The efforts are part of an ongoing probe into alleged money laundering by the Swiss bank that gained steam this week after Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican of Florida, announced that the House International Relations Committee will launch an investigation this session. In April 2003, American troops liberating Iraq found $762 million in American cash in hideouts belonging to Saddam Hussein. American investigators traced the banknotes to UBS and the Extended Custodial Inventory Program. The program, run by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in cooperation with international banks, allowed clients to exchange old banknotes for new ones. One condition of the program was that American currency neither be distributed to nor accepted from nations against which America maintains economic sanctions. It was in violation of those terms that UBS procured $3.9 billion in American banknotes for Cuba, $1 billion for the Islamic Republic of Iran, $30 million for Libya, and less than $1 million for Yugoslavia in transactions discovered by American investigators as they probed the mysterious Iraqi stash. UBS was sanctioned by the Swiss Banking Commission and the Federal Reserve, to which the Swiss bank paid a $100 million fine in May 2004. Cuba, Iran, and Libya appear on the State Department's official list of state sponsors of terrorism. As a result, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen has asked that regulatory agencies investigate the possibility of seizing or freezing any assets remaining in those accounts. EFL Lot's more details at link Posted by: Javilet Glonter8595 2005-10-16 |
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