Bancomer Resolves Charges Relating to Operation Casablanca.LOS LOS Length of stay, see there ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 30, 1999--Bancomer S.A. Tuesday Tuesday: see week. announced that it had entered into a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice in connection with the criminal and civil actions involving unauthorized money-laundering activities of three former employees. Under the settlement agreement, the bank pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering The process of taking the proceeds of criminal activity and making them appear legal. Laundering allows criminals to transform illegally obtained gain into seemingly legitimate funds. and paid a fine of $500,000. As a part of the settlement, Bancomer agreed to continue its efforts to conform its current anti-money-laundering program to international standards and to cooperate fully with the U.S. government in the investigation of this case and Operation Casablanca- related matters. The settlement agreement also includes the dismissal of the pending civil money-laundering proceeding and the resolution of the civil forfeiture The involuntary relinquishment of money or property without compensation as a consequence of a breach or nonperformance of some legal obligation or the commission of a crime. The loss of a corporate charter or franchise as a result of illegality, malfeasance, or Nonfeasance. action under which the U.S. government will retain $9.4 million of the approximately $16.3 million originally seized seized (seised) n. 1) having ownership, commonly used in wills as "I give all the property of which I die seized as follows:...." 2) having taken possession of evidence for use in a criminal prosecution. 3) having taken property or a person by force. (See: seisin, seizure) . Under the settlement agreement, the U.S. Department of Justice will bring the cooperation of Bancomer to the attention of other authorities. Under U.S. law, a corporation can be held responsible for the acts of its employees. In this case, the activities were conducted by three former branch-level employees, whose actions were contrary to the bank's policies and procedures Policies and Procedures are a set of documents that describe an organization's policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. They are often initiated because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental . No member of the bank's senior management or board of directors was aware of or involved in any way in these activities. The bank made the determination that settling this matter was in the best interest of the institution. "The settlement underscores Bancomer's firm commitment to strengthening and maintaining anti-money-laundering procedures throughout our organization," said Ricardo Ri·car·do , David 1772-1823. British economist whose major work, Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (1817), supported the laws of supply and demand in a free market. Noun 1. Guajardo, Bancomer's chief executive officer. "Bancomer is devoting substantial resources to enhance its worldwide anti-money-laundering program to meet international standards." The bank and its board will continue to be supported in this effort by William M. Isaac, former chairman of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., who has agreed to provide continuing assessments of the program's implementation and effectiveness. |
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