On April 10, 2006, Mexican authorities searched through a DC-9 jet at the airport in Ciudad del Carmen. They found more than five tons of cocaine … valued at more than $100 million.
If you’re like many Americans, you’re not surprised by a story like this. Not a year goes by without a few big media stories about Mexican drug cartels.
However, you probably will be very surprised to learn who aided and abetted the drug operation: it was US banking giant Wachovia.
After an investigation that took years, Wells Fargo, which now owns Wachovia, paid a $160 million fine to settle the case. “Wachovia’s blatant disregard for our banking laws gave international cocaine cartels a virtual carte blanche to finance their operations,” said federal prosecutor Jeffrey Sloman.
You might also be surprised to hear that Wachovia’s fine wasn’t an isolated case.
Citibank was caught laundering money for a Mexican drug kingpin in 2001.
American Express Bank admitted to laundering $55 million in drug money in 2007.
And the FBI accused Bank of America of helping a Mexican drug cartel hide money in 2012.
You’ve probably never heard these stories before. The big banks pay a lot of money to keep it that way.
Every year, America’s biggest banks spend hundreds of millions of dollars to create a simple, wholesome image: They’re here to help out families and small businesses. They’re the conservative stewards of our capital, and they always play by the rules.
The big banks employ some of the world’s best marketers. They buy politicians with large campaign contributions. They’re also huge advertisers, which lets them wield enormous influence with the mainstream media.
But if you look past the brochures that feature all-American families, golden retrievers, and small business owners, you’ll get a much different idea of what banks are all about.
You’ll see that our nation’s biggest banks are among the most flagrant lawbreakers in the world. They’re routinely fined hundreds of millions – even billions – of dollars for screwing customers and rigging financial markets.
For example…
In 2011, Bank of America paid a $335 million fine for discriminating against black and Hispanic borrowers.
In 2013, J.P. Morgan paid $410 million for manipulating the electricity market. Later that year, it paid $13 billion to settle claims that it knowingly sold toxic loans.
In 2014, Bank of America paid a $6.3 billion fine for selling faulty mortgages.
And in 2015, five big banks paid $5.8 billion for rigging the currency markets.
This is just a short list of banks breaking the law and getting fined. Boston Consulting Group reports that banks have paid more than $178 billion in legal claims since the financial crisis.
These are the nation’s largest banks. Millions of Americans rely on them. We trust them to be conservative with our cash and keep it safe. We trust that our credit cards will work when we buy groceries.
Above all, we trust them to keep the financial system working … a trust they broke in 2008 when the biggest banks failed and needed bailouts.
These banks have no problem breaking the law if it benefits them. They’re caught screwing over customers all the time. And they’re caught helping criminals all the time. Paying the fines is just a small cost of doing business.
And it’s well worth it… the banks make far more money from their illegal activities than they pay in fines.
With the nation’s largest banks operating this way, do you trust our financial system to hold up during the next crisis?
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: “If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered…”
http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/private-banks-quotation — Private Banks (Quotation)
Jefferson in fact may not said or wrote it. It still holds relevance and rings of truth.
“what is the crime of robbing a bank compared to the crime of founding one”?
those fines are meaningless and this prosecution saga has been planned by the elite a long time ago. They knew they would have to look “accountable” and ultimately be judged for their actions. So these mock trials (secret and sealed) are staged for “show and tell” and so they cannot be tried again for the same crimes.
So, follow the money. What company do you know of that can stay in business and have its stock remain unaffected when the company is supposedly fined billions of dollars?? Where are they getting that money to pay the fines? Not from general bank loans since interest rates are squat.
Because the TBTF banks had access to QE (federal reserve) money at interest rates of 0.5% or less, and they had the ability to leverage that money 30 to 1, they have “invested” that money in the stock market knowing damn well where it was headed. And who are the stake/stock holders of the federal reserve?? Well golly its most of the same TBTF banks. What a great system….for them!
So what did the government do with the fine money? We’re talking 100s of billions of dollars? What was it used for? God knows the government DOES NOT save money or have any legitimate trust funds….so where is the money? Did you or I benefit from these fines? Did any of you receive a check in the mail for the personal harm sustained when the market crashed? I know I lost a lot of money. So should we do our own class action against these TBTF banks>? I THINK SO!!
So STeinhart….thanks for bringing to light the historical wake of the bank crimes….but maybe you should provide this in a more informative and telling light. You forgot to mention that most of these banks are stockholders with the federal reserve, and they have easy access to money, and can leverage that money up 30:1. I’m glad I could clean this up for you! Apparently, your lackluster article is just an info AD for buying your product. What else could it be?
So big deal….the fines mean absolutely nothing to me and they should mean nothing to you because the banks should have been fined billions more and corporate officers should be in jail. And these mock trials and prosecutions of the TBTF banks SHOULD BE MADE PUBLIC.
So, in essence, the whole thing is a sham….a joke on us. If you continue to believe or have faith in the current corrupt government…you are a fool and an idiot and you deserve what you get.
All big companies including the TBTF banks should be boycotted. All elections should be boycotted. Why do you pay your taxes? Do you find comfort in your tax dollars being spent for elicit drug dealings, sex trafficking, invasion of sovereign countries, mass bombing of innocent people, creating global conflict, hampering free entreprise and new innovations, healthcare that kills…..shall I go on????
The government is the enemy. Where I live the roads are still a shamble. Local governments are as corrupt, unaccountable and secretive as the iconic federal government. They waste money on war memorials like that is what we should be proud of in today’s world. Large companies are given complete tax breaks by city officials. They never ever do anything worthwhile on behalf of the people. Property taxes and school district taxes are rising. Everything is over-priced even though ALL commodities are at all time lows. Wages have not risen. so WHY are things so expensive??
Because you are getting screwed by both the government and big business. Its just begun. Someone has to pay for all those gov pensions and benefits. Guess who?
Enjoy baby. This is of your making and there is no one to blame but yourself
So, the banks steal serious bucks from the population chronically, and when they get caught with their hands in some ginormous cookie jar, they get a nominal, pitiful fine THAT IS PAID TO FINANCE THE EQUALLY RAPACIOUS “GOVERNMENT!” The population itself is never made whole, not even partially. Then the media THEY own tells us what a great job the SEC and the DOJ are doing for us. What a wonderful, incredible, insidiously clever racket.