Results (
Thai) 1:
[Copy]Copied!
WASHINGTON — Riggs Bank pleaded guilty Thursday to money laundering and agreed to pay a $16 million penalty for failing to report suspicious activity in accounts held by Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and the government of Equatorial Guinea.
In federal court, Riggs also entered into a five-year probation deal with the U.S. Department of Justice that can be voided if the bank is sold.
Riggs parent company, Riggs National (RIGS) agreed in July last year to be acquired by PNC Financial Services Group (PNC) in a deal that was valued at $779 million when it was announced.
Riggs said Thursday it expects to discuss the status of its purchase by PNC on or about Feb. 4.
Riggs, an old-line Washington bank that drew prestige from its near-exclusive franchise on business with the capital's diplomatic community, was fined a record $25 million by a Treasury Department agency last May. The civil fine was for alleged violations of laws to prevent money laundering in its handling of millions of dollars in the accounts controlled by Saudi diplomats and Equatorial Guinea officials. The midsize bank, which has since sold its diplomatic and international businesses, did not admit to or deny wrongdoing.
The then-head of the Treasury agency, Comptroller of the Currency John Hawke, didn't rule out the possibility of criminal charges by federal prosecutors when he testified to a Senate panel in June. Hawke also accepted blame for failed oversight of Riggs.
Senate investigators revealed details in July of the bank's questionable dealings: A suitcase stuffed with millions in cash being hauled by a bank officer handling the Equatorial Guinea accounts into Riggs' stately Embassy Row branch. Dummy offshore companies allegedly set up by bank managers for Pinochet, whose name was found to have been altered on some of his accounts to deceive international prosecutors. Payments of $445,800 from a big U.S. oil company into the account of a 14-year-old relative of the president of Equatorial Guinea, earmarked for renting office space.
Being translated, please wait..
