Hoocoodanode? Via Domainfax:
Gaping holes in the anti-money laundering systems of Australia’s big banks are being exploited by crime groups to wash up to $5 million in drug cash a day, according to confidential briefings by federal and state policing agencies.
New details of police investigations reveal that the big four banks – Westpac, ANZ, NAB and CBA – have all been used by money laundering syndicates to launder drug funds offshore.
Syndicates are also suspected to have infiltrated the franchises of mid-tier banks. Police have gathered intelligence that an outlaw bikie group is examining acquiring the franchise of a mid-tier bank, while the Bank of Queensland’s Punchbowl branch in Sydney was closed after Mexican cartel drug money washed funds through its accounts in 2010.
An Australian Crime Commission “High Risk Funds” investigation, which was examining the movement of illicit cash to the former Yugoslavia in 2012, identified a Bendigo Bank franchise that seemed to be involved.
But the latest revelations underscore what is an open secret in the law enforcement and banking communities: weak laws and questionable banking practices have enabled crime figures to open individual or company accounts or deposit funds with minimal or false identification, and quietly move millions of dollars.
…Justice Minister Michael Keenan said the government had rigorous anti-money laundering measures in place and was continually working with the banking industry to strengthen them.
Nice one, Minister for Do-nothing. A royal commission is now inevitable. I particularly like occupation of bank branches by criminal syndicates. Takes one to know one!
Day by day, it appears more and more true that Australia’s only true competitive advantage in the global economy is wholesale corruption.
