HSBC Sued for Murders After Money-Laundering Probe Greg Farrell - Bloomberg
go to original February 10, 2016

Families of U.S. citizens murdered by drug gangs in Mexico sued HSBC Holdings Plc, claiming the bank can be held responsible for the deaths because it let cartels launder billions of dollars to operate their businesses.

The lawsuit brings fresh scrutiny to the Mexican activities of HSBC, which in 2012 paid $1.9 billion to resolve a criminal investigation into whether it violated U.S. sanctions laws and laundered at least $881 million on behalf of drug cartels.

The new case, filed Tuesday in federal court in Brownsville, Texas, recounts a series of murders in 2010 and 2011 in horrific detail, arguing that the bank should be held to account for them under the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act.

The 1996 law, amended in the wake of Sept. 11, allows victims to seek compensation from organizations that provide material support to groups that commit terrorist acts. Although other violent drug-trafficking organizations, such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), have been designated by the U.S. Government as terrorists, the Mexican drug cartels have so far avoided that official label. The Texas lawsuit seems to be the first that’s based on the legal theory that the Mexican cartels are terrorist organizations.

...The lawsuit, filed by Richard Elias of Elias Gutzler Spicer LLC, draws on documents made public in 2012 as part of a U.S. Senate investigation. The suit alleges HSBC’s internal controls were ignored and that the bank was dubbed by one drug lord as “the place to launder money.” The suit also alleges bank employees aided the cartels’ laundering.

Read the rest at Bloomberg

Related: Mexico Police Arrest Suspected Drug Cartel Financial Operator in Sinaloa (Sputnik)

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