535 Banks fined for violating sanctions against Iran; action instigated by Israeli intelligence analyst now working for US

Banks fined for violating sanctions against Iran; action instigated by
Israeli intelligence analyst now working for US

(1) Zionists pursue Banks over currency transfers to Iran
(2) US fines Standard Chartered over Iran deals; United Against Nuclear
Iran lobby group calls for "death penalty"
(3) United Against Nuclear Iran - a Zionist lobby group
(4) Banks fined for violating sanctions against Iran; action instigated
by Israeli intelligence analyst now working for US
(5) Deutsche Bank among Four said to be in U.S. Iran Probe
(6) Arusy probe shows Banks facilitated secret transfer of money to Iran
- WSJ (2010)
(7) Intelligence analyst Eitan Arusy interview with Haaretz (2010)
(8) Arusy was IDF spokesperson to the Arab world
(9) Arusy, working for Manhattan DA, propelled federal investigation
into banks' violation of sanctions on Iran
(10) US sanctions against Iran target currency transfer
(11) Hillary appointed Zionist Dennis Ross to State Dept as Special
Adviser on Iran (2009)

(1) Zionists pursue Banks over currency transfers to Iran - Peter Myers,
August 21, 2012

In recent days, the media have carried sporadic reports of fines issued
to banks for violating sanctions against Iran. Yet, the story has not
been picked up in either Far Right or Far Left circles (I subscribe to
both).

In fact, this story is momentous; and, like an iceberg, most of it
remains beneath the surface.

The reason is that Banks are part of the 1%. Anyone who can Boss the
banks with impunity, who can discredit them and even try to destroy
them, is also part of the 1%, but belonging to a different faction.

The story is reminiscent of the Holocaust compensation campaign against
the Swiss Banks pursued by the Zionist lobby some years ago.

Surely Jews are prominent in the management of many of the banks that
have been fined. If so, they can hardly be "warm Zionists"; they would
instead be secular Jews and probably "One Worlders". But clearly the US
government is controlled more by those in the Zionist camp. In numbers
they may be no greater than the secular Jews, but their determination -
spurred on by their sense of Righteous Victimhood - is greater.

China, Japan and Germany are capital exporters, but Chinese money,
Japanese money and German money cannot compete with Zionist money. Why so?

(2) US fines Standard Chartered over Iran deals; United Against Nuclear
Iran lobby group calls for "death penalty"

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=53907

US fines Standard Chartered $340 million over Iran deals

London-based bank has settled allegations that it helped Iranian clients
dodge US sanctions over ten years.

Middle East Online

First Published: 2012-08-15

NEW YORK - Standard Chartered has settled allegations that it helped
Iranian clients dodge US sanctions, announcing a fine of $340 million
from a New York banking watchdog.

The "civil penalty" disclosed on Tuesday came amid allegations that the
London-based bank hid 60,000 transactions with proscribed Iranian
clients worth $250 billion over ten years.

The settlement was far from the worst-case scenario -- investors had
feared the bank could lose its New York license -- and its shares surged
6.57 percent to HK$176.8 in Hong Kong trade Wednesday afternoon.

But the stock is still below its price of HK$188.10 on August 6, before
New York regulators publicly accused the bank of helping Iranian clients.

The clients included the state-backed Central Bank of Iran and the
National Bank of Iran, both accused by Washington of helping Tehran seek
nuclear weapons and fund terrorism.

Under the terms of the settlement with New York's Department of
Financial Services, Standard Chartered agreed to house a government
anti-laundering monitor for two years at its New York branch.

It will also appoint in-house auditors to check compliance with US
sanctions.

According to the bank, which is a household name in Africa, Asia and the
Middle East, a detailed agreement will come soon, adding "the group
continues to engage constructively with the other relevant US authorities."

Standard Chartered CEO Peter Sands was in New York at the time the deal
was struck.

New York state's Department of Financial Services had questioned whether
Standard Chartered should lose its banking license, effectively cutting
off access to the US market.

"Standard Chartered had offered to settle for $5 million, so clearly an
increase," said Morningstar analyst Erin Davis.

Davis added that even at $340 million the fine would not have a major
financial impact on the bank. In the first half of this year it reported
profits of $3.95 billion.

But Standard Chartered remains in the sights of other US regulators.

On Tuesday the Treasury Department told AFP the settlement would not
halt its own inquiry.

"Our investigation continues. Treasury will continue working with our
regulatory and law enforcement partners to hold Standard Chartered
accountable for any sanctionable activity that occurred," an official said.

The Department of Justice also said it would also continue to "determine
what actions might be appropriate."

Meanwhile the Federal Reserve said it continued "to work with the other
agencies on a comprehensive resolution."

Standard Chartered hinted that settlements may also be reached with
those agencies, saying "the timing of any resolution will be
communicated in due course."

The "United Against Nuclear Iran" lobby group said New York authorities
had been too lenient, and federal investigators should not make the same
mistake.

"Any financial institution that is found to be in violation of Iran
sanctions should receive the financial equivalent of the death penalty
and lose its license to do business in the United States," the group
said in a statement.

In the last decade the United States and allies have ramped up sanctions
against Iranian banks, institutions and individuals in a bid to stop
Iran's weapons programs.

The question of Iran's weapons is a hot button issue heading into
November's presidential elections, with some powerful voting blocs
pressing President Barack Obama to take a tougher line against the regime.

(3) United Against Nuclear Iran - a Zionist lobby group

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Against_Nuclear_Iran

United Against Nuclear Iran

Formation

2008

CEO

Mark Wallace

Key people

Kristen Silverberg (President)

R. James Woolsey

Website

UANI

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, non-profit
advocacy organization in the United States that seeks "to prevent Iran
from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing
nuclear weapons."[1] Along with other advocacy campaigns, the
organization leads efforts to pressure companies to stop doing business
with Iran as a means to halt the Iranian regime's nuclear program and
its alleged development of nuclear weapons.

[edit] Leadership

The CEO of the organization is Mark Wallace, who previously served as
U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, representative for UN Management
and Reform.[2] Ambassadors Richard Holbrooke and Dennis Ross were the
original co-founders and co-chairman of the organization before being
appointed to positions in the Obama administration.[3] Former U.S.
ambassador to the European Union Kristen Silverberg is the president of
UANI.[4]

[edit] Advisory board

UANI is also led by an advisory board that among others, includes:[3]

R. James Woolsey - Former head of the Central Intelligence Agency
(1993–1995)

Meir Dagan - former director of the Mossad (2002-2011)

Fouad Ajami - Professor and Director of Middle East Studies at The Johns
Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and
noted commentator on Middle Eastern affairs

Walter Russell Mead - Henry A. Kissinger senior fellow for U.S. foreign
policy at the Council on Foreign Relations and a leading commentator on
American foreign policy

Irwin Cotler - Canadian Member of Parliament that formerly served as
Minister of Justice and Attorney General; prominent human rights lawyer

Henry Sokolski - Executive Director of the Nonproliferation Policy
Education Center

Gary Milhollin - Director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control

Frances Townsend - Former Homeland Security Advisor to United States
President George W. Bush

Graham Allison - Renowned American political scientist and professor

[edit] Corporate campaigns

UANI runs the Iran Business Registry (IBR)[1], "a running database of
reputable media and academic reports of international corporations doing
business in Iran." UANI encourages citizens to use the IBR to increase
product awareness, divest, contact businesses as well as elected
officials. It also calls on companies to sign a declaration to certify
their company does not do business with Iran.[5] More than 500 companies
are listed on UANI's IBR page.

[edit] General Electric

In September 2009, General Electric (GE) signed UANI's "Iran Business
Declaration"[2] to not conduct business with Iran. As part of its
pledge, GE will donate profits to charitable organizations from the sale
of any humanitarian health care products to Iran.[6] ...

[edit] Caterpillar

In response to a UANI pressure campaign, the heavy-equipment
manufacturer Caterpillar ceased its business in Iran through its
non-U.S. subsidiaries. As part of the campaign, UANI erected a roadside
billboard near the company's headquarters in Peoria, Illinois which
pictured a Caterpillar digger alongside a picture of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
with the slogan "Today's work, Tomorrow's Nuclear Iran." UANI sought to
link the activities of Caterpillar's wholly owned Canadian subsidiary
Lovat, a manufacturer of tunnel boring machines, to Iran's alleged
construction of tunnels to obscure and shield its nuclear facilities.
Additionally, the Iranian company Arya Machinery, which marketed itself
on its website as Iran's exclusive dealer of Caterpillar machinery, had
been purchasing Caterpillar equipment from a Caterpillar subsidiary in
Europe.[8][9][10] ...

[edit] "Big Four" auditors

In March 2010, UANI called on KPMG, one of the global "Big Four"
auditors, to cut its with Bayat Rayan, one of Iran's leading
accountants.[14] In early April 2010, KPMG announced that it had severed
its links with its Iranian member firm, citing "serious and escalating
concerns" about the conduct of the Iranian government.[15] In
correspondence with UANI later in April, two of other Big Four auditors,
PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young, stated that in recent years
they had both cut ties to their Iranian member firms. UANI President
Mark Wallace declared it a breakthrough that none of the Big Four
continued to operate in Iran: "What it says is if it’s too risky for the
Big Four accounting firms, it should be too risky for other
companies."[16] ...

[edit] Legislation

In October 2009, UANI worked closely with Representatives Ron Klein (D)
and John Mica (R) of Florida to introduce into the United States House
of Representatives The Accountability for Business Choices in Iran Act
(ABC Iran Act) which would preclude companies that conduct business in
Iran from receiving U.S. government contracts. The legislation was
created to prevent Iranian business partners like Nokia and Siemens from
receiving large government contracts as well as foreign banks like
Credit Suisse from receiving federal bailout money.[25] Representative
Klein stated, "We need to send a strong message to corporations that
we’re not going to continue to allow them to economically enable the
Iranian government to continue to do what they have been doing."[26]

[edit] Hotels campaign

In the run-up to the September 2009 United Nations General Assembly
(UNGA), UANI called on New York hotels and venues to refuse to host
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In its boycott campaign, UANI
succeeded in having the Helmsley Hotel,[27] Gotham Hall,[28] and the
Dubai-owned Essex House[29] cancel events in which Ahmadinejad was to
attend and speak. For the September 2010 UNGA, UANI relaunched its
annual "Hotels Campaign"[3] and called on the Hilton Hotels chain to
cancel its plans to host President Ahmadinejad and the Iranian
delegation at the Hilton Manhattan East hotel.[30]

[edit] Television ad campaign

In June 2009, UANI began a television ad campaign. The first ad,
entitled "Unclenched Fist," called for the U.S. to place economic
pressure on Iran in order to prevent them from acquiring nuclear
weapons. Regarding the commercial, Ambassador Wallace stated, "He
[Obama] offered an unclenched fist. Now it is up to the Iranian people
and regime to extend a reciprocal open hand."[31] On June 16, 2009, UANI
released its second television ad, "Iran's Closed Hand," scheduled to be
aired for several weeks. The commercial criticizes Iran's defiant
attitude to American diplomatic outreach and advocates the economic
isolation of the Islamic Republic.[32] ...

This page was last modified on 11 July 2012 at 08:27.

(4) Banks fined for violating sanctions against Iran; action instigated
by Israeli intelligence analyst now working for US

http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2012/08/15/tallying-up-u-s-regulators’-money-laundering-fines/

August 15, 2012, 3:05 AM

Tallying Up U.S. Regulators’ Money-Laundering Fines

By Isabella Steger

Associated Press

Standard Chartered PLC has reached a settlement to pay $340 million to
U.S. regulators over money-laundering allegations involving Iranian
customers, sending the bank’s shares up 5.4% in Hong Kong on Wednesday
morning.

U.S. regulators have netted almost $3 billion from some high-profile
money-laundering-related settlements since 2009. A probe into banks’
involvement in manipulating interbank lending rates in London could see
more fines, with only Barclays PLC settling with regulators so far.

Some of the money-laundering settlements with Europe’s biggest banks
arose from a probe by U.S. regulators that began in 2006, led by an
Arabic-speaking Israeli-American intelligence analyst, the details of
which are laid out in this WSJ story from 2010. {included as item 5 below}

ING Bank NV

In the largest money-laundering settlement on record in the U.S., the
Dutch bank agreed to pay $619 million in June this year. The bank was
accused of covering up billions of dollars in fund transfers that
violated U.S. sanctions against Cuba and Iran by concealing the source
of the transfers in a process known as stripping. The investigation
centered on an ING subsidiary at the time, the Netherlands Caribbean Bank.

Lloyds TSB Group PLC

The U.K. bank reached an agreement with the Manhattan district
attorney’s office and the U.S. Department of Justice in January 2009 to
pay $350 million in fines and forfeiture for allowing Iranian and
Sudanese clients access to the U.S. banking system. Later in December
2009, it reached another $217 million settlement with the U.S. Treasury.

Credit Suisse Group

In December 2009, U.S. regulators fined Credit Suisse $536 million,
ending a five-year investigation in which the U.S. said the Swiss bank
helped clients in Iran, Libya, Sudan, Myanmar and Cuba conduct financial
transactions in secret between 2002 and April 2007. Half of the total
fine was divided between New York City and New York state. “In both its
scope and its complexity, the criminal conduct perpetrated by Credit
Suisse in this case is simply astounding,” U.S. Attorney General Eric
Holder said at the time, adding that the fine would had been even higher
had Credit Suisse not cooperated in the investigation.

ABN AMRO Holding NV/Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC

The Dutch bank agreed to pay $500 million in April 2007 to regulators
after an investigation found ABN conducted transfers for Libya and Iran
through New York. ABN’s settlement came just as the Dutch bank was the
target of a bidding war involving Barclays PLC and a consortium led by
RBS. ABN had already agreed in 2005 to pay $80 million over laundering
laxity. The $500 million fine was settled by RBS, which later acquired
ABN Amro, in May 2010.

Barclays

In August 2010, Barclays agreed to pay $298 million to settle charges by
U.S. and New York prosecutors relating to client payments from Cuba,
Sudan and other places under U.S. sanctions for a roughly 11-year period
until September 2006. Barclays was accused of using opaque methods of
payment messages, known as cover payments, to obscure transfers. The
deal included an agreement that allowed the bank to escape prosecution
for two years if it cooperated with government investigators and
implemented new training and compliance programs.

Separately, in June of this year, Barclays settled a probe by U.S. and
U.K. regulators that its traders rigged the London interbank offered
rate benchmark, or Libor. Barclays paid $452 million to the U.K.
Financial Services Authority and the U.S.’s Commodity Futures Trading
Commission and Department of Justice Fraud Section.

HSBC Holdings PLC

The U.K. lender said it has set aside $700 million to cover potential
fines following a U.S. Senate report alleging that some of HSBC’s global
operations were used by money-launderers and potential terrorist
financiers. HSBC’s Mexico unit paid $27.5 million in fines to the
country’s regulator after the Senate probe found it shipped billions in
bank notes by car or aircraft to the U.S.

(5) Deutsche Bank among Four said to be in U.S. Iran Probe

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-08-17/deutsche-bank-among-four-said-to-be-in-u-dot-s-dot-laundering-probe

Bloomberg News

By Greg Farrell on August 18, 2012

Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) is among four European banks being investigated
by U.S. authorities for alleged violations involving oil trading and
Iran, according to an attorney with knowledge of the matter.

Regulators including the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets
Control, the Federal Reserve, the Justice Department and the Manhattan
district attorney’s office are all involved in the probe of Deutsche
Bank and three other European banks, said the attorney, who asked not to
be identified because the investigations are confidential.

“Deutsche Bank had decided by 2007 to reject any new business with Iran,
Syria, Sudan and North Korea and to end existing relationships to the
extent it was legally possible,” Deutsche Bank spokeswoman Friederika
Borgmann said, declining to comment on the U.S. investigation.

The regulators were in advanced stages of an investigation into banking
violations at Standard Chartered Plc (STAN) when the superintendent of
New York’s banks, Benjamin Lawsky, moved first in that matter with an
Aug. 6 order accusing the London-based lender of multiple violations of
state banking laws.

Once the federal authorities resolve their probe of Standard Chartered,
they will proceed against the four European banks they have been
investigating, including Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank, according to the
attorney.

Erin Duggan, a spokeswoman in the Manhattan district attorney’s office,
didn’t immediately return an e-mail sent outside of regular business
hours seeking comment on the probe. Dean Boyd of the Justice Department,
John Sullivan, a Treasury spokesman, and Barbara Hagenbaugh, a Federal
Reserve spokeswoman, declined to comment.

U-Turn Transactions

Lawsky’s order accused Standard Chartered of helping Iran launder about
$250 billion in violation of federal laws. He accused the bank of a
decade of deception, including keeping false records, in handling
lucrative wire transfers for Iranian clients. The bank sent them through
its New York unit in so- called U-turn transactions with client names
omitted to hide their provenance, Lawsky said.

Lawsky reached a settlement with Standard Chartered on Aug. 14, in which
the bank agreed to pay $340 million to settle the claims. The New York
regulator said that day in a statement that “the parties have agreed
that the conduct at issue involved transactions of at least $250
billion.” The $340 million fine will go to Lawsky’s agency, New York’s
Department of Financial Services, or DFS, and the state.

As part of the settlement, New York said the bank agreed to install an
independent on-site monitor for at least two years who will report
directly to regulators. Examiners from the DFS will also be placed at
the bank.

Lawsky’s agency, according to the Aug. 6 order, is investigating wire
transfers executed by Standard Chartered’s New York branch on behalf of
other U.S.-sanctioned countries, including Myanmar and Sudan and Libya,
before the ouster of Muammar Qaddafi.

‘Engage Constructively’

The sum may be the largest ever paid to an individual regulator as part
of a money-laundering accord. In June, ING Bank NV agreed to pay $619
million to settle similar allegations. That was split into equal
payments of $309.5 million to the federal government and the Manhattan
District Attorney. A person familiar with the New York probe of Standard
Chartered said that Lawsky had sought as much as $700 million to settle
his investigation.

Standard Chartered said in an Aug. 14 statement that it “continues to
engage constructively with the other relevant U.S. authorities.”

From 2004 through 2007, Standard Chartered was subject to formal action
over other regulatory compliance failures related to the Bank Secrecy
Act, anti-money laundering policies and procedures and regulations of
the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, the main overseer of Iran
transactions.

In a 2004 agreement with regulators, the bank promised to monitor and
improve money-laundering controls.

The restrictions of the agreement were lifted in 2007 because the bank
provided a “watered-down” report of compliance, according to Lawsky’s
order. Bank statements “misled” the department into lifting the
restrictions of the 2004 agreement, the order stated.

The investigation of Deutsche Bank was reported earlier by the New York
Times.

To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Farrell in New York at
gregfarrell@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Dunn at
adunn8@bloomberg.net

(6) Arusy probe shows Banks facilitated secret transfer of money to Iran
- WSJ (2010)

Probe Circles Globe to Find Dirty Money

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703431604575468094090700862.html

By CARRICK MOLLENKAMP

Watt Street Journal

September 3, 2010

A black-market financial investigation spreading from Iran to Sudan,
London and Cuba began in a cluttered fifth-floor cubicle in an
old-school district attorney's office in Manhattan featuring dark
corridors and frosted glass.

There, an intelligence analyst named Eitan Arusy began studying a slim
lead. Suspicious money was flowing to and from an Iranian nonprofit
operating in a Fifth Avenue office tower in Midtown Manhattan. Mr.
Arusy's probe, later merged with a Justice Department inquiry,
ultimately widened to some of Europe's vaunted banks, helping spark a
global inquiry that found they actively evaded U.S. law in aiding
sanctioned countries, banks or other enterprises move some $2 billion
undetected.

Nine banks have been caught up in the probe, and some are in discussions
to settle, according to a person familiar with the case. Three have
already. Last month, Barclays PLC in London agreed to pay $298 million
and admitted to allowing payments on behalf of clients in Cuba, Sudan
and other countries. Lloyds Banking Group in London and Credit Suisse
Group in Zurich—banks that operated extensive transfer systems for
Iranian clients—have agreed to settlements totaling $350 million and
$536 million, respectively.

These weren't rogue operations. The investigators discovered that the
banks ran dedicated units to systematically aid the undetected transfer
of money through the U.S. banking system. They did that by removing
identifying coding on fund transfers so they could evade automated U.S.
bank computer systems designed to spot money flowing from a sanctioned
state.

The far-reaching inquiry started small. Mr. Arusy arrived at the
district attorney's office in 2005 to help ferret out illegal financing
tied to the Middle East. Though the office prosecutes everyday crime, it
carved out a role infiltrating crimes tied to the city's financial
markets and institutions. Its expertise dates to the 1990s, when it led
the investigation of Bank of Credit & Commerce International, or BCCI,
which collapsed in a fraud and money-laundering scandal.

Adam Kaufmann, executive assistant district attorney for Manhattan, said
his office was seeing questionable flows of money between South America
and the Middle East. Mr. Arusy was hired to help track the Middle
Eastern end.

An Israeli-American who speaks Arabic—he learned the language from his
grandparents and teachers in Israel—Mr. Arusy for a time worked for the
Israeli army, where his job included giving Arab media better access to
Israeli forces.

In New York, Mr. Arusy hunkered down in the building used in Woody
Allen's "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion" because of its 1940's era-look.
Mr. Arusy scrutinized documents that detailed the money flows tied to a
group called the Alavi Foundation. The group devotes itself to promoting
Islamic culture, including the Persian language, according to its Web
site. Alavi refers to the descendants of Ali, a relative and potential
successor to Prophet Muhammad.

EITAN ARUSY

But in the past two years, federal prosecutors have alleged that the
foundation is closely tied to the Iranian government. Prosecutors claim
in federal court proceedings that Alavi served as a U.S. operations arm
for the Iranian government, including managing a Fifth Avenue office
tower, running a charity and moving money from the office tower to Bank
Melli. Prosecutors allege the bank is controlled by the Iranian government.

Throughout 2006 and 2007, Mr. Arusy, and his boss, Mr. Kaufmann, worked
to crack the foundation. Mr. Arusy went after the investigation "like a
dog with a bone," Mr. Kaufmann said. "We found this whole system that
let them [the Iranian banks] move their money."

An Alavi Foundation employee referred questions to an outside lawyer.
The lawyer didn't respond to repeated requests for comment.

The district attorney's office subpoenaed financial institutions that
were mentioned in the documents discussing suspicious money transfers
tied to the Alavi Foundation.

That led the investigators to another set of documents the institutions
had on file. Those listed email addresses and telephone numbers for
individuals tied to the Alavi Foundation who were behind the money
transfers.

A big break came when the district attorney's office obtained the
individuals' email traffic. Those emails, which surprisingly hadn't been
deleted, detailed money transfers from Bank Melli to U.S. banks.

"You had to scrub your eyes when you see these incriminating emails,"
said Mr. Arusy, who left the district attorney's office in 2007 and
today works as deputy managing director of Arcanum, an intelligence firm
that specializes in asset-tracing and financial crimes. He declines to
give his age.

Mr. Arusy found that European banks that carried out the transfers
avoided U.S. filters, software at U.S. banks that screen for illegal or
improper transactions. They did so by removing or "stripping"
wire-transfer information that identified that the transfer originated
from a sanctioned source.

Credit Suisse, according to court records, removed Iranian names,
addresses, telephone numbers and identification codes from payment
messages sent to U.S. financial firms. In some cases, the bank then
replaced the information by using names such as "Order of a Customer" or
"Credit Suisse."

When the district attorney's office subpoenaed the European banks and
obtained the wire transfer instructions, pieces of the puzzle began to
fit together. References to Bank Melli had been scrubbed from the
transfer. That signaled to the district attorney's office that the banks
purposely had helped conceal the ties to Bank Melli.

By 2007, the district attorney's probe was overlapping in part with a
Justice Department inquiry focused on Credit Suisse. A unit of the bank
was using code names to conceal securities trading through a New York
office and other brokerages on behalf of financial firms in Sudan and Libya.

By late 2008, Mr. Arusy's initial work on the Alavi Foundation was
paying off. Information given by the district attorney's office to the
U.S. Attorney in Manhattan helped provide evidence tying together the
Alavi Foundation, Bank Melli and the Iranian government.

In December 2008, prosecutors sought the forfeiture of a 40% stake in
the 36-story, 650 Fifth Ave. building, alleging that Bank Melli had
disguised owning its stake in the building through a company called Assa
Corp. Then in November 2009, federal prosecutors stepped up the probe,
moving for the forfeiture of a 60% stake in the 650 Fifth Ave. building
owned by the Alavi Foundation as well as properties in New York,
California, Texas, Virginia and Maryland.

The wire-stripping case, meanwhile, was operating on a different track
and also yielding information. In January 2009, Lloyds became the first
of the three European banks to agree to a fine and forfeiture. Credit
Suisse followed last December, and Barclays settled last month.

"If you want other banks to be caught, you need to have innovative ways
to conduct investigations," Mr. Arusy says.

Write to Carrick Mollenkamp at carrick.mollenkamp@wsj.com

(7) Intelligence analyst Eitan Arusy interview with Haaretz (2010)

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/intelligence-analyst-eitan-arusy-could-economic-sanctions-against-iran-replace-military-action-1.312423

Intelligence analyst Eitan Arusy, could economic sanctions against Iran
replace military action?

In an interview with Haaretz, intelligence analyst Eitan Arusy says he
knows of 'very senior people who knew they were working for the Iranians.'

By Anshel Pfeffer

| Sep.06, 2010 | 1:51 AM

Eitan Arusy served in the Intelligence Branch of the Israel Defense
Forces and went on to set up the Arab desk in the IDF Spokesman's
Office. Five years ago he retired from the military and, thanks to his
American citizenship, was hired by the New York County District
Attorney's Office as an intelligence analyst, specializing in the
financing of governments and organizations in the Middle East. Two years
later he was appointed director for strategic intelligence and research
of business strategic consultancy RJI Capital. He continues to cooperate
with the district attorney's office against the Iranian financial
network. Arusy launched an investigation into how big international
banks circumvent U.S. economic sanctions on Iran (and other states,
including Cuba and Sudan ) and help Iranian banks move large amounts of
money around the world.

Last week U.S. media outlets reported that three of the world's largest
banks - Barclays PLC and Lloyds Banking Group, of London, and Zurich's
Credit Suisse Group - each agreed to pay between $300 million and $536
million in a settlement in order to continue to operate in the United
States.

{interviewer now put questions to Eitan Arusy}

Eitan Arusy, could economic action against Iran replace military action?

"At the end of the day it all depends on what political decision is
made. I can say that [economic] action injures them, but it's not a
fatal injury. It makes their life a lot harder but it's very hard to
force them to completely stop their diabolic activities. In the meantime
they must be hurt in every possible place. Certainly in the United
States, where they have the capability to do these things. Here we could
uncover these banks in their criminal activity."

Why do some of the most important banks in the world cooperate with the
Iranian government?

"In that league, the banks see one thing: the dollar sign at the end,
and their profits. I don't want to say that the people who worked in
those banks are themselves terrorists, but I can say that at Lloyds, for
example, there were very senior people who knew they were working for
the Iranians."

How is it that in a field with such close supervision the banks
nonetheless violate the law in order to work with the Iranians?

"The regulatory laws are rewritten and changed constantly, because the
criminals and the terrorists are much more flexible and creative so the
regulation generally comes in response to what has already happened."

To what extent are the actions of the U.S. prosecution affecting the
Iranian government?

"It's difficult to assess, but it does hurt them to a certain extent
because it makes it more difficult for them to carry out simple actions
that had been easy. Now they have to find straw men and straw companies
in Europe and Asia to act on their behalf, and this can cost them a
great deal of money and effort. The most-traded currency around the
world is the dollar, and to make regular purchases in order to buy even
simple materials becomes very difficult for that bank. In the cases of
Lloyds and Barclays the money transfers were to Bank Melli, the Iranian
government bank, which the United States and the United Nations have
identified as aiding the Iranian missile project."

How widespread is illegal assistance of this kind to Iran in the
international banking system?

"I know of more than six other banks that are in the firing line for
similar offenses. They are all in the same league as the banks that came
to light."

What crimes did these banks commit? After all, they're not American banks.

"In my opinion, their crimes were less violating their own countries'
laws than and more aiding the Iranians to escape detection [of their
violations of] the sanctions of the Americans. In Europe, this problem
exists to a lesser extent, and it is mainly a problem from the American
point of view. So far most of the violations have involved dollar
transactions; dollar transfers, even from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, must
comply with U.S. law. If a bank helps a country to circumvent sanctions
it's a serious problem because it means they don't respect American
jurisdiction. It means the United States can prosecute them criminally,
which can end their business in the United States. In the three cases so
far the banks realized they'd been caught and had no choice but to reach
a settlement, to cooperate, to turn over all their information and to
promise not to repeat the offenses. They were also forced to pay heavy
fines."

The U.S. media reported that it all started with you noticing suspicious
money transfers from an Iranian charity operating in New York. How did
you manage to get wind of this when others had failed?

"Only because of my curiosity and what in the army is called staying on
target. I worked for a government agency with the authority to examine
all the transfers of these banks. It must be remembered that the
investigation I conducted took place three years ago. The American
authorities have only now finished negotiating with the banks that were
caught."

The Iranians probably won't stop trying to transfer money for their own
purposes. So what's the next target?

"Primarily straw companies and straw men they use as a front for all
kinds of activities and business programs throughout the world. It's not
just purchases for their missile and nuclear programs. They have
political interests in places all over the world. They're really big in
Latin America and in Africa. These transfers are also part of their
funding for Hamas and Hezbollah."

Exactly how determined is the U.S. administration to fight Iran using
these means? After all, these banks have a great deal of influence and
power.

"When they commit illegal actions, very [determined]. They violated
American sovereignty, they deceived the administration and broke the
law, and rightfully the Americans are not willing to simply forgive let
this go by.

To what extent is Israel a partner in the fight against the Iranian
financial network?

"You'd have to ask the Israeli government about that."

(8) Arusy was IDF spokesperson to the Arab world

http://www.intelligencesummit.org/speakers/EitanArusy.php

Speakers & Organizers

2007 SPEAKERS

[...] Major Eitan Arusy, IDF (Res.)

Former IDF spokesperson to the Arab world

Biography

Major Arusy was, until recently, the Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson
to the Arab world. He initiated this position and has appeared in
living-rooms all over the Arab world through the Arabic language outlets
including satellite television, radio, internet sites and newspapers.

His is a unique perspective on the problems facing Israel as they try to
establish a working relationship with an increasingly hostile Arabic
media. Until he started his work, the Arab media gave only the most
radical Arab point of view.

Prior to this position Major Arusy served as an officer and commander in
the Coordination and Cooperation Joint Security Committee between the
Israeli Defense Forces and the Palestinian Police.

Session SP32: Role of the Media in Creating a Positive US Image Abroad,
Especially in Muslim Countries

February 20, 10:00 - 10:45

Name of the presentation

Abstract: The war for the hearts and minds of the Arab world The Israeli
Defense Forces' PR during the disengagement

(9) Arusy, working for Manhattan DA, propelled federal investigation
into banks' violation of sanctions on Iran

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3949218,00.html

Israeli helps crack illegal wire transfer op to Iran

Information uncovered by intelligence analyst Eitan Arusy while working
for the Manhattan DA propels federal investigation into major banks'
violation of US financial sanctions on Iran. Banks involved suffer
hundreds of millions of dollars in fines

Published:

09.04.10, 18:15 / Israel Business

The United States Justice Department is investigating violations of the
financial sanctions on Iran by several global banks. The banks are
suspected of transferring some $2 billion to various financial
institutions in the Islamic Republic.

Nine major banks are involved in the black-market financial
investigation, which is so far spanning from Iran to Sudan, London and Cuba.

Three of the banks have already arrived at a settlement with the DOJ,
Ynet learned Saturday: London's Barclays agreed to forfeit $298 million
to settle sanction violations charges, while the Lloyds Banking Group in
London and Credit Suisse Group in Zurich agreed to settlements totaling
$350 million and $536 million, respectively.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the probe began when Eitan Arusy,
an intelligence analyst working in District Attorney's Office in
Manhattan came across a lead suggesting suspicious funds were flowing to
and from an Iranian nonprofit organization based in Midtown Manhattan.

Arusy's probe later merged with a Justice Department inquiry, widened to
include some of Europe's most prominent banks and ultimately expanded
into a global inquiry, that the banks in question actively evaded US law
in aiding sanctioned countries and moving some $2 billion undetected.

Global 'stripping' operation

Federal investigators discovered that the banks ran dedicated units to
systematically aid the undetected transfer of money through the US
banking system, by removing identifying coding on fund transfers so they
could evade automated US bank computer systems designed to spot money
flowing from a sanctioned state.

Arusy arrived at the district attorney's office in 2005 to help
investigate illegal financing operations tied to the Middle East. He was
hired by the Manhattan DA's office shortly after he finished his service
in the IDF Spokesman's Unit, where his job included giving Arab media
better access to Israeli forces.

In New York, Arusy scrutinized documents that detailed the money flows
tied to a group called the Alavi Foundation. The group devotes itself to
promoting Islamic culture, including the Persian language, according to
its Web site; but in the past two years, federal prosecutors have
alleged that the foundation is closely tied to the Iranian government.

The investigation continued into 2006 and 2007 and a big break came when
the DA's office obtained emails from persons of interest in the case,
detailing money transfers from Bank Melli to US banks.

Arusy found that European banks that carried out the transfers avoided
US filters meant to screen for illegal or improper transactions by
"stripping" wire transfer information that identified that the transfer
originated from a sanctioned source.

Credit Suisse, according to court records, removed Iranian names,
addresses, telephone numbers and identification codes from payment
messages sent to US financial firms.

"You had to scrub your eyes when you saw these incriminating emails,"
Arusy, who left the DA's office in 2007 in favor of Arcanum, an
intelligence firm that specializes in asset-tracing and financial
crimes, said. "If you want banks to be caught, you need to have
innovative ways to conduct investigations," he added.

In January 2009, Lloyds became the first of the three European banks to
agree to a fine and forfeiture. Credit Suisse followed last December,
and Barclays settled last month.

(10) US sanctions against Iran target currency transfer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._sanctions_against_Iran

[...] Banking

Iranian financial institutions are barred from directly accessing the
U.S. financial system, but they are permitted to do so indirectly
through banks in other countries. In September 2006, the U.S. government
imposed sanctions on Bank Saderat Iran, barring it from dealing with
U.S. financial institutions, even indirectly. The move was announced by
Stuart Levey, the undersecretary for treasury, who accused the major
state-owned bank in Iran of transferring funds for certain groups,
including Hezbollah. Levey said that since 2001 a Hezbollah-controlled
organization had received 50 million U.S. dollars directly from Iran
through Bank Saderat. He said the U.S. government will also persuade
European banks and financial institutions not to deal with Iran.[9] As
of November 2007, the following Iranian banks were prohibited from
transferring money to or from United States banks:[10]

Bank Sepah

Bank Saderat Iran

Bank Melli Iran

Bank Kargoshaee (aka Kargosa’i Bank)

Arian Bank (aka Aryan Bank)

In other words, these banks were placed on the Office of Foreign Assets
Control (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN List). The SDN
List is a directory of entities and individuals who have been prohibited
from accessing the U.S. financial system. Although difficult there are
ways to carry out an OFAC SDN List removal.[11]

As of early 2008, the targeted banks, such as Bank Mellat, had been able
to replace banking relationships with a few large sanction-compliant
banks with relationships with a larger number of smaller non-compliant
banks.[12] The total assets frozen in Britain under the EU (European
Union) and UN sanctions against Iran are approximately 976,110,000
pounds ($1.64 billion).[13] In 2008, the US Treasury ordered Citigroup
Inc. to freeze over $2 billion held for Iran in Citigroup accounts.[14][15]

For individuals and small businesses, these banking restrictions have
created a large opportunity for the hawala market, which allows Iranians
to transfer money to and from foreign countries using an underground
unregulated exchange system.[16] In June, 2010 in the case United States
v. Banki, the use of the hawala method of currency transfer led to a
criminal conviction against a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin. Banki was
sentenced to two and a half years in federal prison, however, on the
Federal Sentencing Guidelines , this type of offense could result in
imprisonment of up to 20 years.

[edit]Effects and criticism

Many of the Iran sanctions programs are administered by the United
States of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

According to an Iranian journalist, the effects of sanctions in Iran
include expensive basic goods and an aging and increasingly unsafe
aircraft fleet. "According to reports from Iranian news agencies, 17
planes have crashed over the past 25 years, killing approximately 1,500
people."[17]

The U.S. forbids aircraft manufacturer Boeing to sell aircraft to
Iranian aviation companies.[18] However, there are some authorizations
for the export of civil aviation parts to Iran when those items are
required for the safety of commercial aircraft. ...

This page was last modified on 16 August 2012 at 04:16.

(11) Hillary appointed Zionist Dennis Ross to State Dept as Special
Adviser on Iran (2009)

http://www.radioislam.org/islam/english/jewishp/usa/dennis_ross_israel_agent_on_iran.htm

Dennis Ross - Jew and former leader of "mission of four Jews" to handle
Iran affairs

By Freedom Research, May 2009

Underlines in the article below added by Radio Islam for sake of emphasis.

Dennis Ross Joins State Dept as Special Adviser to Clinton

by Hana Levi Julian

IsraelNationalNews.com, 02/24/2009

Former senior U.S. diplomat Dennis Ross has been pressed back into
service as Special Adviser on Persian Gulf affairs to U.S. Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton. The position includes advising Clinton on issues
surrounding Iran, the Gulf region, the broader Middle East region, and
southwest Asia.

The appointment was announced Monday by State Department spokesman
Robert Wood, who noted,"This is a region in which America is fighting
two wars and facing challenges of ongoing conflict, terror,
proliferation, access to energy, economic development and strengthening
democracy and the rule of law."

He added that "Ambassador Ross brings a wealth of experience not just to
issues within the region but also to larger political-military
challenges that flow from the area and have an impact outside of the
Gulf and Southwest Asia, and the secretary looks forward to drawing on
that experience and diplomatic perspective."

U.S. Senator George Mitchell was appointed last month as the Obama
administration's special envoy to the Middle East. Equally seasoned
diplomat Richard Holbrooke was appointed as special envoy to Afghanistan
and Pakistan.

Seen in U.S. as Pro-Israel Appointment

Ross helped write the speech delivered at the AIPAC convention by
President Barack Obama during his campaign last year, and served as an
official adviser to the campaign.

The long-time diplomat has said he believes that negotiations between
the Jewish State and the Palestinian Authority should be contingent on
the PA taking responsibility for preventing violence in any location
vacated by Israel.

Ross has said he is opposed to unilateral withdrawals and noted in the
past that Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000 strengthened the
position of the Hizbullah terrorist organization there. He also opposes
setting a timeline for creation of a PA state, according to Who Runs
Government.

The new Special Adviser supports Israel's right to build a security
barrier for self-defense, but believes it should be temporary.

He also reportedly supports peace talks between Syria and Israel and
negotiations over the Golan Heights.

In addition, Ross has said he believes that Iran must be stopped at all
costs from "going nuclear."

No Novice to Middle East Diplomacy

The appointment returns Ross to a forum with which he is exceedingly
familiar, having served in a similar capacity under Clinton's husband
Bill when he was president.

As Middle East coordinator during the Clinton administration, Dennis
Ross served from 1993 to 2001 as the top negotiator for the U.S. between
Israel and the Palestinian Authority, headed at that time by Palestine
Liberation Organization (PLO) chairman Yasser Arafat.

Ross also served under President Ronald Reagan in 1981 as the director
of Near East and South Asian Affairs for the administration's national
security staff.

In addition, Ross served the Bush administration as well – that is, the
administration of President George H. Bush, former President George W.
Bush's father. During those years, Ross worked as the director of the
State Department's Policy Planning office under then-U.S. Secretary of
State James Baker.

Ross left government service in the year 2000 to head the Washington
Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank described by Who Runs
Government as "hawkish" and "with a pro-Israeli bent." Together with New
York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman, Ross founded the Kol Shalom
synagogue in Rockville, Maryland in 2002.
{end report} ...

The American Jewish journalist Robert Deyfuss writes in The Nation on
Dennis Ross (underlines in the article below added by Radio Islam for
sake of emphasis):

Dennis Ross's Iran Plan

by Robert Dreyfuss

This article appeared in the April 27, 2009 edition of The Nation

When Dennis Ross, a hawkish, pro-Israel adviser to Barack Obama's
presidential campaign, was elevated in February to the post of special
adviser on "the Gulf and Southwest Asia"--i.e., Iran--Ross's critics
hoped that his influence would be marginal. After all, unlike special
envoys George Mitchell (Israel-Palestine) and Richard Holbrooke
(Afghanistan-Pakistan), whose appointments were announced with fanfare,
Ross's appointment was long delayed and then announced quietly, at
night, in a press release.

But diplomats and Middle East watchers hoping Ross would be sidelined
are wrong. He is building an empire at the State Department: hiring
staff and, with his legendary flair for bureaucratic wrangling,
cementing liaisons with a wide range of US officials. The Iran portfolio
is his, says an insider. "Everything we've seen indicates that Ross has
completely taken over the issue," says a key Iran specialist. "He's
acting as if he's the guy. Wherever you go at State, they tell you,
'You've gotta go through Dennis.'"

It's paradoxical that Obama, who made opening a dialogue with Iran into
a crucial plank in his campaign, would hand the Iran file to Ross. Since
taking office, Obama has taken a number of important steps to open lines
to Iran, including a remarkable holiday greeting by video in which the
president spoke directly to "the leaders of the Islamic Republic of
Iran," adding, "We seek engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual
respect." He invited Iran to attend an international conference on
Afghanistan, where a top Iranian diplomat shook hands with Holbrooke;
he's allowing American diplomats to engage their Iranian counterparts;
and he's reportedly planning to dispatch a letter directly to Iran's
leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Yet Ross, like his neoconservative
co-thinkers, is explicitly skeptical about the usefulness of diplomacy
with Iran.

Widely viewed as a cog in the machine of Israel's Washington lobby, Ross
was not likely to be welcomed in Tehran--and he wasn't. Iran's state
radio described his appointment as "an apparent contradiction" with
Obama's "announced policy to bring change in United States foreign
policy." Kazem Jalali, a hardline member of the Iranian parliament's
national security committee, joked that it "would have been so much
better to pick Ariel Sharon or Ehud Olmert as special envoy to Iran."
More seriously, a former White House official says that Ross has told
colleagues that he believes the United States will ultimately have no
choice but to attack Iran in response to its nuclear program. ...

In September, Ross served as a key member of another task force
organized by the Bipartisan Policy Center. The group assembled a flock
of hawks under the leadership of Michael Makovsky, brother of WINEP's
David Makovsky, who served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense in
the heyday of the Pentagon neocons from 2002 to 2006. Its report,
"Meeting the Challenge: U.S. Policy Toward Iranian Nuclear
Development"--written by Michael Rubin, a neoconservative hardliner at
the American Enterprise Institute--read like a declaration of war.

The core of the Bipartisan Policy Center report predicted that diplomacy
with Iran is likely to fail. Anticipating failure, Ross and his
colleagues recommended "prepositioning military assets" by the United
States--i.e., a military buildup--coupled with a US "show of force" in
the Gulf. This would be followed almost immediately by a blockade of
Iranian gasoline imports and oil exports, meant to paralyze Iran's
economy, followed by what they call, not so euphemistically, "kinetic
action."
{end report}

Jewish Ambassador Dennis Ross co-authored with fellow Jew Daniel Kurtzer
the report "Tracking Obama's positions on Israel" for San Diego Jewish
World, August 24, 2008. They write: "As Senator Obama’s Middle East
Policy Advisors, we were honored to accompany him on his trip, and we
are eager to share with you a recap of his historic visit." Where
"Senator Obama traveled to Israel to meet with Israel’s leaders, to
express his unequivocal commitment to Israel’s security and to
strengthening the U.S.-Israel relationship" - "In his meetings with
Israeli officials, Senator Obama reaffirmed his longstanding belief that
Israel's security is 'sacrosanct,' and reiterated his commitment to the
steadfast relationship between the United States and Israel." ...

{Radio Islam goes on to show photos of Dennis Ross wearing a yarmulke
and appearing with the Israeli flag}

Dennis Ross speaks at Congregation of Reform Judaism in Orlando, FL, on
10-19-2008, the Israeli flag handy in place behind him.

Dennis Ross with the yarmulke - the Jewish skullcap - on his head in
deep and friendly talks with his Jewish brethren.

Dennis Ross in friendly interaction with Israeli Likudnik Benjamin
Netanyahu.

Dennis Ross this time enjoying the friendship of Ehud Olmert, the man
behind the 2006 war on Lebanon.

Dennis Ross seated with Israeli Labourist Ehud Barak, Israeli flag in
place as usual.

Dennis Ross the way he enjoys himself, lecturing his Zionist opinions,
skullcap on the head, and the Israeli flag in the back.

Dennis Ross in Montgomery County, PA; 2008

Dennis Ross speech on Middle East, Obama, October 19th 2008 at South
Florida Jewish Temple ...