The United States needs to do more to crack down on criminal front companies that are undermining the integrity of the nation's financial system, a senior Treasury official said Monday. "Criminals continue to make their way into our financial system," David Cohen, the Treasury's under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, told an anti-money laundering conference in Washington.
Criminals remain able to open bank accounts in the names of shell and front companies and never have to reveal who ultimately would benefit from their illicit activities, Cohen said at the event sponsored by the American Bankers Association and the American Bar Association. "With other countries taking steps to prevent the abuse of shell companies in their jurisdictions, it is simply untenable for the United States to allow this risk to go unaddressed," he said, according to prepared remarks. The legal maneuver, which the eastern US state of Delaware has made a specialty, was notably used by Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout, dubbed the "Merchant of Death", to hide the criminal origins of his profits.
Comments
Comments are closed.