Western Union settles laundering probe for $5 mln

NEW YORK, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Western Union, the money transfer company, agreed to spend $5 million to address alleged violations of state and federal money-laundering laws and regulations, California's Department of Financial Institutions said on Thursday.
California said the consent agreement requires Western Union, a unit of Denver-based First Data Corp. FDC.N , to spend the $5 million in the state to enhance its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and to train agents.

It said the agreement arose out of Western Union's alleged failure in 2002 to file certain transaction reports and "suspicious activity" reports, and because it inadequately supervised agents. The regulators said Western Union cooperated with its investigation.

The Bank Secrecy Act requires banks to report large cash transactions and maintain records of such things as deposits and checks paid. It is designed to prevent the illegal laundering of money, which involves transfers designed to conceal the money's source.

http://reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml?type=governmentFilingsNews&storyID=3281874

WU should overcome that fine in the first week of football.

JC

Sports911.com has learned that Western Union is under tight scrutiny by US law enforcement authorities. According to 911 sources it is quite possible Western Union could cease doing business with offshore gambling operators.

This comes on the heels of a Curacao Western Union agent skipping off with more than a million dollars of sports books funds, forcing a handful of books to stop accepting that method of money transfer for a number of weeks. Sirbet has since begun offering Western Union as an option once again.

911 has also learned that the gentleman who ran off with the Western Union money is either in Surinam or South Africa.

Surinam attorneys hired by the DMIV, a facilitator for the Western Union transactions, reportedly will have all the man's assets tied up by this weekend.

"They (the attorneys) know where the money is," said a source close to the situation who wished not to be identified.

The company plans to take legal action against Western Union if all funds are not returned.

In regard to the speculation about Western Union and its legal standing in the offshore gambling world, some sports book owners have contemplated turning their backs on the payment transfer company, though it is by far the most popular method for payment and receiving of funds by sports bettors.

FBI agents investigating Western Union are said to be very concerned over the large sums of money moving overseas to and from gambling operations.

....In other news, NETeller made a decision to cut most of their promotional activity on gambling related websites including Sports911.com. While abiding fully with the Patriot Act, they were advised by US government officials not to actively promote their product in the States.

NETeller has zero plans to dismantle its online payment solutions service for North American clients.

Noose getting tighter and tighter. it is coming to an end

jjgold - I don't think it's coming to an END, but I predict things will slow down quite a bit for awhile while W.U. puts some strict guidelines in place to track monies going out and in of the U.S.

If everyone adheres to these guidlines books may be able to use W.U. again but NEVER as freely as it was before.

The Times They Are a Changing...

B.Dylan

If transferring WU, how does anyone know Joe Smith, whom I send the funds to works for a book?

"Masters of the bluff and masters of the proposition, but the enemy I see wears a cloak of decency."

Bob Dylan

"They like to take all this money from sin, build big universities to study in, sing Amazing Grace all the way to the Swiss banks."

Bob Dylan

"Every pleasures got an edge of pain pay for your ticket and don't complain."

Bob Dylan

We ducked inside the doorway, thunder crashing
As majestic bells of bolts struck shadows in the sounds
Seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing
Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight
Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight
An' for each an' ev'ry underdog soldier in the night
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
In the city's melted furnace, unexpectedly we watched
With faces hidden while the walls were tightening
As the echo of the wedding bells before the blowin' rain
Dissolved into the bells of the lightning
Tolling for the rebel, tolling for the rake
Tolling for the luckless, the abandoned an' forsaked
Tolling for the outcast, burnin' constantly at stake
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
Through the mad mystic hammering of the wild ripping hail
The sky cracked its poems in naked wonder
That the clinging of the church bells blew far into the breeze
Leaving only bells of lightning and its thunder
Striking for the gentle, striking for the kind
Striking for the guardians and protectors of the mind
An' the unpawned painter behind beyond his rightful time
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
Through the wild cathedral evening the rain unraveled tales
For the disrobed faceless forms of no position
Tolling for the tongues with no place to bring their thoughts
Tolling for the deaf an' blind, tolling for the mute
Tolling for the mistreated, mateless mother, the mistitled prostitute
For the misdemeanor outlaw, chased an' cheated by pursuit
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
Even though a cloud's white curtain in a far-off corner flashed
An' the hypnotic splattered mist was slowly lifting
Electric light still struck like arrows, fired but for the ones
Tolling for the searching ones, on their speechless, seeking trail
For the lonesome-hearted lovers with too personal a tale
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
Trapped by no track of hours for they hanged suspended
As we listened one last time an' we watched with one last look
Spellbound an' swallowed 'til the tolling ended
Tolling for the aching ones whose wounds cannot be nursed
For the countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones an' worse
An' for every hung-up person in the whole wide universe
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.