Treasury's War Page 54
and Mubahith, 76, 77
and mujahideen financing, 68, 84–85
and 9/11, 67
and Riggs Banks, 149
and Syria, 355
and terrorist financing, 67–68, 72, 80–91
Saudi American Bank (Samba), 87–88
Saudi Committee for the Relief of the Palestinian People, 86–87
Saudi Committee for the Support of the Intifida Al Quds
See Saudi Committee for the Relief of the Palestinian People
Schick, Alan, 181–182
Schneider, Scott, 177–178, 180–181
Schrank, Leonard “Lenny”
and SWIFT, 52–54, 57, 58, 274, 277, 283
Scobey, Margaret, 73, 157, 183
Scolinos, Tasia, 18, 127
Scomi Precision Engineering (SCOPE), 212
Second Life, 396
See also Linden dollars
Secret Service, 208, 233, 250
and Counter Assault Team (CAT), 16
and counterfeiting, 4, 129, 221–224, 229, 234
and Department of Homeland Security, 128, 130–132
investigation of 9/11 hijackers, 34
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), 412
Senate Banking Committee, 204
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 321, 335
Senate Homeland Security Committee, 410
Senate Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, 205
Seng Heng Bank, 240
Seoul (South Korea), 323
Shamoon virus, 410
Sharjah Cooperative Society, 367
Sharjah Islamic Bank, 367
Sharma, Amit
and hawaladars, 97–101, 102
and North Korea, 260
Shedd, David, 227–228, 231, 245
Sheikh Mohammed, Khalid
bank accounts of, 20
Shelby, Richard, 204–206
Shell oil, 337
Sierra Leone, 120, 121
signals intelligence (SIGINT), 48
Simon, Steve, 178
Simpson, Glenn, 274
Singapore, 63, 64
and Iran, 333, 334
and North Korea, 220, 241
Siniora, Fouad, 192
Sloan, Jim, 134
smart financial power, 321
Smith, Chris, 206
Smoking Dragon investigation, 235
Snow, John, 143, 150
and Crown Prince Abdullah, 78
and expansion of Treasury, 205–207, 215–216
and Iran, 295
and Iraq, 170
and North Korea, 232, 241–242
and Prince Bandar, 84, 86
and SWIFT, 271, 273, 275
Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT)
and effectiveness of data, 55–57, 63–65
and expanded Treasury, 201, 203
history and purpose of, 49–50
and Iran, 283–284, 338–339, 374
and Ismuddin, Riduan, 64
public knowledge of, 269–285, 269–285
and “scrutineers,” 59
and Treasury subpoenas, 54–55
US access to, 50–54, 56, 57–58, 282
Sodbiznesbank, 161
Somalia, 37, 76, 79, 430–431
Al Qaeda in, 363–364
and hawalas, 94
Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of, 431
See also Al Barakaat network, Al Shabaab
Sony Playstation, 406
Sopranos, The, 235, 236
and Soprano State, 239
South Africa, 6, 212, 400
South Korea, 220, 236, 389, 400, 404
and Iran, 288, 334, 336
and North Korea, 252, 324, 373
and ROKS Cheonan, 322
Soviet Union, 17, 119
Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), 400
Specially Designated Nationals, 25
Spiegel Online, 281
Stafford, Brian, 134
Standard & Poor, 384, 403
Standard Chartered bank, 332, 348–349, 370, 371
Starbucks, 191
Star Wars, 368
State Department, 33, 46, 88, 107, 142, 150, 178, 215
and Iran, 295, 307, 333, 337
and Iraq, 172
and Khan, AQ, 213
See also North Korea and State Department
state-owned enterprises (SOEs), 386
Steinberg, Jim, 323
Straits of Hormuz, 289
Stuxnet virus, 407–409
Stys, Mark, 411
Success Foundation, 106
Sudan, 81, 149, 320, 407
and bin Laden, 42, 60
Suez Canal, 5
Sun Trust Bank, 20
Sunni Wahhabi Islam, 68–69, 424
supernote. See North Korea counterfeiting
Suspicious Activity Reports, 20
Sveriges Riksbank, 49
Swartz, Bruce, 235
Sweden, 38, 112–113
SWIFT. See Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication
Swiss Federal Council, 212–213
Swiss National Bank, 49
Switzerland, 40, 89, 90, 425
and asset recovery, 199
and Iraq, 174, 181, 187, 188, 195
and WMD, 212
and White Money Initiative, 199
Syria, 86, 164, 170, 200, 284, 365–366, 375
and cash couriers, 106
and Hezbollah, 358
and Iraq, 171, 181, 183–185, 195
and North Korea, 224
in Lebanon, 190, 193, 409
and money laundering, 156–158
nuclear program of, 62, 211, 212–214
and Section 311, 353
Syrian Accountability Act, 156–157
Syrian International Islamic Bank (SIIB), 354–355
Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank, 156–157
Szubin, Adam, 341, 346–348
Taepo Dong 2 missile, 253
Tahir, B.S.A., 212
Taipei (Taiwan), 393
Taiwan
and China, 163, 387, 393, 401
and North Korea, 222
Tajikistan, 162
takfir (apostates), 69
Taliban, 79
and hawalas, 94
and heroin and opium trade, 23, 197, 368, 369
and Islamic charities, 71
and organized crime, 120
and UN, 33
Tamil Tigers, 23
Tanchong Commercial Bank, 225
Taylor, Charles, 120–121
Taylor, John, 74
and Taylor rule, 32
Tehran (Iran), 287, 288, 294, 322, 324, 338, 340, 351, 375
Terrorist Finance Tracking Program, 64, 203, 285
Terrorist Finance Tracking System (TFTS), 282
terrorist financing, 210–211
and comingling of funds, 22
and deep-pocket donors, 19–20, 78, 80–82, 109
designations of, 27–28, 29, 36, 38–41, 70–73, 108–114
and funder intent, 22
as “reverse money laundering,” 21
See also cash couriers, charities (Islamic), Golden Chain list, organized crime
Terrorist Financing Operations Section (TFOS)
origin of, 34, 60
Terrorist Surveillance Program (TSP), 269
Thailand, 63, 122–123
Tinner, Friedrich, 212–213
Tinner, Marco, 212–213
Tinner, Urs, 212–213
threat finance cells (TFCs), 196–197
Tokyo
and Iran, 289
and North Korea, 323
Toscas, George, 18
Total oil, 335
Townsend, Frances M. Fragos, 83–84
Trafigura, 337
Transavia Travel, 120
Transitional Federal Government (Somalia), 364
transnational organized crime (TOC) strategy, 381
Transparency International,
199
Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture (TEOAF), 18, 133
expansion of, 202
Treasury Terrorist Financing Tracking Program (“Turtle”), 54, 64, 285
See also SWIFT
Tri-Border Area of South America (TBA), 117–119
Tripoli (Libya), 106, 344
Tunisia, 164
Turkey, 81, 299, 369
and Iran, 288, 348
and Iraq, 171
and Syria, 355
and US financial crisis (2008), 384
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, 158
Twitter, 430
UBS
and Iran, 302, 371
penalty against, 148
and SWIFT, 57
Ukraine, 387
and Bad Bank Initiative, 153
Unha-2 missile, 320
United Against a Nuclear Iran, 361
United Arab Emirates, 90, 164
and cash couriers, 105
and hawalas, 95, 96
and Iran, 288, 307
and Libya, 354
and organized crime, 115, 121
and Sharjah, 121
and Syria, 355
United Nations, 32, 87, 192, 195
and Iran, 296–297, 303, 325–326, 330–331, 341–342
and 1518 Committee, 186, 187
and North Korea, 372
and Oil for Food Program (OFF), 6, 158, 172–173, 199
and organized crime, 376
sanctions of, 81, 121, 215
Security Council of, 38, 171, 215, 325, 341
Security Council Resolution 1267, 33, 38, 234
Security Council Resolution 1373, 33
Security Council Resolution 1483, 175, 178, 188–189, 192
Security Council Resolution 1540, 215
Security Council Resolution 1696, 306
Security Council Resolution 1737, 306
Security Council Resolution 1803, 306
Security Council Resolution 1874, 322
Security Council Resolution 1929, 331
and Somalia, 364
and Syria, 355
United Wa State Army, 155
USA PATRIOT Act (2001), 137, 147
and Section 311, 151–158, 164, 167, 290, 332, 353, 360
and Title III, 30, 47, 151
US Bancorp, 410
US District Court for the Southern District of New York, 123, 312
and US Attorney, 369
US Export-Import Bank, 392
US Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 313
US Global Leadership Coalition Conference, 388
USS Cole, 18
U-turn financial transaction, 303, 308
Vardaman, John, 178
Ven digital currency, 396
Venezuela, 304, 371, 374
and Iran, 309–310, 375
oil in, 403–405
and Taliban, 369
Vienna (Austria)
and Iran, 296, 350
and North Korea, 220, 233
Vienna Convention for Consular Affairs, 149
Vietnam, 299, 389
Vitol, 337
Vladivostok, 264
Wachovia, 263
Wall Street Journal, 18, 274, 310
Wallerstein, Ryan, 165–167
Wallwork, Anne, 140, 158
Warren, Mary Lee, 142
Washington, D.C. (US), 31, 107, 148, 167, 170, 183, 326, 338
Washington Post, The, 275
Wayne, Tony, 33, 178
weapons of mass destruction (WMD), 29, 111, 213–215
in Iraq, 171, 173
proliferation of, 210–211
Wells Fargo, 410
Werner, Bob, 214
Western Union, 30, 96
in Kabul, 98
White House Situation Room, 41, 58, 232, 267, 299, 329, 345
WikiLeaks, 430
Wilkinson, James R., 263, 267, 291
Williams & Connolly, 26
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, 254
Wolfe, George, 26
and Iraq, 174, 178
and SWIFT, 55
World Bank, 32, 47, 137, 373, 392
Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Initiative of, 199
World Economic Forum’s Global Risks 2008 report, 411
World War I
and League of Nations, 4
World War II, 399
and “The Control,” 23–24
and counterfeiting, 224
and economic sanctions, 4–5
Wynn, Steve, 226
Yakuza, 376, 381
YBM Magnex, 380
Yemen, 18, 164
and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, 78, 398
and cash couriers, 106
and North Korea, 222
Yeonpyeong Island, 322
Yugoslavia, 148
zakhat (charitable giving), 70, 109
“Zarate-Zubkov” reports, 162
Zelikow, Philip, 291
Zhou Xiaochuan, 241–242
Zhu Guangyao, 389
Zubkov, Viktor, 160–163
Zurich (Switzerland), 106
STEPHEN JAFFE/AFP/Getty Images
President George W. Bush (L) walks to the Rose Garden with Secretary of State Colin Powell (C) and Secretary of Treasury Paul O’Neill (R), September 24, 2001. Bush had just signed Executive Order 13224, which marked the start of the campaign against terrorist financing. He declared, “Today, we have launched a strike on the financial foundation of the global terror network. . . . We will starve the terrorists of funding.”
SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images
A money changer and his customer exchange dollars for Afghanis at the money exchange market in Kabul, Afghanistan, October 8, 2003. The Afghan economy has long relied on cash, money exchangers, and the use of the traditional hawala money transfer system, all of which came under intense scrutiny after 9/11.
Photo courtesy of the author
The author (dressed for business, not combat), in front of a C-17 cargo plane on a Treasury delegation trip through Afghanistan and South Asia. Searching for ways to staunch the flow of terrorist and illicit funds, Treasury officials took numerous trips soon after 9/11 to war zones, crisis areas, and banking centers.
Photo courtesy of the US Treasury/Chris E. Turner
David Aufhauser, Treasury’s General Counsel, speaks at a press conference at the Treasury Department regarding terrorist financing efforts and designations, soon after 9/11. Aufhauser played a key role coordinating counter-terrorist financing actions and policy. Behind him is Richard Newcomb, the longstanding Director of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a small and sometimes secretive office that manages the US government’s sanctions programs.
Photo courtesy of the US Treasury/Chris E. Turner
Secretary of the Treasury John Snow speaks at a Treasury press conference announcing the joint US–Saudi “designation” of four branches of the Saudi-based Al Haramain organization for funding al Qaeda. Such designations targeted individuals, companies, and associated properties with the intent of shutting them out of the US financial system, thus making it nearly impossible for them to engage in legitimate financial activity. This designation was intended to demonstrate tangible US–Saudi cooperation and ultimately resulted in the closing of Al Haramain, then the largest Saudi charity. From left to right, Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Tony Wayne, Ambassador-at-large for Counterterrorism Cofer Black, Secretary Snow, the author, and Adel al Jubeir, then Foreign Affairs Adviser to the Saudi Crown Prince (later King) Abdullah and later Saudi Ambassador to the United States.
Photo courtesy of the Saudi Embassy in Washington, DC
Frances Fragos Townsend, President Bush’s Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Adviser, meeting with Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, on June 21, 2006, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Townsend became the principal interlocutor with the Saudi government on counterterrorism.
Photo courtesy of IRS-CID Agent Scott
Schneider
IRS-Criminal Investigative Division agent Scott Schneider and Treasury analyst Pat Conlon at an airfield in Baghdad, Iraq, May 2003. They were the first Treasury agents deployed to Iraq to hunt for Saddam’s assets and set up the logistics for linking Treasury’s efforts with the US military. Their uniforms are labeled “Treasury.”
Photo from IRS-CID agent Scott Schneider
Treasury analyst Conlon in Baghdad amidst the piles of financial records collected from the Iraqi Central Bank in the spring of 2003, soon after the American-led invasion. These financial documents, along with local interviews and an international effort, formed the basis for locating and recovering more than $3 billion of Saddam Hussein’s assets.
Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress, gifted by Herbert A. French from the National Photo Company Collection
The Riggs Bank, circa 1921, on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, located across from the US Treasury. Riggs was a longstanding and storied banking institution servicing high-value clients and many foreign embassies in the city. It had once billed itself as “the most important bank in the most important city in the world.” After 9/11, Riggs was investigated for lacking anti-money-laundering controls and failing to apply necessary due diligence to high-risk accounts and customers. Riggs closed in 2005, sold its assets to PNC Financial Services, leaving numerous embassies temporarily without a banker. The building became a PNC Bank.
Photo courtesy of the US Treasury/Chris E. Taylor
The author (L) and Stuart Levey at their confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee on July 15, 2004. Both assumed leadership roles in the new Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the Treasury Department, established in 2004. The new office—referred to as “TFI”—would become the center of the Treasury and US government’s financial warfare efforts.
TEH ENG KOON/AFP/Getty Images
US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Treasury Daniel Glaser (L) and US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill (R) hold a press conference at a hotel in Beijing, March 19, 2007. By deploying Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act, the Treasury stunned North Korea in an action against Banco Delta Asia in Macau, which resulted in Pyongyang’s isolation from the banking system. US officials then attempted to unwind the financial pressure, with the goal of inducing North Korea back to the six-party talks.
Reprinted with permission of the cartoonist Gary Varvel and Creators Syndicate
Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri reading the 2006 New York Times article about the US Treasury’s Terrorist Financing Tracking Program. The story revealed a secret program the Treasury department had established soon after 9/11 to work with SWIFT, the international bank messaging network based in Belgium, to track and disrupt suspected terrorist financing networks. The story caused a firestorm of controversy.