After Laundering $800 Million in Drug Money, How Did HSBC Executives Avoid Jail?

Matt Taibbi: After Laundering $800 Million in Drug , How Did HSBC Executives Avoid Jail?

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The banking giant HSBC has escaped indictment for laundering billions of dollars for Mexican drug cartels and groups linked to al-Qaeda. Despite evidence of wrongdoing, the U.S. Department of Justice has allowed the bank to avoid prosecution and pay a $1.9 billion fine. No top HSBC officials will face charges, either. We’re joined by Rolling Stone contributing editor Matt Taibbi, author of "Griftopia: A Story of Bankers, Politicians, and the Most Audacious Power Grab in American History." "You can do real time in jail in America for all kinds of ridiculous offenses," Taibbi says. "Here we have a bank that laundered $800 million of drug money, and they can’t find a way to put anybody in jail for that. That sends an incredible message, not just to the financial sector but to everybody. It’s an obvious, clear double standard, where one set of people gets to break the rules as much as they want and another set of people can’t break any rules at all without going to jail." [includes rush transcript]


LINK TO VIDEO and transcript.--->> http://www.democracynow.org/2012/12/13/matt_taibbi_after_laundering_800_million


So the lesson is this for banks and State legal cannabis vendors. Do legal transactions with a State legal business and get threatened with prosecution and possible jail time for employees by the Feds. Do Huge financial transactions with Cartels violating State, Federal and International law and you get a fine. Way to go U.S. Federal Government, we love consistency of message.

 

remember, corporations are people too....oh that's right only when it comes to politics, in crime they are still untouchable

 

Used to be a partner in a small securities brokerage in another life. After 9/11 we were forced to personally meet every new investment client to open an account.


Our investor market spanned four states and most was rural. Anytime some Joe in Bumfuck Ruraltown USA wanted to take his buddies advice and invest in one of our products a licensed agent had to drive to Bumfuck Ruraltown USA, meet the client to open an account, drive home. It could be a $1000 account that nets our office $50, but we still had to do the work. It was called anti-terrorism measures to ensure no $$ was funneled to terrorist groups existing in the U.S.


Of course none of the big Securities firms needed to comply. They had waivers.

 

*Gone to Google*:read2:

 

Apparently so....


William S. Burroughs: The writer, who initially claimed to have been playing “William Tell” while drunk, shot his common-law wife. His original story was that he was trying to shoot a glass off her head, but later he simply called it “mishandling a firearm.”


Don King: As the leader of an Ohio gambling ring, he shot one man and stomped another one to death.Flamboyant future boxing promoter Don King killed not one, but two men early in his life while running an illegal gambling operation in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1954, at the age of 23, he shot and killed a man named Hillary Brown, a death that was ruled justifiable because Brown was trying to rob one of King's gambling stations. Later, in 1966, he was involved in a fight with an employee of his named Sam Garrett, whom King claimed owed him money. During the scuffle, Garrett's head hit the pavement -- although some say King repeatedly stomped him to death. He was convicted of manslaughter and spent four years in jail before being paroled in 1971, at which point he moved from gambling to boxing. King was eventually granted a full pardon by Ohio Governor James Rhodes in 1983.


Matthew Broderick: While driving in Ireland with then-galpal Jennifer Grey, he veered into oncoming traffic and crashed into a car head-on. The other driver died, and Broderick was fined $175 for “careless driving.”


Brandy: She failed to brake in time and hit the car in front of her. The other driver was killed, but Brandy was never charged with a crime.


Jayson Williams


On February 14, 2002, former professional basketball star Jayson Williams shot and killed 55-year-old Costas "Gus" Christofi, a limousine driver hired for the day, at his home in Alexandria Township, New Jersey. Williams claimed that he was showing a group of people the shotgun during a tour of his home, and when he snapped it closed, it discharged, striking Christofi. In 2004, Williams was found not guilty of aggravated manslaughter and aggravated assault, while the jury deadlocked on the charge of reckless manslaughter. He ended up being convicted of four lesser charges involved with trying to cover up the shooting. However, he currently faces the possibility of a retrial on the reckless manslaughter charge.


Donte Stallworth


Early in the morning of March 14, 2009, football player Donte Stallworth struck and killed a pedestrian -- 59-year-old Mario Reyes -- while driving in Miami Beach, Florida. Stallworth was drunk at the time and was charged with DUI and second-degree manslaughter, which could have carried a 15-year prison sentence. However, although he pled guilty to both charges, he received only 30 days in jail, plus two years of house arrest, eight years of probation, 1,000 hours of community service and a lifetime suspension of his Florida driver's license. He was also suspended by the National Football League from playing for a year. His light sentence was due largely to Florida's DUI laws, which require proof that there was some action on the drunk driver's part (aside from merely being drunk) that caused the fatal accident. Since Reyes was not in the crosswalk when he was struck, there was reasonable doubt about Stallworth's liability. Stallworth and the Reyes family settled on a financial agreement out of court.


J.R. Smith


On June 9, 2007, star basketball player J.R. Smith was driving through an intersection in Millstone Township, New Jersey, when his SUV collided with another vehicle, killing Smith's passenger, Andre Bell. It was determined that Smith had run a stop sign, driving around another vehicle that was stopped in front of him at the sign. His SUV was then struck by an oncoming car that had the right of way, flipping Smith's vehicle. Neither he nor Bell were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash. Smith had previously been cited seven times -- five for speeding -- and had his driver's license suspended five times in a nine-month span between 2005 and 2006, but his driving record was "in good standing" at the time of the crash. For his role in the accident, Smith was charged with improper passing, failure to stop, speeding (67-plus miles per hour in a 35 MPH zone), reckless driving and failure to wear a seat belt, but he avoided vehicular manslaughter charges. Smith was convicted in 2009 and sentenced to 90 days in jail, but the judge suspended all but 30 days. He ended up spending 24 days in prison and was sentenced to 500 hours of community service.


Vince Neil


On the evening of December 8, 1984, Mötley Crüe lead singer Vince Neil was driving in Redondo Beach, California with Nicholas Dingley (AKA Razzle), drummer for the Finnish band Hanoi Rocks, when Neil lost control of his vehicle and crashed into an oncoming car. Dingley was killed, and the two occupants of the other car suffered serious injuries. Neil had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit and was arrested for drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter. In 1986, he was sentenced to 30 days in jail, five years of probation and 200 hours of community service and was ordered to pay the victims of the crash $2.6 million. He served only 15 of the 30 days in jail.


Keith Moon


On 4 January, 1970, Keith Moon, the iconic drummer for The Who, accidentally ran over his bodyguard, Neil Boland, outside a pub in Hatfield, England. Although Moon was known for his destructive behavior -- in particular, blowing up hotel toilets -- Boland's death was ruled an accident that resulted while the drummer was fleeing from a group of aggressive skinheads. Moon wasn't charged in the death. Ya gotta love Keith Moon:tvlaugh: