Banamex to pay $97.4 mn to settle US laundering probe
The penalty is on top of $140 million in civil fines Banamex paid to US
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Banamex, the Mexican affiliate of US banking giant Citigroup, will forfeit $97.4 million after admitting to having a weak anti-money laundering program, the US Justice Department announced Monday.
The penalty resolves a criminal probe at Banamex USA after investigators found that from 2007 through 2012, Banamex conducted fewer than 10 investigations on more than 18,000 alerts involving more than $142 million in potentially suspicious transactions totalling more than $142 million, the Justice Department said.
The Justice Department signed a non-prosecution agreement with Banamex USA after it agreed to invest in remediation and cooperated with the criminal probe, the agency said.
The penalty is on top of $140 million in civil fines Banamex paid to US and California agencies over a separate bank secrecy act probe.
In October, Citigroup announced it was renaming its Mexican unit Citibanamex and pumping $1 billion into the business.
In February 2014, Citigroup announced a one-time charge of $235 million after uncovering fraud involving a client that borrowed $583 million from a Banamex unit.
