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| '''Everett Stern''' is the whistleblower in the ] money laundering scandal, |
'''Everett Stern''' is a whistleblower, CEO, and former United States Congressional Candidate. As the whistleblower in the ] money laundering scandal, he uncovered billions of dollars of illegal ] transactions which led to an ] investigation and a $1.92 billion fine against HSBC in 2012.<ref name="rollingstone">Taibbi, Matt, , ''Rolling Stone'', February 14, 2013</ref> Everett Stern is also a former United States Congressional Candidate of district PA-13, and CEO of Tactical Rabbit. Stern grew up in ] and attended ]. He received a BA degree from ] in 2008<ref>Ant, Fire, , ''Broward/Palm Beach New Times'', October 22, 2013</ref> and an MBA degree from ] in 2010. | ||
| Everett Stern is also a former United States Congressional Candidate, and CEO of Tactical Rabbit. Stern grew up in ] and attended ]. He received a BA degree from ] in 2008<ref>Ant, Fire, , ''Broward/Palm Beach New Times'', October 22, 2013</ref> and an MBA degree from ] in 2010. | |||
| ==HSBC Scandal== | |||
| After graduating from Stetson, Everett Stern took a position as a AML compliance officer for HSBC in their ] office in October 2010, where he monitored the bank's Middle Eastern transactions. After coming across many suspicious transactions tied to terrorist groups in the Middle East such as ] and ], he repeatedly alerted his supervisors, who ignored his warnings.<ref>Mollenkamp, Carrick, and Brett Wolf, , ''Reuters'', July 13, 2012</ref> Specifically, he uncovered a multinational money-laundering network that generated millions for Hezbollah through the Lebanese brothers Ali, Husayn, and Kassim Tajideen through their ]-based company, Tajco Ltd.<ref>Reuters, , ''Reuters'', July 13, 2012</ref> | |||
| After |
After graduating from Stetson, Everett Stern took a position as an AML compliance officer for HSBC in their ] office in October 2010, where he monitored the bank's Middle Eastern transactions. After coming across many suspicious transactions tied to terrorist groups in the Middle East such as ] and ], he repeatedly alerted his supervisors, who ignored his warnings.<ref>Mollenkamp, Carrick, and Brett Wolf, , ''Reuters'', July 13, 2012</ref> Specifically, he uncovered a multinational money-laundering network that generated millions for Hezbollah through the Lebanese brothers Ali, Husayn, and Kassim Tajideen through their ]-based company, Tajco Ltd.<ref>Reuters, , ''Reuters'', July 13, 2012</ref> After several such episodes, Stern made contact with the ] and ], which began to investigate HSBC. He left work at HSBC in November 2011.<ref name="rollingstone" /> By the summer of 2012, the inquiry had broadened to the bank’s money laundering operations in the ], ], ], ], and ].<ref>Silver-Greenberg, Jessica, , ''New York Times'', August 24, 2012</ref> A July 2012 congressional report found that from 2001 through 2010, HSBC had “exposed the U.S. financial system to a wide array of money laundering, drug trafficking, and terrorist financing risks due to poor anti-money laundering controls.”<ref>Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation , ''New York Times'', December 10, 2012</ref> | ||
| ==Post-HSBC Career and Further Allegations== | |||
| As a result of the scandal, Everett Stern has recently run for United States Congress for district PA-13 and has (Fall 2013) been working with members of Congress such as Representative ], D-CA and the ranking Democrat on the ], on new anti-money laundering legislation that would strengthen regulations and penalties regarding money laundering by banks.<ref>Bandell, Brian, , ''South Florida Business Journal", October 24, 2013</ref> The "Holding Individuals Accountable and Deterring Money Laundering Act," to be introduced by Representative Waters and several others, would give the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network the authority to litigate on its own and would stiffen penalties and prison sentences for bank executives involved in money laundering.<ref>Ensign, Rachel Louise and Michael R. Crittenden, , ''Wall Street Journal", October 23, 2013</ref> | |||
| Stern left HSBC in October 2011, and began working at a ] restaurant as a server. <ref name="americanbanker">Cumming, Chris. HSBC Whistle-Blower Presses for New Laundering Probe, , "American Banker", August 30, 2013</ref> In 2012 he founded Tactical Rabbit, Inc., a private intelligence company based in Pennsylvania, where Stern currently serves as CEO.<ref>Tactical Rabbit, , Accessed 11/10/2013</ref> | |||
| In March 2013, Stern and the law firm Berger & Montague submitted evidence collected by Stern to the SEC that HSBC had continued to violate anti-money laundering regulations through October 2011, when Stern’s employment with HSBC ended.<ref name="americanbanker" /> In August 2013, Stern joined with an ] working group called Alternative Banking to further publicize his allegations against HSBC.<ref>Ashton, Jerry. . Wall Street's Two Least Favorite Birthdays: OWS and Everett Stern , ''Huffington Post'', August 28, 2013</ref> At a protest held on August 29, 2013 in New York City, Stern publicly alleged that HSBC had committed anti-laundering violations through the end of his employment in 2011, and asked that the government re-open the case against HSBC. <ref name="americanbanker" /> | |||
| Everett Stern founded Tactical Rabbit, Inc., after leaving HSBC; it provides "Actionable intelligence solutions by performing in-depth due diligence using sophisticated military information gathering and analysis techniques. Our methodologies identify and harvest non-traditional data sources to transform them into critical decision-making tools."<ref>Tactical Rabbit, , Accessed 11/10/2013</ref> | |||
| In December 2013, HSBC reached a settlement with the ] ] regarding funds that had been transferred to financiers of the terrorist organization Hezbollah between December 2010 and April 2011. HSBC was required to pay $32,400. The Treasury department stated that this settlement was “unrelated to the bank’s December 2012 agreement.” <ref>Sledge, Matt. HSBC Gets Small Fine For Terrorist Transactions , ''Huffington Post'', December 18, 2013</ref> | |||
| ==Political Career== | |||
| In the fall of 2013, Stern worked with ], D-CA, ranking Democrat on the ], on the “Holding Individuals Accountable and Deterring Money Laundering Act,” which sought to give the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network the authority to litigate on its own, and to stiffen penalties and prison sentences for bank executives involved in money laundering.<ref>Bandell, Brian, | |||
| [http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2013/10/24/congressional-bill-could-end-too- | |||
| big.html "Congressional bill could end 'too big to jail' for bankers"], ''South Florida | |||
| Business Journal", October 24, 2013</ref><ref>Ensign, Rachel Louise and Michael R. Crittenden, | |||
| [http://blogs.wsj.com/riskandcompliance/2013/10/23/new-anti-money-laundering-bill-targets- | |||
| bank-executives/ "New Anti-Money Laundering Bill Targets Bank Executives"], ''Wall Street | |||
| Journal", October 23, 2013</ref> | |||
| In February 2014, Stern, a Republican, announced his intention to run for United States congress for district PA-13.<ref>Cumming, Chris. "HSBC Whistle-Blower Launches Congressional Run". February 20, 2014</ref> He withdrew from the race before the April 2014 deadline.<ref>15.Pennsylvania Department of State, “Unofficial Candidate Listing- Post Ballot Lottery,” Accessed 4/8/2014</ref> | |||
| == References == | == References == | ||
| {{reflist}} | {{reflist}} | ||
| {{Improve categories|date=December 2013}} | |||
| {{Persondata | {{Persondata | ||
| | NAME =Stern, Everett | | NAME =Stern, Everett | ||
| | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | ||
| | SHORT DESCRIPTION = banker | | SHORT DESCRIPTION = former banker | ||
| | DATE OF BIRTH = 8/29/1984 | | DATE OF BIRTH = 8/29/1984 | ||
| | PLACE OF BIRTH = New York | | PLACE OF BIRTH = New York | ||
| Line 24: | Line 41: | ||
| | PLACE OF DEATH = | | PLACE OF DEATH = | ||
| }} | }} | ||
| ] | |||
| ] | ] | ||
Revision as of 13:18, 9 April 2014
Everett Stern is a whistleblower, CEO, and former United States Congressional Candidate. As the whistleblower in the HSBC money laundering scandal, he uncovered billions of dollars of illegal money laundering transactions which led to an SEC investigation and a $1.92 billion fine against HSBC in 2012. Everett Stern is also a former United States Congressional Candidate of district PA-13, and CEO of Tactical Rabbit. Stern grew up in South Florida and attended Wellington High School. He received a BA degree from Florida Atlantic University in 2008 and an MBA degree from Stetson University in 2010.
HSBC Scandal
After graduating from Stetson, Everett Stern took a position as an AML compliance officer for HSBC in their New Castle, Delaware office in October 2010, where he monitored the bank's Middle Eastern transactions. After coming across many suspicious transactions tied to terrorist groups in the Middle East such as Hamas and Hezbollah, he repeatedly alerted his supervisors, who ignored his warnings. Specifically, he uncovered a multinational money-laundering network that generated millions for Hezbollah through the Lebanese brothers Ali, Husayn, and Kassim Tajideen through their Gambia-based company, Tajco Ltd. After several such episodes, Stern made contact with the FBI and CIA, which began to investigate HSBC. He left work at HSBC in November 2011. By the summer of 2012, the inquiry had broadened to the bank’s money laundering operations in the Middle East, Mexico, Iran, Sudan, and North Korea. A July 2012 congressional report found that from 2001 through 2010, HSBC had “exposed the U.S. financial system to a wide array of money laundering, drug trafficking, and terrorist financing risks due to poor anti-money laundering controls.” In December 2012, HSBC came to a settlement with U.S. authorities which required it to pay a record $1.92 billion fine, as well as improve its anti-money laundering controls, in exchange for a deferment of criminal prosecution for five years.
Post-HSBC Career and Further Allegations
Stern left HSBC in October 2011, and began working at a P.F. Chang’s restaurant as a server. In 2012 he founded Tactical Rabbit, Inc., a private intelligence company based in Pennsylvania, where Stern currently serves as CEO.
In March 2013, Stern and the law firm Berger & Montague submitted evidence collected by Stern to the SEC that HSBC had continued to violate anti-money laundering regulations through October 2011, when Stern’s employment with HSBC ended. In August 2013, Stern joined with an Occupy Wall Street working group called Alternative Banking to further publicize his allegations against HSBC. At a protest held on August 29, 2013 in New York City, Stern publicly alleged that HSBC had committed anti-laundering violations through the end of his employment in 2011, and asked that the government re-open the case against HSBC.
In December 2013, HSBC reached a settlement with the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control regarding funds that had been transferred to financiers of the terrorist organization Hezbollah between December 2010 and April 2011. HSBC was required to pay $32,400. The Treasury department stated that this settlement was “unrelated to the bank’s December 2012 agreement.”
Political Career
In the fall of 2013, Stern worked with Maxine Waters, D-CA, ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, on the “Holding Individuals Accountable and Deterring Money Laundering Act,” which sought to give the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network the authority to litigate on its own, and to stiffen penalties and prison sentences for bank executives involved in money laundering.
In February 2014, Stern, a Republican, announced his intention to run for United States congress for district PA-13. He withdrew from the race before the April 2014 deadline.
References
- ^ Taibbi, Matt, "Gangster Bankers: Too Big to Jail", Rolling Stone, February 14, 2013
- Ant, Fire, "Wellington Whistleblower Busts HSBC for Serving Terrorists, Promotes 'Bank War Day'", Broward/Palm Beach New Times, October 22, 2013
- Mollenkamp, Carrick, and Brett Wolf, "Special Report: HSBC's money-laundering crackdown riddled with lapses", Reuters, July 13, 2012
- Reuters, "An African supermarket with a sinister side", Reuters, July 13, 2012
- Silver-Greenberg, Jessica, "Cash Moves by HSBC in Inquiry", New York Times, August 24, 2012
- Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation [http://www.hsgac.senate.gov/subcommittees/investigations/media/hsbc-exposed-us-finacial-system-to-money-laundering-drug-terrorist-financing-risks "HSBC Exposed U.S. Financial System to Money Laundering, Drug, Terrorist Financing Risks", July 16, 2012
- Protess, Ben, and Jessica Silver-Greenberg, "HSBC to Pay $ 1.92 Billion to Settle Charges of Money-Laundering", New York Times, December 10, 2012
- ^ Cumming, Chris. HSBC Whistle-Blower Presses for New Laundering Probe, , "American Banker", August 30, 2013
- Tactical Rabbit, "About Us", Accessed 11/10/2013
- Ashton, Jerry. . Wall Street's Two Least Favorite Birthdays: OWS and Everett Stern , Huffington Post, August 28, 2013
- Sledge, Matt. HSBC Gets Small Fine For Terrorist Transactions , Huffington Post, December 18, 2013
- Bandell, Brian, [http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2013/10/24/congressional-bill-could-end-too- big.html "Congressional bill could end 'too big to jail' for bankers"], South Florida Business Journal", October 24, 2013
- Ensign, Rachel Louise and Michael R. Crittenden, [http://blogs.wsj.com/riskandcompliance/2013/10/23/new-anti-money-laundering-bill-targets- bank-executives/ "New Anti-Money Laundering Bill Targets Bank Executives"], Wall Street Journal", October 23, 2013
- Cumming, Chris. "HSBC Whistle-Blower Launches Congressional Run". February 20, 2014
- 15.Pennsylvania Department of State, “Unofficial Candidate Listing- Post Ballot Lottery,” Accessed 4/8/2014