by Brian Mahany
Around our Detroit office, we often refer to Bank of America as the “Death Star.” Sci-fi fans understand the reference but for those who haven’t seen Star Wars, the Death Star is a huge space station with a death beam capable of destroying a planet. Bank of America isn’t quite that powerful yet but according to published reports, the FBI says that violent Mexican drug dealers have been laundering drug money through our favorite bank. That’s right, the FBI says that the Los Zetas drug cartel has been laundering their dirty money through BOA accounts.
The FBI report does not claim that the bank did anything wrong, however, banks are supposed to have rigid anti money laundering protocols to keep the bank from being used by drug traffickers and other criminals.
Some might say this is an isolated incident but some quick research says this isn’t the first time the bank has been in the spotlight for its failure to stop money laundering. In 2006 the bank apologized after one of its branches in New York was used to launder $3 billion. Then Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau was quoted in the New York Times as saying that the feds didn’t indict Bank of America “because we don’t want to banks out of business.”
While we don’t like to see banks fail either and realize that thousands of depositors are sometimes hurt when banks go under, some banks should not be allowed to remain in business.
Bank of America has been criticized several times in recent years for its anti-money laundering efforts. We are shocked to learn that a single branch could fail to detect billions in dirty funds yet on a daily basis we hear horror stories from homeowners in foreclosure or trying to obtain a HAMP loan modification.
In our opinion, Bank of America isn’t too big to fail. It has become too big to care. While there are many fine people working for the bank, there does not seem to be any leadership in place.
The fraud lawyers at Mahany & Ertl represent individuals with claims against lenders including Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of New York (BONY) and Allied Home Mortgage. If you have been the subject of a wrongful foreclosure or improperly denied a HAMP mortgage modification, give us a call. Although not a foreclosure defense firm, we do bring cases against lenders for predatory lending and foreclosure practices.
For more information, contact attorney Anthony Dietz at . If you have an urgent need that cannot wait, contact the author at or (direct). All inquiries are protected by the attorney-client privilege and kept confidential.
Mahany & Ertl – America’s Fraud Lawyers. Offices in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Detroit, Michigan; Portland, Maine & Minneapolis, Minnesota. Services available in many jurisdictions.