HSBC Bank Sued As Terrorist-Supporting Organization For Laundering Billions In Mexican Drug Cartel Money

HSBC is the world's fifth largest bank. It's also the go-to bank for Mexican drug cartels to launder their money to provide legitimacy to their otherwise illegal crime syndicates according to a new lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Texas. That lawsuit seeks to recover damages from the bank on behalf of families whose loved ones have become victims of Mexican drug cartels. The lawsuit accuses HSBC of having lax anti-money laundering policies in its Mexican operations described by the lawsuit as "a culture of recklessness and corruption."

“Despite repeated warnings from authorities that drug proceeds were being laundered through HSBC-Mexico in USD accounts and that HSBC was, according to one drug lord, ‘the place to launder money,’ HSBC Mexico continued to accepted billions of USD deposits each year, which it then exported to HSBC US.”

WhoWhatWhy notes that HSBC is no stranger to money laundering accusations. It paid a $1.9 billion fine to the U.S. government in 2012 and admitted it failed to establish an effective anti-money laundering program. HSBC hired now-FBI Director James Comey to help get its house in order following that investigation. WhoWhatWhy notes the uniqueness of the lawsuit in that it characterizes the activities of drug cartels as terrorist organizations and seeks redress under a law enacted post 9/11 that allows victims to recover from organizations that support the perpetrators of terrorism.  To support its contentions, the lawsuit reads:

“Beheadings, torture, public hangings of mutilated corpses, military-style assaults, grenade attacks, car bombings, and kidnappings are daily occurrences in many Mexican cities, and the cartels ensure that these acts are publicly displayed as a mechanism to intimidate and control the civilian population and the government.”

The suit alleges that HSBC’s actions, or inactions, amounted to knowingly providing “continuous and systematic material support to the cartels and their acts of terrorism by laundering billions of dollars for them. As a proximate result of HSBC’s material support to the Mexican drug cartels, numerous lives, including those of the plaintiffs, have been destroyed.”

You can read the full text of the lawsuit by clicking here.