By Rachelle Younglai and Brett Wolf
WASHINGTON, Aug 20 (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury has hired
one of the Justice Department’s top prosecutors to lead its
anti-money laundering and counterterror finance unit, raising
the department’s profile and suggesting it will take a more
aggressive approach to rooting out illicit activity from U.S.
markets.
Jennifer Shasky Calvery, chief of the Justice Department’s
asset forfeiture and money laundering section, will start
directing the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network in
September, the Treasury said on Monday.
The bureau, also known as FinCEN, was established in 1990 to
help authorities establish money trails and produce evidence to
recover assets. The 300-person unit analyzes information
submitted by financial institutions on suspicious activity and
writes rules to fight money laundering and terror financing.
“It suggests a very strong enforcement bias for FinCEN,”
said Ann Jaedicke, a former Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency regulator who is now a managing director at the
Promontory Financial Group.
Under Shasky Calvery’s leadership, the Justice Department
secured the forfeiture of nearly $1 billion from Barclays Bank
and other financial institutions, as well as the forfeiture of
some $3 million in assets from two former leaders of different
oil-producing states in Nigeria.
FinCen’s leader, James Freis, was dismissed in May for
reasons that remain unclear. However, he will remain as director
until Shasky Calvery replaces him next month.
Shasky Calvery’s appointment comes as the Treasury, the
Justice Department and the Federal Reserve continue to
investigate British bank Standard Chartered Plc for
Iran-related sanctions violations.
Her unit is currently leading the Standard Chartered probe
at the Justice Department. The bank has already agreed to pay
$340 million to New York’s bank regulator over its Iran
transactions.
“Treasury is bringing her on board to ensure the effective
use of Treasury regulations and data to enforce aggressively the
anti-money laundering laws and system, and reform the way FinCEN
does business,” said Juan Zarate, a top counterterrorism aide to
President George W. Bush.
Shasky Calvery is the first prosecutor to lead FinCEN and
banking sources said this suggests that the Treasury plans to
toughen its enforcement of anti-money laundering laws and
regulations.
Several major international banks have been publicly accused
of not doing enough to combat money laundering and terrorist
financing.
The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations last
month held a hearing at which it blasted HSBC for purported
anti-money laundering failures.
As the head of the Justice Department’s asset forfeiture
section, Shasky Calvery has been working with the Treasury on
anti-money laundering issues for at least two years.
Treasury Undersecretary David Cohen said in a statement that
Shasky Calvery’s strong working relationships with law
enforcement and other federal authorities will be “enormous
assets” for the Treasury.
Jaikumar Ramaswamy, deputy of the Justice Department’s money
laundering unit, will serve as the acting chief when Shasky
Calvery leaves.
