CAPITALISM'S ACHILLES HEEL Dirty Money and How to

Dirty Money at Work 99
tion, Banco Wiese Sudameris in the Cayman Islands and in Uruguay and
Banco Interamericano de Finanzas and Banco de Comercia in Peru allegedly
provided services.
In November 2000, immediately following Montesinos’s escape, Fujimori
reportedly handed U.S. Ambassador John Hamilton in Lima a note
with the following information, asking the ambassador to determine if this
was Montesinos’s account: “The Bank of New York, 51 West 51st Street,
New York, New York, 10019. Telephone (212) 408-4194. In care of Bill
Paying Department, Beverly Jones.” 99 According to a declassified U.S. State
Department cable, the ambassador was informed two days later by an unnamed
source that “Montesinos’s primary bank account is in New York and
that, as of the first week in November, contained $146 million.” 100
Citibank in Miami reportedly had $18 million belonging to a Montesinos
henchman. 101 Pacific Industrial Bank reportedly seized $38 million
and returned it to Peru. 102 The Swiss froze numerous accounts and reportedly
returned $77.5 million to Peru and held another $33 million pending
legal clearances. 103 Perhaps all this was just part of his stash. As a U.S. official
testified at a Senate hearing: “Intelligence information revealed that Montesinos
had maintained a global network of bank accounts and front companies
to move and hide hundreds of millions of dollars received from drug
traffickers, defense contract kickbacks, embezzlement of public funds, and
gun-running since the mid 1990s.” 104
As of mid-2004 Montesinos faced 70 charges, had been convicted on a
half-dozen counts, was sentenced to 9 years in prison, and might get up to
20 years for selling those arms to the FARC. Some 40 other people were on
trial for related charges as well.
Back in the land of his parents, Japan, Fujimori created a web site,
www.fujimorialberto.com, claiming that he will run again for the presidency
of Peru. Not very likely. Interpol has issued a Red Notice for his arrest,
wanted for “assault, forgery, fraud, kidnapping, hostage taking, murder, organized
crime.” 105
A Swiss banker said to me, “As long as tax-evading money is not on the
same level as drug money, then we cannot curtail money laundering.” 106
This may be an unwelcome comment to people who live off tax-evading
money, but it happens to be correct. When we cultivate and facilitate hundreds
of billions of dollars of illicit proceeds we do want, then it must come
as no surprise that flowing by the same means are hundreds of billions of