CAPITALISM'S ACHILLES HEEL Dirty Money and How to

Dirty Money at Work 55
Althrop. At various times, Riggs maintained 28 Pinochet-related accounts and
CDs, and held $6 to $8 million of the ex-dictator’s funds. To meet its Know
Your Customer (KYC) requirements, Riggs described Pinochet as “a retired
professional who achieved much success in his career and accumulated wealth
during his lifetime for retirement in an orderly way.” 6
In 1998 Pinochet was arrested in London. In 1999, while Pinochet was
still detained, Riggs moved some of his money on deposit at its London
branch to its head office in Washington. Pinochet was freed in 2000, and
Riggs senior officials immediately flew to Chile to meet with him. As news
of the accounts began to leak out, Riggs altered their identifications, removing
Pinochet’s name. From 2000 to 2002 Riggs issued 38 cashiers checks for
$50,000 each, eight in Pinochet’s name and 30 in the altered names. Some
were hand delivered to Chile by Riggs officers.
Obiang. Equatorial Guinea is comprised of a small piece of the mainland
and five inhabited islands off West Africa. Teodoro Obiang overthrew and
executed his uncle in 1979 and has reigned as president ever since. Oil made
him very rich, very corrupt, and a very good Riggs customer.
From the mid-1990s on, Riggs opened and handled 60 accounts for
Obiang, his family members, other officials, and the Equatorial Guinea government.
As much as $500 million was on deposit, and Obiang could withdraw
funds from the main accounts on his sole signature or together with
his son or nephew. Riggs also helped set up Bahamian offshore shell corporations:
Otong S.A. for the president and Awake Ltd. for his sons.
Riggs ministrations to Obiang were effusive, including a luncheon
hosted in 2001, an invitation to visit the Ronald Reagan Library in California,
a private meeting with senior bank officials in 2003, and even a special
committee comprised of the chairman, president, president of the holding
company, and account manager. Writing to the embezzler, the bank confirmed
that the committee “will meet regularly to discuss our relationship
with Equatorial Guinea and how best we can serve you” and asked that “you
provide us with any projects that you would like us to review on your behalf
...” 7 After all, Equatorial Guinea, a tiny state being robbed blind by its
ruler, was Riggs’ biggest customer.
To be a really good banker to the corrupt of the world you have to be willing
to handle cash covertly. Six cash deposits were made to the president’s