If you or I stood accused of laundering money for Mexican drug cartels or moving blood money around for the terrorist state of Iran, do you think prosecutors would let us off with a fine?
This is what they do for banks. HSBC is reportedly nearing a deal to pay a $1.9 billion settlement to settle money laundering charges. Click here to read the details from the New York Times.
These are major, international crimes being alleged, yet no one is going to the pokey.
On Monday, British bank Standard Chartered settled similar charges for $327 million settlement.
The lesson here is simple: Always to make more money than you’ll have to pay if you get caught. This is why the scandals never end.
