Banco Delta Asia Fights USA Ban
Written on April 17, 2007 by admin
The Macao bank at the center of international efforts to dismantle the North Korean nuclear weapons program challenged Monday a U.S. Treasury Department ruling that bars the lender from access to the American financial system.
Banco Delta Asia, a family-owned bank that the United States has accused of committing financial crimes on behalf of North Korea, said in a statement that the March 14 ruling was “politically motivated” because it was based on disputes between Washington and Pyongyang.
In its filing with the Treasury Department, the bank also called for the decision to be revoked on the grounds that it was made without supporting evidence, ignored remedial measures the bank had taken and denied Banco Delta Asia the opportunity to respond to fresh allegations, the statement said.
“In this filing, the bank seeks a fair hearing on all the evidence, free from political intervention and the distraction of public diplomacy,” Joseph McLaughlin, a lawyer in New York for Banco Delta Asia, said in the statement. “We are confident that the U.S. legal system, in the end, will not countenance the sacrifice of legal rights to political ends.”
Banco Delta Asia had been expected to challenge the ruling after repeatedly denying any wrongdoing.
The bank was drawn into the complex diplomacy surrounding the North Korean nuclear weapons program when the Treasury Department, in September 2005, accused it of acting as a “willing pawn” for North Korea in a range of illicit activity including money laundering and distributing counterfeit U.S. currency.
In an effort to protect the financial standing of a city that has become a thriving gaming center, the Macao authorities stepped in to take control of the bank and froze about $25 million in accounts linked to North Korea.
The bank’s owner, Stanley Au, a prominent Macao businessman and an adviser to the Chinese government, has also repeatedly denied the U.S. allegations.
After an 18-month investigation, the Treasury Department ruled March 14 that under Section 311 of the U.S.A. Patriot Act, American financial institutions would be barred from doing business with Banco Delta Asia.
The Treasury Department’s accusations in September 2005 clearly angered North Korea, which subsequently boycotted the six-nation arms control talks for more than a year.
After returning to the talks late last year, the North then refused to implement a Feb. 13 agreement to shut down its main plutonium producing reactor within 60 days in return for energy aid until the frozen funds were returned.
The Macau authorities last week agreed to release the money but Pyongyang has yet to acknowledge the move or begin steps to shut down the reactor.
In its statement, Banco Delta Asia said it had stopped doing business with all North Korean entities and had adopted more stringent policies against money laundering. The Macao authorities also have enacted new laws against money laundering.
“Notwithstanding these and other preventative measures, the Treasury Department adopted a rule barring U.S. banks from doing business with the bank,” the statement said.
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