Rolling Stones Matt Taibi is in rare form speaking about the incredible settlement HSBC was given after admitting to laundering billions in drug money:
If you’ve ever been arrested on a drug charge, if you’ve ever spent even a day in jail for having a stem of marijuana in your pocket or “drug paraphernalia” in your gym bag, Assistant Attorney General and longtime Bill Clinton pal Lanny Breuer has a message for you: Bite me.
Breuer this week signed off on a settlement deal with the British banking giant HSBC that is the ultimate insult to every ordinary person who’s ever had his life altered by a narcotics charge. Despite the fact that HSBC admitted to laundering billions of dollars for Colombian and Mexican drug cartels (among others) and violating a host of important banking laws (from the Bank Secrecy Act to the Trading With the Enemy Act), Breuer and his Justice Department elected not to pursue criminal prosecutions of the bank, opting instead for a “record” financial settlement of $1.9 billion, which as one analyst noted is about five weeks of income for the bank.
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/outrageous-hsbc-settlement-proves-the-drug-war-is-a-joke-20121213#ixzz2FPlGTvMz
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook
I’m SHOCKED. After the near collapse of the world economy in 2008 who would have ever imagined that the banks and their executives would continue to break the law with reckless abandon, and when caught, get another slap on the wrist?
Actionsuit Alert! 