Analysts still question PNC's deal for Riggs

[seemslikeadream]

Analysts still question PNC's deal for Riggs
Tuesday, July 20, 2004

By Patricia Sabatini, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


Bove of Hoefer & Arnett in Florida said he was concerned about potential liabilities PNC could face stemming from Riggs' money-laundering debacle.

"Even though Rohr said he expected that anyone who's going to sue Riggs would sue it before the acquisition was completed, I think that's the opposite of what will happen," Bove said.

"I think that everyone will wait until PNC picks them up and then sue, because there will be some deep pockets at that point


PNC, which itself was fined by the Justice Department and spent time under federal supervision for accounting maneuvers that artificially inflated profits in 2001, said it conducted extensive due diligence to ensure it wouldn't inherit Riggs' troubles. The company also noted that it had the right to pay a $30 million termination fee and bow out if big surprises pop up before the deal closes.
more
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04202/348798.stm

[jmcgowanjm]

1. Always thought this smelled of cover up

PNC has that smell of Credit Lyonaisse,
the front bank for French Security, always there
to buy up politically troubled banks.

[seemslikeadream]

2. We're holding accountable the financiers of 9/11 terrorism

Litigation for the Victims of 9/11

9/11 Families United to Bankrupt Terrorism

"We're holding accountable the financiers of 9/11 terrorism."

The case is a lawsuit on behalf of the families of the September 11 victims focusing on wealthy Saudi individuals, banks, corporations, and Islamic charities implicated in the financing of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda. The suit is being brought in the individual names of the immediate family members of the 9/11 victims. The case will rest on the premise that those who finance the terrorist organizations are liable for the damages done by them.

The case will represent the cutting edge of tort (civil justice) law. When someone causes an injury to another person, the legal profession calls such an act a "tort". A tort is committed when one person is injured because of the wrongful act of another. The purpose of tort law is to assign responsibility to the individual, group, or company responsible for causing such harm. The tort system is the most powerful tool civilized society has to promote safety. The aim of the lawyers bringing this lawsuit is no less than safety and freedom from terrorism by exposing its nefarious underbelly.

The individuals, banks, corporations, and Islamic charities used by the terrorists to perpetuate the atrocities on 9/11 can and must be held accountable under the tort law system which has been expanded to encompass anti-terrorism. Once held accountable, they will never again be able to use their resources or services to aid terrorists in mass murder. Therefore, the ultimate aim of the litigation will be to bankrupt those individuals or entities that are currently funding terrorism to ensure that they will not be able to do so again in the future. The President and the Congress in enacting the post 9/11 "Patriots Act" urged victims to bring to American justice those who supported, aided, and abetted the 19 highjackers and bin Laden. Our case will do exactly this.

A First-Rate Legal and Investigative Team to Make 9/11 Financiers Accountable


The internationally recognized plaintiff's lawyer, Ron Motley, leads this litigation. He brings formidable experience in tort and international law to the litigation.
Motley and his firm Motley Rice led the pioneering products liability litigation against the asbestos and tobacco industries and Firestone. Representing twenty-five states, the firm's effort resulted in the historic $350 billion dollar settlement against the tobacco industry.
Two world class investigators head the experienced international team of researchers on the case against the sponsors of al-Qaeda.
Jean-Charles Brisard is an expert on corporate and diplomatic intelligence. The French parliament and intelligence community commissioned his report entitled "The Economic Network of the Bin Laden Family", the most exhaustive study of the financial network of the Bin Laden organization ever written. This report was read before the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and delivered to President Bush in person by the president of France.

If you or your family member has been victimized by the September 11 attacks and you wish to join the suit, brought by the 9/11 Families United to Bankrupt Terrorism, in order to hold those responsible for funding the terrorists accountable, please call the Motley Rice law firm at 1-800-768-4026. Joining the lawsuit will in no way jeopardize your right to receive aid from the federal 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund.

http://www.motleyrice.com/911_victims/911_victims_saudi...

[Joanne98]

3. While at the same time, back at the ranch

Bushco is lanching a full scale attack on tort law.

[Joanne98]

4. Riggs is involved in this

July 8, 2004
African Oil Giant Foils Alleged Coup

by Jim Lobe
The government of Equatorial Guinea, the rags-to-riches West African petro-state where major U.S. oil companies have invested billions of dollars in recent years, has violently put down the latest coup plot against it, summarily executing at least a dozen alleged rebels and rounding up and torturing relatives and associates of an opposition party accused of sponsoring the coup attempt, according to Amnesty International.

In a communiqué issued over the weekend, the London-based group called for an immediate halt to extrajudicial executions, torture and rape by security personnel, as well as the illegal extradition of at least five alleged rebels who fled to neighboring Gabon back to Equatorial Guinea.

During an appearance on state television last month, the five confessed to taking part in a plot but also reportedly showed signs of torture, including having had their ears cut off, according to one opposition group that is based in Spain, Equatorial Guinea's former colonial master.

The alleged coup attempt, which the government itself announced May 30, was the latest in a series of such efforts over the years directed against President Teodoro Obiang since he overthrew Macias Nguema, a close relative and reputed cannibal, in 1979.

http://www.antiwar.com/lobe/?articleid=2953

[seemslikeadream]

5. Very very involved, Joanne98

Thanks for the links
WaPo: Allbritton Loses Riggs Bank (front page, day 3
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=691609&mesg_id=691609

[Joanne98]

6. CIA Factbook Equatorial Guinea

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ek.html

[Joanne98]

7. Bush vows investigation of Riggs bank

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000086&sid=alrejv.g77Bw&refer=latin_america

HAHAHAhaaaaaaaaaaa

That W. What a card. Doesn't Uncle Jonathan work there?????

[seemslikeadream]

8. Read what Dulce wrote in this thread

Dictator sues British 'coup plotters'
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x692616


Obiang gave them everything they wanted


BUT
the Riggs bank screwed up.

The Oil Companies (including Amerada Hess, Incat, ExxonMobil, Shell) told Obiang that they they would put huge amounts of money in special account just for him, if they let him just take the oil out of EQ.
Obiang thought this sounded just fine.
Somehow though, when he decided to buy a house in Maryland, he needed a LOAN from Riggs to finance the purchase.
Then one of his cousins said something during a meeting with the press and the LA Times jumped on it.
Riggs (acting in concert with the oil companies) had pretty much stolen ALL the revenue that had been generated by the removal of crude oil from EQ.
Well, the FBI went through Riggs
(the part that does not answer to Mueller or Ashcroft)
and found a lot of other scams going. Personal bank accounts were being looted and the cash was being sent all over the place
(Princess Haifa of Saudi Arabia can testify to that.)

Riggs was ordered to put the money back into people's accounts
and in the case of Obiang,
it was ordered to surrender that cash to the Treasury Department of Equatorial Guinea
since that oil revenue is NOT Obiang's personal property but rather
belongs to the people of that country.
This is in accordance with US and international law.

Well, Unka Jonathan Bush of Riggs Bank just about had a fit.
He saw this as a direct violation of
the first principle of the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition,
-- Once you have their money, you never give it back.

Jonathan Bush appealed to his fellow Ferengi
and the next thing you know,
the mercenaries in Iraq
fly off at Pope AFB in North Carolina,
to board a former Air National Guard plane now registered as N4610,
and then hop over to the Bahamas which is Spy Central HQ,
before landing in South Africa to pick up extra muscle-men
and then being busted in Zimbabwe trying to purchase arms
for the coup in they are going to perform in Equatorial Guinea.

Mercenaries accused of planning a coup in an oil-rich African state also worked under contract for the British government providing security in Iraq, raising fears about the way highly sensitive security work is awarded, The Observer has learnt.
The Department for International Development (DfID) signed a £250,000 deal last summer with the South-African based Meteoric Tactical Solutions (MTS) to provide 'close protection' for department staff, including bodyguards and drivers for its senior official in Iraq.
Two of the firm's owners were arrested in Zimbabwe last March with infamous British mercenary and former SAS officer Simon Mann. The men are accused of plotting an armed coup in Equatorial Guinea.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12956,12326...

Severo Moto was supposed to replace Obiang
and had he signed off on the Riggs account
or "accepted" the returned" funds,
then the problem Unka Jonathan was facing would have vanished.
Riggs has already invested the money in the worship of Ialdabaoth.
It shall never be returned.
Blood will be spilled instead.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters: "We have no indication this aircraft is connected to the U.S. government."
The Pentagon also denied a connection with the aircraft. "It isn't one of our planes and not any of our people," said Pentagon spokesman Army Major Paul Swiergosz.
<snip>
The State Department disingenuous claim -- endlessly repeated in news stories around the globe -- is that they have " no indication this aircraft is connected to the U.S. government." After a nearly forty-year relationship with the US government, you would think the poor old plane would deserve better! Peculiarly, of the eight planes of its type, it is the only one not currently in use by the Air National Guard, listed with the site I consulted as operated by the U. S. Air Force.
http://www.kathryncramer.com/wblog/archives/000457.html

[jmcgowanjm]

9. Outstanding! Take heed NYT/WSJ/WP of Good Journalism!

The price of empire is America’s soul, and that price is too high.
– Sen. J. William Fulbright (Ark.)

[seemslikeadream]

10. Retail Banks Court Customers With Liberal Hours, Other Perks

By Terence O'Hara
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 26, 2004; Page E01

Washington is about to become a retail battleground for banks.

The announcement earlier this month that PNC Financial Services Group Inc. of Pittsburgh plans to take over Riggs Bank and open 30 new branches is only the latest indication that competition for the retail customer here is ratcheting up dramatically. Two other out-of-state banks have aggressively targeted Washington for their new-style banking operations, which embrace such modern retail concepts as Sunday and evening hours, incentive pay for bank employees based on customer satisfaction surveys, and bank branches that resemble hotel lobbies.

The three banks plan to invest millions of dollars over the next three years in a race to build or refurbish bank branches throughout the region, the first major new competition in the Washington market in two decades. Bank experts predict the new competition will force other major banks here to follow suit. Already, increased competition has led many banks to offer basic checking accounts and online banking products at low or no cost. (Fees for many extra services remain and could go higher.)


Defending Their Turf

The signs of the coming competition are everywhere. Riggs Bank, before its recent legal difficulties, had hired a former Starbucks executive and laid out plans to remake its branch network along the lines of Commerce's, including Sunday hours. Brian Goerke, a spokesman for PNC, confirmed that PNC will keep with Riggs's plans to open more of its branches on Sunday, which would make them PNC's first stand-alone branches with Sunday hours. Also, Chevy Chase, owned by the fiercely competitive B. F. Saul II, has begun lengthening its hours and is now open on Sunday in its Giant supermarket branches. At Chevy Chase and about every other major bank here, free basic services, such as checking and online banking, are now the norm.
more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13871-2004Jul25.html

[RainDog]

11. thanks to all of you who are keeping tabs on this story

it surely does smell like BCCI, doesn't it?