BERLIN: Pursuing a trail of illicit money from Geneva to Paris with stops in London, the United States authorities built a sweeping crackdown on some of Europe’s biggest banks.
On Thursday, that trail led to Commerzbank of Germany, which agreed to pay nearly $1.5 billion and dismiss some of its employees to resolve an array of charges in the United States. The case, the latest black eye for a giant global bank accused of sending tainted money through the American financial system, closes the book on several investigations into Commerzbank, one of Germany’s largest lenders.
One strand of the case focused on Commerzbank’s dealings with Iranian companies blacklisted by the United States, showing that the bank processed hundreds of millions of dollars through New York on their behalf. Prosecutors also accused the bank of enabling the Olympus Corporation, the Japanese manufacturer of medical devices and cameras, to orchestrate a huge accounting fraud.
Collectively, the investigations were a magnet for federal and state authorities. No fewer than eight regulatory and prosecutorial offices, in addition to the F.B.I. in New York, took aim at the bank, though it still avoided an indictment, the worst outcome.
Financial institutions must heed this message: Banks that operate in the United States must comply with our laws, and banks that ignore the warnings of those charged with compliance will pay a very steep price,” said Leslie Caldwell, head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, which prosecuted the criminal part of the case alongside the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan, the district attorney’s office in Manhattan and federal prosecutors in Washington.
