Newsclipping summary:

FEAR-List Bulletin posted by Brenda Grantland, summary of AP article 11/21/95

The AP wire reported on 11/21/95 about the appeal of the Organization of American States seeking return of money seized in the BCCI forfeiture. OAS, a multi-national peacekeeping organization, had $10,000 in funds on deposit at BCCI bank when the bank was seized by U.S. authorities for alleged money laundering.

At oral argument on 11/21 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, OAS argued that its charter prevented the United States or any of member nation from seizing OAS property. Its attorney, Louis G. Ferrand Jr., also argued that the OAS deposit was made after the conclusion of the criminal activities by BCCI and was therefore not subject to forfeiture.

"Once one of the world's largest private banks, BCCI was seized by regulators worldwide on July 5, 1991, after audits revealed enormous losses, fraudulent loans and illegal insider dealings," the article reports. Later, BCCI was charged criminally with money laundering in alleged schemes with drug smugglers and dictators, but settled the criminal charges by agreeing to forfeit $550 million to the U.S. The OAS deposit was among the deposits seized in the forfeiture.

Imagine that - buying your way out of criminal charges by agreeing to forfeit your innocent depositors' money! Incredibly, "Judge Douglas Ginsburg seemed unswayed by Ferrand's arguments, and repeatedly interrupted the attorney with questions" the article reported.

The Justice Department's attorney, Ruth Harvey, argued that the U.S. was entitled to forfeit the money, even though $10,000 of it belonged to OAS. She argued that "the OAS is an unsecured creditor in the BCCI case, like any other depositor."