Waked Money Laundering Organization bank gets brief license

THE BALBOA BANK  & Trust and Balboa Securities brokerage included since May 5 on the  Clinton List, as part of the so-called Waked Money Laundering Organization (Waked MLO), has received a temporary  operating license from the US  Treasury Department

On the list are  Nidal  and Abdul Waked and 68 companies. Nidal has been described as one of the world’s top launders of drug trafficking money.

“We will continue working to block the illicit actors of the exploitation of our financial systems” said John Feeley, US ambassador to  Panama on Friday May 13.
The grant will allow both entities operate until June 14, 2016, while finding a solution that will allow them to maintain operations and preserve jobs. They may be extended or revoked at any time said   Feeley.
The license was granted to allow the viability of all financial transactions and recommendations adopted by the (interim) manager appointed by the Superintendency of Banks of Panama (SBP) and the administrator appointed by the Superintendent of Securities Market (SMV).

The US government has frozen the assets on behalf of both entities under their jurisdiction.
US citizens carrying  out any transaction under the  licenses have 10 days to report them to the Office of Control of Foreign Assets (OFAC), of the Treasury Department,
On May 5, OFAC included in the Clinton List linked to money laundering and drug trafficking Nidal  and Abdul Waked seven more people and 68 companies and firms linked to Waked MLO activities.
At that time, the OFAC announced that four licenses granted in favor of the daily La Estrella and El Siglo, and businesses operating in Soho Square Mall and Millennium. These four licenses expire on July 6, 2016.
Nidal Waked has been detained since last week in Bogota, Colombia, awaiting extradition to Florida , on charges of money laundering and bank fraud. Prosecutors are calling for a 50-year jail term.
“The United States has named  Nidal Waked as one of the world’s top drug traffickers and money launderers,” said Ambassador Feeley.

Earlier,  the U.S. embassy said that its government is working “in close cooperation” with Panamanian authorities “to protect the U.S. and international financial systems from abuse of narcotics trafficking and other illicit activities.”

“We congratulate the government of Panama for taking effective measures to strengthen its regime against money laundering and for cooperating with international partners to tackle the problem of global tax evasion and to make the financial sector of Panama more transparent,” said Kristin Stewart, the embassy’s Director of Public Affairs, reports La Prensa.

“We will continue working with them to block illicit actors from the exploitation of our financial systems,” added Stewart.