Ex-bank boss linked to Panama scandal.faces 12-years
THE FORMER chairman of a Taiwan bank faces a 12 year jail sentence over his part in “suspicious activities” between Panama and New York.
Mckinney Tsai,who headed Mega International Commercial Bank, with branches on Via Espana, Panama and in the Colon Free Zone was formally charged late last week.
According to the China Post r, the Taipei District Attorney’s Office said Tsai is suspected of divesting from the bank just before it was sentenced in August to a $180 million fine by the Department of Financial Services (DSF), the financial services regulator in New York
Prosecutors asked for a 10year sentence for Wang Chipang, the former general secretary of this bank, and a fouryear sentence for Huang ShihMing, a former head of the New York branch.
Mega Bank is accused by the DSF of violating antimoney laundering laws because of “suspicious transactions” between its New York and Panama branches.
According to the DFS, the New York headquarters of Mega International Commercial Bank failed to comply with various regulations regarding due diligence, financial security and customer knowledge policies, including those for overseeing operations with its offices in Panama City and in the Colon Free Zone.
According to that report, the shortages found in the procedures of the New York branch of the bank would have increased the possibility of risk of criminal activities.
Billions transferred
In the case of Panama, the financial institution says there was a suspicious movement of money from the two offices of the Taiwanese bank in New York.
For example, between 2013 and 2014, the office in Colón moved almost $6 billion to New York, while from Panama City the transactions were for $5.5 billion. After the fine imposed in New York, sources of the Superintendency of Banks of Panama saidthat they opened an investigation of the financial institution in the country.
Mega International Commercial Bank Co. Ltd is an original bank of Taiwan. It has had a presence in Panama since 1974, and currently has 60 employees in the country.
