(The Center Square) — New York Republican congresswoman Elise Stefanik wants the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate U.K.-based Standard Chartered bank over allegations that it violated federal anti-terrorist sanctions.
In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Stefanik called for a special prosecutor to investigate whistleblower claims in an undisclosed deferred prosecution case against the bank that is set to expire Tuesday, absent DOJ action.
“Without further action on this case there is grave risk of additional funds being funneled to terrorist organizations that endanger the United States and the American people,” she wrote. “As you know, Standard Chartered Bank made at least $9.6 billion in illicit payments to known terrorists. China has been using Standard Chartered Bank to purchase sanctioned Iranian oil.”
“These payments were hidden from required disclosure under the current deferred prosecution agreement being supervised by the Southern District of New York and the U.S. Attorney for Washington D.C.,” she added.
Stefanik, a Trump ally who is considering a run for governor next year, also pointed to whistleblower claims that Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James was made aware of the alleged violations but hasn’t acted.
She asked Bondi to appoint Alina Habba, an acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey, to lead the investigation.
“NYAG James not only did nothing about this but she then approved the bank’s annual license,” she wrote. “NYAG James’ failure to act raises many concerning questions including what else did she know about these illicit payments and was she coordinating with the Biden administration to ignore these payments.”
In a statement, Standard Chartered denied the claims outlined in Stefanik’s letter to the DOJ and said the bank would “fully cooperate” with authorities and is committed to fighting financial crimes.
“The underlying allegations — including the claim that there are $9.6 billion in unlawful transactions — are entirely false and have been rejected by the U.S. courts multiple times,” the bank said in a statement. “We expect the dismissal of this case will continue to be upheld on appeal.”
In 2019, Standard Chartered was fined $1.1 billion by U.S. and U.K. officials in response to claims it evaded sanctions and lacked money-laundering controls. The bank is also facing a $1.9 billion lawsuit in the U.K. by investors over Iran sanctions-related violations.
