UK bank may have moved money 'linked to terror activity'
A BBC report published hours ago says that leaked documents show a British bank moved money that may have been linked to terrorist financing.
"Standard Chartered Bank processed almost $12m (£9.4m) in payments for Jordan's Arab Bank from 2014 to 2016," the BBC report said.
Then in 2016, Standard Chartered filed a report cautioning authorities to more than 900 transactions that the bank suspected might have been for "illicit activities under the guise of charity". It raised concerns about "possible terrorist financing".
Those payments were then reviewed after a US jury in 2014 found Arab Bank had knowingly provided banking services to the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the early 2000s, reports BBC.
Later the verdict was overturned. But in 2015, the bank reached a settlement with 597 victims or the relatives of victims of 22 Hamas attacks in Israel.
In response to the leaked documents, Arab Bank stated that it "abhors terrorism and does not support or encourage terrorist activities".
Arab Bank said it was never notified by Standard Chartered that it had any concerns over transactions processed for its customers, BBC reports.
Standard Chartered said it took its responsibility to fight financial crime extremely seriously.
The leaked documents -- known as the FinCEN files -- were shared by BuzzFeed News with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and BBC News Arabic.
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