The Settlement requires Haider to pay $250,000 and agree to a three-year prohibition from “performing a compliance function for any ‘money transmitter’ (as that term is used in the BSA ...) that is located in the United States or conducts business within the United States.” FinCEN agrees to release Haider from “any civil or administrative claims for monetary or injunctive relief” for conduct alleged in the complaint and agrees to dismiss the complaint with prejudice on receipt of the settlement amount.4
The Settlement contains a series of admissions by Haider, including these:
- As CCO, he had “direct supervisory authority over MoneyGram’s Fraud and [Anti-money Laundering (AML)] Compliance Departments” and “authority to implement a policy for terminating or otherwise disciplining MoneyGram agents and outlets.”5
- “MoneyGram’s AML Compliance Department failed to conduct adequate audits of many of those agents/outlets [identified by the Fraud Department as having accumulated a disproportionate number of Consumer Fraud Reports], and certain of the agents were permitted to open additional outlets.”6
- MoneyGram failed to implement a policy proposed by the Fraud Department for “terminating or otherwise disciplining agents and outlets that presented a high risk of fraud,” although outside counsel had represented to the Federal Trade Commission that MoneyGram planned to do so, because the “policy was not approved by MoneyGram’s Sales Department.”7
The court so-ordered the settlement and on May 4 entered judgment against Haider in the amount of US$250,000.8 Acting FinCEN Director Jamal El-Hindi offered the following statement in the agency’s press release: “We have repeatedly said that when we take an action against an individual, the record will clearly reflect the basis for that action. Here, despite being presented with various ways to address clearly illicit use of the financial institution, the individual failed to take required actions designed to guard the very system he was charged with protecting, undermining the purposes of the BSA. Holding him personally accountable strengthens the compliance profession by demonstrating that behavior like this is not tolerated within the ranks of compliance professionals.” Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim, whose office brought the complaint on FinCEN’s behalf, added: “By failing to terminate MoneyGram outlets that presented a high risk for fraud and to take other actions clearly required of him, Haider allowed criminals to use MoneyGram to defraud innocent consumers.”9
The Haider action has been brought to a close, but it remains to be seen how its resolution may affect the recent enforcement focus on holding compliance professionals personally liable for violations by the financial institutions they represent.
1 The Settlement is available at https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/press-release/file/963816/download.
2 The previous Sidley update discussing the Haider case is available here.
3 The court declined Haider’s motion to dismiss on Jan. 8, 2016. Haider filed various counterclaims against FinCEN on Feb. 19, 2016.
4 Settlement at 9–10, 12, 15. Haider agrees to dismiss his counterclaims. Id. at 15. Settlement citations are to page numbers due to inconsistent formatting of Settlement paragraph numbers.
5 Id. at 6.
6 Id. at 9.
7 Id. at 6.
8 Haider, ECF No. 124.
9 Press release, FinCEN, FinCEN and Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announce Settlement with Former MoneyGram Executive Thomas E. Haider (May 04, 2017), https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-and-manhattan-us-attorney-announce-settlement-former-moneygram-executive.
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