U.S. obtains $102 million settlement in Lebanese bank case

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Lebanese bank accused of being at the center of global money-laundering schemes tied to Hezbollah would pay a $102 million settlement, U.S. authorities said Tuesday.

The settlement would resolve a lawsuit filed in 2011 against Lebanese Canadian Bank, accusing it of using the U.S. banking system to launder drug trafficking profits through West Africa back into Lebanon.

Most of the private bank's assets were acquired by the Lebanese subsidiary of France's Societe Generale in 2011, after the U.S. Department of Treasury designated the Lebanese Canadian Bank as a "primary money-laundering concern."

The $102 million would come out of $150 million previously seized by the U.S. government, the Justice Department said. Societe Generale de Banque au Liban would receive the other $48 million.

Under the settlement, Lebanese Canadian Bank would pay another $12 million to Societe Generale to resolve claims for $90 million of the seized funds, the Justice Department said.

(Corrects day in first paragraph to say Tuesday instead of Wednesday)

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-obtains-102-million-settlement-lebanese-bank-case-182450386.html

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