The National Bank of Abu Dhabi has agreed to pay $855,000 to settle civil allegations that it violated U.S. sanctions against Sudan by funneling dozens of prohibited wire transfers through banks in Manhattan, the U.S. Treasury Department said.
Between November 2004 and December 2005, the bank's clerical staff "removed or omitted Sudan-related references in payment instructions processed on behalf of its Sudan branch for payments routed through financial institutions located in the United States," Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) stated in an announcement on Friday.
OFAC said the 45 wire transfers in question, which totaled nearly $4.4 million, appear to have violated the Sudanese Sanctions Regulations (31 C.F.R. part 538).
"While NBAD did not voluntarily self-disclose the apparent violations, NBAD extended substantial cooperation throughout OFAC's review of these matters," the Treasury agency said.
NBAD is only the latest foreign bank accused of removing references
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