Multiple transactions involving legal entities controlled by US President Donald Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner aroused the suspicion of anti-money laundering specialists at Deutsche Bank in 2016 and 2017, the New York Times reported on Sunday.
The specialists recommended that the matter be referred to a unit of the US Department of the Treasury that polices financial crimes, but bank executives rejected their advice, the newspaper reported.
As a result, the “suspicious activity reports” prepared by compliance staff members about the Trump and Kushner transactions were never filed with the US government, the New York Times reported.
“At no time was an investigator prevented from escalating activity identified as potentially suspicious,” a Deutsche Bank spokesman said in an e-mailed statement, responding to the story.
The report did not give specifics about the nature of the transactions, but said that some of them involved money being transferred back and forth between foreign entities or individuals.
Former employees of Deutsche Bank, which has lent billions to the Trump and Kushner companies, told the newspaper that the decision not to report the transactions reflected the bank’s indifferent approach toward money laundering laws and its focus on protecting its relationship with important clients.
“We have increased our anti-financial-crime staff and enhanced our controls in recent years and take compliance with the AML/BSA laws very seriously,” Deutsche Bank said in the statement.
Representatives for the Trump Organization told the New York Times that the company had no knowledge of any flagged transactions with Deutsche Bank.
A representative for Kushner Companies told the newspaper that any allegations regarding Deutsche Bank and Kushner Companies that involve money laundering are made up and false.
The report cited former Deutsche Bank employee Tammy McFadden, who said she was terminated from her job last year after raising concerns about the bank’s practices.
She has since filed complaints with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the report said.
“The suggestion that anyone was reassigned or fired in an effort to quash concerns relating to any client is categorically false,” Deutsche Bank said.
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