Arizona to receive millions in suit against Western Union thanks to Terry Goddard

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Attorney General Terry Goddard may be the only elected official making the state of Arizona money. His crusade against wire transfers of money to Mexico (aiding drug trafficking and human smuggling) has resulted in a settlement with Western Union. State to get millions in suit over money sent to Mexico:

Western Union will pay Arizona millions of dollars to end a lawsuit filed against it by the state over wire transfers of money. The money is part of a $94 million settlement covering four states.

In settling the case, Western Union acknowledged that between 2003 and 2007, the company had information that, viewed as a whole, gave it reason to know that people at several of its locations were actively engaged in laundering money, which it acknowledged it has duties under state and federal law to monitor.

The company will pay $50 million to a nonprofit organization, which will distribute it in grants to law-enforcement agencies in the four border states to combat human trafficking, drug smuggling and money laundering.

The company also will pay $21 million to Arizona to cover the costs already incurred in its investigation of whether Western Union or its agents were engaged in money laundering. On top of that, the company said it would spend $19 million to enhance its own anti-money-laundering efforts, plus $4 million for a special monitor to oversee its efforts.

The agreement also requires the company to give the state information on all future wire transfers of $500 or more between and two points within 200 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, without the state first having to obtain a warrant. The data will help prosecutors figure out who is funneling money back to smugglers in Mexico.

The deal ends a four-year effort by the Attorney General's Office to get the company to cooperate more in the state's effort to figure out who is sending money to Mexico that might be linked to illegal activity in this country – not just cash from drug sales but also from human smuggling.

Attorney General Terry Goddard said the deal would make it easier to combat crime.

"Attacking the flow of illicit funds from the United States to smuggling cartels in Mexico is fundamental to our goal of crushing the cartels," Goddard said in a prepared statement. "The money and information made available from this settlement will offer invaluable tools to federal law enforcement on both sides of the border."