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Judge criticizes US over 'soft' fine for Barclays Bank
A judge has attacked the US government for striking a "sweetheart deal" with Barclays to settle criminal charges that the British bank flouted international sanctions by doing clandestine business with Iran, Cuba, Libya, Sudan and Burma.
At a court hearing in Washington yesterday, judge Emmet Sullivan refused to rubber-stamp an agreement under which Barclays consented to pay $298 million to settle charges that its staff deliberately concealed transactions with financial institutions in regimes frozen out by US foreign policy.
"Why isn't the government getting tough with the banks?" Sullivan asked, pointing out that no individuals were being charged or sent to prison over the breaches. The judge's unexpected resistance threw the settlement into doubt pending a more detailed hearing, scheduled for Wednesday.
Prosecutors say Barclays staff stripped identifying names from payment information in a deliberate ruse to defy US sanctions against repressive regimes, including countries accused of being state sponsors of terrorism.
Among the challenged transactions are 46 fund transfers worth $490,000 involving Burma, 61 transactions worth $6.71 million concerning Cuba, three payments amounting to $60,000 involving Iran and 1,175 transfers of $105 million benefiting individuals or government entities in Sudan.