Ten dark suited men entered the premises of FBME bank in Cyprus on Friday afternoon and took it hostage.
The men were from the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC). And they commandeered FBME because an obscure agency within the US government recently issued a report accusing the bank of laundering money.
It just so happens that FBME… and Cyprus in general… is where a lot of wealthy Russians hold their vast fortunes.
Bear in mind, there has been no proof that any crime was committed. There was no court hearing. No charges were read. It wasn’t even the government of Cyprus who accused them of anything.
There was just a generic report penned by some bureaucrat 10,000 miles away.
Funny thing—when HSBC got caught red-handed laundering funds for a Mexican drug cartel last year, the US government gave them a slap on the wrist. HSBC got off with a fine
Yet when the US government merely hints that FBME could be laundering money, the bank gets taken over at gunpoint.
Welcome to warfare in the 21st century. It’s not about battleships and ground troops anymore.
This time the adversaries are battling each other using what ultimately affects everyone: money.
As of September 2013, FBME was the largest commercial bank in Tanzania, with a total asset base valued at approximately US$2.72 bln
http://cyprus-mail.com/2014/07/24/cb...tile-takeover/