There is a reason the U.S. maintains sanctions against Cuba’s corrupt dictatorship. The Castro regime is an international crime syndicate involved in among other criminal activities, human trafficking, arms dealing, narcotics, and sponsoring terrorist organizations throughout the world. Keeping the Castro crime syndicate out of our financial system may not stop their criminal enterprises, but it makes it a lot more difficult for them and severely limits the harm they can do.

Despite their long history of criminality, there are still countries and financial institutions who want to do business with the Castro mafia. Funding terrorism, arms dealing, and human trafficking can be very profitable, until they get caught.

Via the New York Post:

SocGen laundered nearly $13B to Cuban terrorist groups: DOJ A major European bank laundered nearly $13 billion in transactions from Cuba and state terrorism sponsors for 10 years as part of a scheme to evade US financial sanctions, according to a $1.34 billion settlement with the Department of Justice announced Monday. Société Générale, one of the largest French banks, was charged with one count of violating the Trading With The Enemy Act, a 101-year old law that currently only applies to Cuba. The bank allegedly ran a secret credit facility to do business with the Communist nation. The bank knowingly helped Cuba evade the sanctions “by structuring, conducting and concealing US dollar transactions using the US financial system,” according to a civil complaint filed in Manhattan federal court. “Today, Société Générale has admitted its willful violations of US sanctions laws — and longtime concealment of those violations, which resulted in billions of dollars of illicit funds flowing through the US financial system,” Manhattan US Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said in a statement. A SocGen statement said it had been extending credit to Cuba since 2000. In addition to the Cuban trading, the bank also facilitated trades with Sudan, Libya and Iran, countries that are considered state sponsors of terrorism by the US Treasury Department, according to the statement. Banks that want to do business in the US — or with US currency — are required by law to shut out hostile countries, companies and investors from the financial system to starve their sources of funding. “We acknowledge and regret the shortcomings that were identified in these settlements, and have cooperated with the US authorities to resolve these matters,” SocGen Chief Executive Frédéric Oudéa said.

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