In case there is still any doubt over why many people don't trust Corporate America, allow me to direct your attention to this article from the BBC:
Pinochet 'stowed $13m in banks'
The former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet stowed away more than $13m (#6.8m) in 125 bank accounts, according to a US Senate investigation.
It found a range of top banks helped Gen Pinochet hide his funds or broke regulations over his accounts.
Bank officials say the accounts were opened under false names and have vowed to co-operate with investigators.
Gen Pinochet's military regime killed and tortured thousands of political prisoners in the 1970s and 1980s.
He is also being investigated in Chile over allegations of human rights abuses and embezzlement of state funds.
Web of accounts
The senate investigation revealed Gen Pinochet and his family members used scores of bank accounts to hide and launder funds over the course of at least 25 years.
It found some of the banks allowed the general to use assumed names on accounts, arranged international wire transfers and set up offshore companies. [This means that they KNEW who he was when they did this - K]
Among the institutions named in the report are Bank of America, Coutts, Riggs Bank and the world's largest financial services group, Citigroup.
"Some banks actively helped him hide his funds, others failed to comply with US regulations requiring banks to know their customers," Democrat Senator Carl Levin said. [All the while knowing that he TORTURED AND MURDERED his own people - K]
All of the accounts have since been closed.
'Full co-operation'
The report said Gen Pinochet's suspicious dealings with Washington-based Riggs Bank spanned 25 years, rather than the eight-year period for which it has already paid a fine.
In January, Riggs Bank pleaded guilty to failing to report suspicious activity relating to accounts held by Gen Pinochet and the government of Equatorial Guinea.
The bank later agreed to pay $8m to victims of crimes committed during his regime. [Yes, a whopping 8 Mil from a bank worth BILLIONS. How incredibly generous. - K]
The BBC's Ian Pannell in Washington says there will now be pressure on the others to do likewise.
In a statement, Citigroup said its accounts for the general were opened "with false documentation using pseudonyms".
Bank of America, for its part, said it had "co -operated fully with the subcommittee in its investigation, conducted a thorough internal investigation and submitted documents as requested".
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I wish this surprised me but it reeks of the same self-serving attitude the U.S. has had with Latin America for hundreds of years.
The same exact thing happened in Cuba with the U.S.-appointed Batista whose rule was so debilitating to Cubans that popular unrest eventually led to the revolution and Castro.