Terrorist Financing

Terrorism has been a major concern for the United States government for many years.   Citizens of the United States have been immune to the terrorist attacks that are taking place overseas. When The World Trade Center was attacked using a car bomb in 1993, terrorism was brought upon the door steps of Americans.   What was once a headline on the daily news has now became a reality in the life of the American citizen. An essential element in the strategy for the war on terrorism is to dismantle or disrupt the financial network used by terrorist. After the September 11 attack the Federal Government took several steps to combat terrorist financing, resulting with "More than $140 million in terrorist's assets have been frozen across the some 1,400 bank accounts worldwide." (Kaplan, 2006, Council on Foreign Relations) The United States government along with several other countries worked together and passed several laws to combat terrorist financing. After September 11, 2001, the thought of another attack weighed heavy on the minds of the federal investigators. Tracking and stopping the money flow to the terrorist may help stop another attack.   We will examine the steps taken to minimize the cash flow to international terrorist organizations and the results of the actions implemented.  

The Financial Anti-Terrorism Act was passed on October 17, 2001. The Financial Anti-Terrorism Act provides the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with the tools needed to control, monitor, investigate and prosecute the financial supporters of terrorism. The Financial Anti-Terrorism Act specified the procedures needed to obtain federal subpoenas for records of funds in correspondent bank accounts. It also gave federal jurisdiction over foreign money and money launderers using foreign banks. This Act required banks and financial institutions to form an anti-money laundering program.  

On October 26, 2001, President George W. Bush signed the Patriot Act into effect combining the... [continues]

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