In Florida, Dirty Money is Big Business

Miami, Florida by Jane Bussey jbussey@MiamiHerald.com

For years, Miami bankers have insisted that the billions of dollars in their bank vaults were clean.

But the record $65 million in sanctions federal regulators assessed against Miami-based American Express Bank International this week underscores that the era of dirty dollars flowing through local financial networks remains a problem.

American Express Bank International, a unit of the global credit card giant American Express Co., became the 19th financial institution in South Florida to face sanctions since 2004.

''On a proportional basis, [given] the number of institutions that Miami has, South Florida leads the country in Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering violations,'' says Charles Intriago, publisher of the Miami-based Money Laundering Alert.

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