ABA Banking Journal - February 2012 - (Page 40)
compliance clinic | FIGHTING HUMAN TRAFFICKING Horror, under your nose BSA officers must watch for human trafficking clues by steve cocheo, executive editor ‘‘ Close to home, wherever home is While many bankers may think of human trafficking as an issue in large cities, all size towns in all areas of the U.S. find this issue very close to 40 | AbA bANKiNG JourNAL | FebRUARy 2012 Photo: Photo.uA /ShutterStock.com I t can’t happen here” may help you sleep at night, but just because your bank doesn’t do business in places like San Diego or New York City doesn’t mean that it’s not going on in your markets—and the proceeds potentially going through your bank. “It” is human trafficking, which covers both smuggling illegal aliens into the U.S. and enslaving women and children for the sex trade and all people for forced labor. home, warned Anna Rentschler, vice-president and BSA officer at Central Bancompany, during the Money Laundering Enforcement Conference sponsored late last year by ABA and the American Bar Association. Rentschler, moderating a panel, told listeners about cases involving prostitution and worse in communities in the Midwest, arising through human trafficking. The region, being the crossroads of the nation, “is a ‘wonderful’ place to drop off people,” said Rentschler. She noted that so much trafficking goes through the region that long-haul drivers have united through www.truckersagainsttrafficking.com to teach the warning signs of trafficking,
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