NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #26/NN_1992_26.iso/spool/misc/activism/progress/8204

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From: [e-mail] (Rich Winkel)
Subject: CENSORED: FINCEN: A POTENTIAL THREAT TO PRIVACY & PROPERTY
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FINCEN:  A POTENTIAL THREAT TO PRIVACY & PROPERTY

A new Treasury Department agency has been set up by the Bush Adminis-
tration to strengthen law enforcement through cross-referencing and
analysis of financial, commercial, law enforcement and intelligence
databases.  The new agency is named Financial Crime Enforcement Network
or FinCEN .

FinCEN did its part for the recent Persian Gulf war effort, according to
Money Laundering Alert (MLA), a financial law enforcement newsletter
published out of Miami, Florida.

FinCEN did this by assisting another Treasury agency, the Office of
Foreign Asset Control, in their White House-assigned task of "be-
ginning the process of identifying Iraqi assets in the U.S."  FinCEN
provided information that "led OFAC to freeze 11 bank accounts and
assets in California, Georgia, and New York, as well as corporate assets
and a $3.5 million real estate parcel.  "

MLA continued, "The properties belonged to people suspected (emphasis
added) of being fronts for Saddam Hussein...  ". Some critics consider
such seizure of property to be a denial of due process, a Sixth
Amendment right.

FinCEN obtained the information through what MLA refers to as FinCEN's
"three major databases.  " The first is of "financial information and
intelligence such as that contained in the federal cash reporting
Forms 4789 and 8300.  " The second contains "commercial data, such as
corporate and property ownership records from state sources."  The third
holds "law enforcement case files and intelligence from the various
federal agencies."  The political newsletter Washington Report, contends
that FinCEN can "invade over 100 U.S. and private financial databases,
IRS and DEA records, Customs Reports, land and real estate data.  (and)
census records.  "

FinCEN was established in 1990 with $13.4 million in funding.  The
agency has apparently blossomed since the naming of Brian M. Bruh, a
former Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Criminal Investigation at the
IRS and chief investigator for the Tower Commission, as director in
March 1990.  At that time, MLA reported that FinCEN employed 65 people,
half "detailed" by the IRS and the Customs Service.  It was anticipated
that "a total staff complement of 200" would include "repre-
sentatives" from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, an Firearms, the Secret
Service, the Postal Inspectors, the DEA, unspecified "help" from the
Defense Intelligence Agency and a "liaison" with the CIA.
The potential impact on the Fourth Amendment rights of law-abiding
citizens by a new federal agency created specifically to compile
comprehensive asset holdings data on anyone suspected of wrongdoing
should be explored by the national press.

(SSU CENSORED RESEARCHER:  SCOTT SOMOHANO)

SOURCE:  MONEY LAUNDERING ALERT P.O.  Box 011390, Miami, FL 33101-1390

DATE-April 1991

Title:FinCEN's Financial Missiles Strike Iraq, Saddam"

AUTHOR:Charles A. Intriago, Esq.

SOURCE:Washington REPORT PO Box 10309, St.  Petersburg, FL 33733

DATE:September 1991

TITLE:  "Editorial"

AUTHOR:William A. Leavell

SOURCE:U.S.  GENERAL Accounting Office Washington DC 20548

DATE:  3/18/91

Title:  GAO/GGD-91-53 FinCEN

COMMENTS:  Project Censored first read about the obscure Financial
Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in an editorial in a small publi-
cation titled Washington Report.  Washington Report is a four-page
monthly newsletter published by Editors Release Service in St.  Peters-
burg, Florida.  The editor, William A. Leavell, warned his readers "Have
you ever heard of 'FinCEN?'  No?  You are not supposed to know about
'FinCEN.'  Why?  Because what it does is reported to violate the U.S.
Constitution's 4th Amendment guarantee of your right to privacy.  "
Leavell told Project Censored that he was tipped to FinCEN by a good
source in the intelligence community he has known for many years.

Project Censored researchers discovered that FinCEN, a Treasury
Department agency, was established, with little fanfare or media
interest, in 1990 and already had played a role in the Gulf War effort.
The problem is that FinCEN potentially threatens the Fourth Amendment
rights of lawabiding citizens since it is authorized to compile
extensive financial data on anyone who is suspected of wrongdoing.

Leavell, a staunch supporter of the Bill of Rights and a virulent
opponent of censorship, believes "the FinCEN" operation is a violation
of existing law and the Constitution "and a serious invasion of privacy.
He added that information about FinCEN was made available to the major
electronic and print media but that they "elected to ignore it."
Leavell warned that "Censorship serves those in power and those who
benefit from the existing political and financial 'establishment'."