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U.S. Attorney Bharara said, “Money is the lifeblood of terrorist and narcotics organizations, and while banks which launder money for terrorists and narco-traffickers may be located abroad, today’s announcement demonstrates that those banks and their assets are not beyond our reach. We will use every resource at our disposal to separate terrorists and narco-traffickers, and the banks that work with them, from their illicit funds, even those hidden in foreign accounts.”

DEA Administrator Leonhart said, “As we alleged last year, the Lebanese Canadian Bank played a key role in facilitating money laundering for Hizballah-controlled organizations across the globe.

“Our relentless pursuit of global criminal networks showed that the U.S. banking system was exploited to launder drug trafficking funds through West Africa and into Lebanon. DEA and our partners are attacking these groups and their financial infrastructure while establishing clear links between drug trafficking proceeds and terrorist funding.”

According to the complaint, the affidavit in support of the seizure warrants and other documents filed in the case:

From approximately January 2007 to early 2011, at least $329 million was transferred by wire from LCB and other financial institutions to the United States for the purchase of used cars that were then shipped to West Africa. Cash from the sale of the cars, along with the proceeds of narcotics trafficking, were funneled to Lebanon through Hizballah-controlled money laundering channels.

LCB played a key role in these money laundering channels and conducted business with a number of Hizballah-related entities. Hizballah is a U.S. Department of State designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, a Specially Designated Terrorist, and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.

On Feb. 10, 2011, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a finding and proposed rule under provisions of the USA Patriot Act that LCB is a financial institution of primary money laundering concern, based on among other things FinCEN’s determination that there was reason to believe that LCB had been routinely used by drug traffickers and money launderers operating in various countries in Central and South America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. FinCEN also determined that there was reason to believe that LCB managers were complicit in the network’s money laundering activities.

After the FinCEN action, another Lebanese financial institution, SGBL, acquired the assets and liabilities of LCB for $580 million, $150 million of which is being held in an escrow account at BLF (the “LCB escrow funds”). Because the LCB escrow funds are traceable to the assets of LCB, they are also subject to forfeiture; but since they are in an account in Lebanon, the United States is unable to seize the LCB escrow funds directly.

However, under U.S. law, the United States can seize funds located in a bank’s correspondent accounts in the United States if there is probable cause to believe that funds subject to forfeiture are on deposit with that bank overseas. Based on this provision and others, the seizure warrants were executed. A total of $150 million was seized from BLF’s correspondent account. These funds will be transferred to a seized asset account maintained by the U.S. Marshals Service pending resolution of the forfeiture action.

U.S. Attorney Bharara thanked the DEA for its leadership and praised the New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Strike Force for its outstanding work on this investigation, which he noted is ongoing. The strike force is comprised of agents and officers of the DEA, the New York City Police Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the New York State Police, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Marshals Service, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

The strike force is partially funded by the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, which is a federally funded crime fighting initiative. U.S. Attorney Bharara also thanked the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the FBI, and the New Jersey State Police for their assistance.

This matter is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York’s Asset Forfeiture Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sharon Cohen Levin, Michael Lockard, Jason Cowley, and Alexander Wilson are in charge of the case.

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WPCNR TAPPAN ZEE BRIDGE NEWS. From the Metropolitan Transportation Council. August 20, 2012 UPDATED 1:55 P.M.:

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Council meeting voted unanimously to approve the building of a new Tappan Zee Bridge. However the Metropolitan Transportation Council webcast video feed could not be heard. A spokesperson for the MTC wrote WPCNR during the soundless meetingcast, saying,”This is a known issue that is currently being looked at; they are trying to resolve ASAP.

 At last look before we gave up on New York State technology, Kevin Plunkett, the Deputy County Executive was testifying. Due to the lack of audio comments from representatives of Riverkeeper could not be heard.

The approval was made possible when the last human roadblocks to clearing the way for consideration of a federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act  loan to begin construction, the County Executives Robert Astorino of  Westchester County, Scott Vanderhoef of  Rockland County and Maryellen ODell of Putnam, members of the Council signalled Thursday they approved of building a new bridge.

The Council acted Friday to schedule this morning’s meeting. Brian Conybeare, Special Advisor to the Governor, announced Sunday the meeting has been moved up because the federal government had indicated the sooner the state could get approval of the Council, the sooner the state application for the TIFIA loan could be considered.

The Transportation Council approval for the loan request to be considered comes eleven months after President Barack Obama told Governor Cuomo, that  the Tappan Zee Bridge project was one of the endeavors that would be “expedited.” That announcement was made October 10, 2011.

Governor Andrew Cuomo praised the county executives’ Thursday approvals, that made the Monday morning meeting possible:

“Building a new, better bridge to replace the Tappan Zee and ending the dysfunction that has delayed this project for over ten years has been a top priority since I took office,” Governor Cuomo said. “County Executives Robert Astorino, Scott Vanderhoef and MaryEllen Odell have consistently supported our efforts to replace the Tappan Zee and I am pleased that they are pledging to vote for our plan to build a safer, transit-ready bridge that will reduce congestion, provide a dedicated bus lane, and create tens of thousands of jobs. We will continue to work with local leaders and stakeholders as we move forward with one of the biggest and most critical infrastructure projects in New York.” 

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. Special to WPCNR. August 17, 2012:

White Plains Superintendent of  Schools. Dr. Christopher Clouet described Wednesday’s first mediation session between the district and the White Plains Teachers Association (currently without a contract for the new school year starting in September)  to WPCNR as  “no, no settlement yet. We are meeting again next week.”

Kerry Broderick, President of the WPTA, gave WPCNR this statement:

“We had our first mediation session yesterday. We are still working to come to resolution and we have made some progress. We have our second session on Thursday August 23, 2012. I am hopeful that we will have an MOA (Memorandum of Agreement) at the conclusion of that day.”

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WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2012. August 16, 2012:

Once more in Westchester County a challenger politican has been knocked off a ballot through the use of the courts.

As Glen Hockley was removed from a ballot by the courts in his bid to run on his own line for Mayor of White Plains, due to his failure to file a routine form declaring his intention to run, another very similar strategy has been successfully used by the Republican Party to take out Diane DiDonato-Roth, the challenger to Bob Cohen for the Republican nomination in the State Senate 37th District.

Diane DiDonato-Roth, the North Castle politician who was about to challenge Bob Cohen of New Rochelle in the September 13 Republican Primary to run on the Republican line (one of 2 Senate Districts serving White Plains) announced today to WPCNR she would not appeal the decision today by the court today to remove her from the ballot.

The Board of Elections challenged in court that of 1,786 petition signatures she had turned in (1,000 needed to get on the ballot), 1,156 were invalid. Today the judge ruled that only 200 of the 1,156 signatures challenged were valid, leaving Ms. Didonato-Roth with 830– 170 signatures short of the 1,000 needed to be on the ballot.

Cohen will now face Democrat George Latimer in November.

Roth, whose petition was challenged by her opponent, New Rochelle businessman Bob Cohen, released a statement to WPCNR she would not appeal the decision:

“I just spoke with Chairman Colety (the head of the Westchester County Republican Party) and informed him I will not be challenging the court’s decision today to uphold the signatures on my petitions.

I also informed the Chairman that I will fully support all of our Republican candidates in Westchester. It is vital that we address rising property taxes and declining job numbers and the Republican party is the only party with the sensible solutions to make this happen.”

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WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. News Release from the Westchester Department of Communications supplemented by WPCNR Reporting From the Scene. August 16, 2012 UPDATED AUGUST 22, 2012:

Astorino told the news conference on the shores of the Hudson River in Tarryton he expected the Council to approve it sometime in September, paving way for the state to qualify for the TIFIA starter loan the state is waiting to receive to start the bridge. Astorino justified the withholding approval, because he and the other two executives felt strongly that mass rapid transit had to be guaranteed to be part of the new bridge with a mechanism set up to achieve that.

County Executive Astorino told WPCNR when asked if Governor Cuomo has indicated to either he, Vanderhoef or Odell whether bids on the new bridge (in hand at Albany since July 27 currently being vetted) were either higher or lower than the $5.2 Billion estimate the state has been using, Astorino said, “No.” Asked if the Governor had confided the hard numbers to the executives during their discussions, Astorino had earlier said “No.”

(On the White Plains Week television program Friday on Channels 45 and 76, viewable on the internet at www.whiteplainsweek.com — the next day — spokesman Brian Conybeare speaking for the Governor said all three bidders had told the state their bids were all not over $5.2 Billion.)

WPCNR also asked the three County Executives why they were so concerned about a potential $14 toll when New York commuters have paying $12 tolls on the Whitestone, Throgs Neck,  and Triborough Bridges, and Lincoln and Holland Tunnels.

Astorino said the rise in toll projected was a tripling of the rate, that the higher toll might hurt Westchester’s ability to attract business in the future. Astorino felt that a special discount could be put in place to mitigate the toll. He said that tolls would have to pay for the bridge.

Vanderhoef said that there was no idea what the new construction would cost and that cost would dictate the toll– though Conybeare said the bridge bidders have already gone on record saying the bridge would cost no more than $5.2 Billion)

The county executives said they support the project based on a framework developed in conjunction with Gov. Andrew Cuomo that addresses the need for mass transit on the bridge when it is built and in the future.

Under the terms of the framework:

· Dedicated bus lanes will be incorporated on the bridge from the start.

WPCNR asked Vanderhoef  whether since the Governor has committed to bus transit “from Day 1” the Tappan ZeExpress bus fleet would be expanded from its 87 Daily trips a day (42,500 riders a month, about 1,450 riders per day, compared to 138,000  vehicles that cross the bridge a day), when the bridge opened. He said that with a dedicated bus lane the service might see a lift in ridership since the buses would travel faster across the bridge.

· The bridge will be constructed with mass transit capacity compatible with a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system and Commuter Rail Transit.

· A Regional Transit Task Force will be created to study costs and options for regional transit, including commuter rail and a BRT system on the bridge and key portions of the Westchester-Rockland corridor.

· The Task Force will issue recommendations in one year, with a plan for short-term steps that can be considered for immediate commencement, as well as long-term plans for transit solutions.

· Incentives will be created for contractors that could be used to reinvest in regional mass transit or to moderate impact on toll-payers.

“I have been a strong supporter on the need for a new bridge but I’ve been equally strong on the need for some form of mass transit as a way to reduce congestion and pollution,” said Astorino. “Under the framework we announce today, mass transit will not be an afterthought in the building of the bridge. With plans to have mass transit as part of the new Tappan Zee Bridge we’re not waiting five years to start thinking about it, we’re moving forward now.”

“I am pleased to join with the governor and my fellow county executives in this important TZ Bridge agreement which outlines steps for constructing a mass-transit ready structure, as well as committing to moving forward in the future to address the region’s mass transit needs,” said Vanderhoef. “This agreement also commits to exploring toll discounts for regional residents.”

“The new Tappan Zee bridge project is going to provide a jolt to the economic vitality of the region, both in terms of the thousands of construction and engineering jobs, as well as the increased commerce for the region that will result from having a state-of-the-art new bridge,” said O’Dell. O’Dell also said the bridge would be a benefit to families throughout the region.

In addition, the governor and county executives agreed to establish a working group of Thruway, state, federal and local officials to examine ways to keep toll increases to the minimum necessary, including maximizing federal support, expanding discount programs for regional residents, and financing mechanisms that lower the cost of credit and borrowing.

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Observation: No representative from Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office was there for the conference. No representative from the town of Tarrytown attended.

Reporters were amused that midway through the news conference a pair of Canada geese overflew the official county executive trio, honking loudly while Mr. Astorino was speaking. Mr. Astorino was speaking at the time and the honking of the geese was very intense. (Mr. Astorino’s Department of Recreation and Parks recently authorized the killing of 500 geese who had been residing on the Sprain Lake and adjacent Sprain Lake Golf Course. A spokesperson for the geese was not available and it could not be determined whether the Geese were protesting the recent goose kill.)