Operation Choke Point- The DOJ using banks to shut down industries they don't like

[n2doc]

snip:

Now, news is slowly surfacing that shows the US Department of Justice may be strong-arming banks into banning porn stars.

It’s called Operation Choke Point, and it has nothing to do with deep-throating.

Instead, it’s a targeted effort to shut down as many as 30 separate industries by making it impossible for them to access banking services.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed Thursday, American Banking Association CEO Frank Keating wrote that the Justice Department is “telling bankers to behave like policemen and judges.”

“Operation Choke Point is asking banks to identify customers who may be breaking the law or simply doing something government officials don’t like,” Keating wrote. “Banks must then ‘choke off’ those customers’ access to financial services, shutting down their accounts.”

more

https://news.vice.com/articles/is-the-doj-forcing-banks-to-terminate-the-accounts-of-porn-stars?utm_source=vicefbus

[hootinholler]

1. That is the Patriot act at work

All that extra stuff you have to now provide to open an account, lends itself to freezing your accounts when you do something unwelcome by the government.

All large cash transactions are reported.

[dixiegrrrrl]

22. And this is mission creep at work.

Here is another case of mission creep:

US Supreme Court declines to hear a challenge to a law that allows the US military to indefinitely detain people believed to have helped al-Qaida or the Taliban -

Breaking News headline just now.

Remember that originally we said we could hold people who were Al-Quada.
Now seems we can Gitmo people who we think are HELPING Al-Quada AND the Taliban.
again, no proof needed, no defense allowed.

[CincyDem]

2. Maybe they'll use this capability to choke off those who "rape and pillage" the environment...

...Nah...what was I thinking. Government officials don't "don't like" that kind of activity.

[TheBlackAdder]

3. If that were really true... Anyone with a pending criminal case would be banned as well.

The word "who MAY be breaking the law" would encompass many people.

Of course, we're supposed to believe that you are innocent UNTIL proven guilty.

But this does not seem to be the case anymore.

[Make7]

4. So when banks find themselves breaking the law...

... then they .... shut themselves down?

[Orrex]

6. Law. That's a funny one!

[L0oniX]

20. Can't do that. There would be no banks, just credit unions.

[FarCenter]

5. Types of High Risk Payments

Although many clients of payment processors are reputable merchants, an increasing number are not and should be considered “high risk.” These disreputable merchants use payment processors to charge consumers for questionable or fraudulent goods and services. Often a disreputable merchant will engage in high pressure and deceptive sales tactics, such as aggressive telemarketing or enticing and misleading pop-up advertisements on Web sites. For example, consumers should be cautious when Web sites offer “free” information and ask consumers to provide payment information to cover a small shipping and handling fee. In some instances and without proper disclosure, consumers who agreed to pay these fees, often found their bank accounts debited for more than the fee and enrolled in costly plans without their full understanding and consent.8 Still other disreputable merchants will use processors to initiate payments for the sale of products and services, including, but not limited to, unlawful Internet gambling and the illegal sale of tobacco products on the Internet.

Generally, high-risk transactions occur when the consumer does not have a familiarity with the merchant, or when the quality of the goods and services being sold is uncertain. Activities involving purchases made over the telephone or on the Internet tend to be riskier in that the consumer cannot fully examine or evaluate the product or service purchased. Similarly, the consumer may not be able to verify the identity or legitimacy of the person or organization making the sale.

Some merchant categories that have been associated with high-risk activity include, but are not limited to:

•Ammunition Sales
•Cable Box De-scramblers
•Coin Dealers
•Credit Card Schemes
•Credit Repair Services
•Dating Services
•Debt Consolidation Scams
•Drug Paraphernalia
•Escort Services
•Firearms Sales
•Fireworks Sales
•Get Rich Products
•Government Grants
•Home-Based Charities
•Life-Time Guarantees
•Life-Time Memberships
•Lottery Sales
•Mailing Lists/Personal Info
•Money Transfer Networks
•On-line Gambling
•PayDay Loans
•Pharmaceutical Sales
•Ponzi Schemes
•Pornography
•Pyramid-Type Sales
•Racist Materials
•Surveillance Equipment
•Telemarketing
•Tobacco Sales
•Travel Clubs

http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/examinations/supervisory/insights/sisum11/managing.html

[951-Riverside]

16. Quite a few of the categories on that list are protected by the constitution

Fireworks Sales & Pornography ...really?

[FarCenter]

31. Constitutional protections do not extend to requiring banks to do business with them.

[951-Riverside]

32. Not when the USDOJ tells banks to shut down accounts n/t

[rhett o rick]

7. Even if this is intended for "goodness", it sounds very scary. Would we want a

Romney Admin doing this?

[Orrex]

8. Exactly. It's thinly-veiled "morality police" serving the agenda du jour.

[pscot]

10. OTOH that list

looks like who's who of bunko artistry.

[Orrex]

11. First they came for the bunko artists. (nt)

[Historic NY]

27. +1

They finnally put away the biggest spokesperson Kevin Trudeau..

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2582977/TV-pitchman-Kevin-Trudeau-gets-10-year-sentence.html

[951-Riverside]

30. +1 (...until DU ends up on that list)

This has nothing to do with Kevin Trudeau, he had his day in court.

Government shutting down people's accounts or seizing people's property without trial is disgusting. I don't care who the target is, EVERYONE deserves a fair trial in court.

[Historic NY]

33. Yes they should be allowed for ill gotten gain......

apparently you've never been a victim of charlatan.

[951-Riverside]

34. No, they should have their day in court.

And not every business on that list are scam related.

Again, firework sellers and pornography ...really?

[Historic NY]

35. Well if you live in as state where fireworks are illegal the

state police generally sit on the border watching those going and coming. We have people connected to Organized Crime that traffic in them. Possession of more than $50.00 dollars worth is a felony in NY. Out if state Fireworks Business's target residents and entice them via mailings.

Pornography your really joking....it ain't Playboy or Penthouse their looking for. There is international traffic and trade in child pornography among other stuff.

[Savannahmann]

9. The idea of innocent until proven guilty is dead.

I have a friend who works at the local Port with the ILA. He and I were talking, and he told me about the new requirements for the TWIC (Transportation Worker Identification Credential) as mandated by the DHS. It seems that you must surrender your TWIC card if you are accused of one of several crimes. Including Fraud, Theft, and the usual litany of Felonies. He told me he had discussed it with his lawyer when he was doing something unrelated to that, and the Lawyer said that the accusation shouldn't be enough. We both agreed it SHOULDN'T be enough, but apparently it was.

Apparently, in the 21st Century, we can't wait for the conviction, and even the RICO process of the 1980's is just too slow, we must act now, before any facts are in, much less all the facts and the judgement of a jury.

[Lurker Deluxe]

23. No

I have a TWIC card, and the rules are pretty straight forward.

http://www.tsa.gov/stakeholders/frequently-asked-questions-0#disqualification

Conviction for one of the following felonies is disqualifying if the applicant was convicted, pled guilty (including 'no contest'), or found not guilty by reason of insanity within 7 years of the date of the TWIC application; OR if the applicant was released from prison after conviction within 5 years of the date of the application. The applicant may apply for a waiver.

You can not have your TWIC card revoked because someone "accuses" you of something ... we would simply accuse all of our competitors of doing something. Something is not right with this story.

[madokie]

12. I'll take anything that Frank Keating has to say with a grain of salt

He did a lot of damage to our state when he was governor and most of it was underhanded shit. Lying the whole time.

[Major Nikon]

17. I'm sure he has his own agenda

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

19. +1...

... I was thinking the same thing. I would like to see a source other than a Keating tell me what is legal and not legal in the banking industry.

[hughee99]

13. Because Terrorists! n/t

[FrodosPet]

14. The answer is obvious

We need the banks to be owned by the government, so that the people of the United States (at least those few of us willing to follow every issue and vote in every election) will control this important industry via management by our elected officials.

Then WE can say "do business with EVERYONE!" (unless a bunch of bluenoses, like religious conservatives and anti-porn feminists end up winning the election, of course).

[951-Riverside]

15. No judge. No jury. No justice. n/t

[L0oniX]

18. HBSC shuts itself down for laundering drug money?

[BrotherIvan]

21. My first thought as well

This looks like small fish busts. Can't wait until I get TBTF!

[Enthusiast]

24. Sort of curious, that one.

[Enthusiast]

25. You see what's happened to this fucking country?

This is why—911. This is the reason. The fake elections of 2000 and 2004. And the other stuff too crazy to mention.

[rocktivity]

26. First they choked off the porn stars, but I didn't say anything

because I wasn't a porn star.

Then they choked off the escort services, but I didn't say anything because I don't work for or use escort services...


rocktivity

[Dawson Leery]

28. Now where is the congressional oversight on this matter?

http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/operation-choke-point-way-out-of-control-1067013-1.html

[jtuck004]

29. The administration pays banksters who lie and use their positions to steal, and want to

shut down the lives of people who have sex on camera.

Less and less need for the government we have.