Hamilton Bank

Switzerland has requested account information from banks in the United States as part of a criminal investigation into Jose Alberto Aguin Magdalena for alleged narcotics trafficking and money laundering.

Request from Switzerland for Judicial Assistance in Criminal Matters in the Matter of Jose Alberto Aguin Magdalena filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged corruption by former Guatemala president Alfonso Antonio Portillo Cabrera - pursuant to two requests for judicial assistance from Guatemala - that was filed at federal court in the USA on May 23, 2008. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Alfonso Antonio Portillo Cabrera, Eduardo Arevalo Lacs, Enrique Rios Sosa, Sergio Hugo Cardenas Sagastume, Maria Eugenia Padua Gonzalez, Otilia Portillo Padua, Juan Jose de Leon Piñeda, Jose Armando Llort Quiteño, Credito Hipotecario Nacional de Guatemala Bank, Salomon Abraham Molina Giron, Corporacion Financiera Americana, Confia International Corp., Corporacion Electronica de Guatemala, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentina, Audi Bank, Bank UBS Luxembourg NLU, Excell Life International, The International Bank of Miami, The Oxxy Bank Ltd., Oxxy Financial Corp., The Transcom Bank Ltd., Hamilton Bank, Riggs Bank, Bibliotecas  residenciales Para La Paz, and Mario Rolando Torres Marroquin.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Guatemala into Alfonso Antonio Portillo Cabrera, a former President of Guatemala; Eduardo Arevalo Lacs, a former Minister of National Defense; Enrique Rios Sosa and Sergio Hugo Cardenas Sagastume, former members ofthe Department of Finances of the Guatemalan Army, and others for alleged corruption.

Two former executives of a now-closed U. S. bank that provided correspondent services to many offshore financial institutions are targets of a criminal investigation. They are Eduardo Masferrer and Carlos Bernace, formerly Chairman/CEO and Executive Vice President/Director, respectively, of the Hamilton Bank, in Miami.

The U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit alleging fraud against three former senior officers of Florida-based Hamilton Bank N. A., which was closed down by U. S. regulators in January, 2002. Eduardo A. Masferrer, Juan Carlos Bernacé and John M.R. Jacobs are defendants in the action, which was filed at federal court in Miami on September 25, 2003.

ARGENTINA The bankers' parade Michael Smith, of HSBC, declared before judge Claudio Bonadío that bribes were somewhat customary in Argentina. Smith—a British citizen who has been only months in the South American country—was testifying in a new case of alleged

Recently-unsealed court documents have thrown up allegations of money laundering and "unsafe banking practices" that led to the forced closure in January of Miami-based Hamilton Bank, which provided correspondent services to many offshore banks. This activity included receiving deposits of approximately $1.9 billion per year via courier from Latin American countries without conducting any checks as to its legitimacy, it has been alleged.