. . . AND HIS TURTLE BAY TASK (Eliot Spitzer)

New York Post ^ | October 25, 2004 | Editorial

[OESY]

If Spitzer is looking for some truly useful work, here's a task he could take up: Saddam Hussein laundered at least $10 billion through the United Nations' Oil-for-Food program and used the proceeds to corrupt governments across Europe and — most likely — at the United Nations right here in New York City....

He spent some of the cash bribing international luminaries....

And, according to U.S. investigators, Saddam spent yet more of that money on repeated bids to buy weapons material on the world market.

Saddam flouted the sanctions under the purported supervision of the U.N. Security Council.

But the United Nations was not his only enabler. Saddam laundered some of his money through American bank accounts — accounts located right here in New York.

Right where dragonslayer Eliot Spitzer has particular jurisdiction.

French bank BNP Paribas — chartered in New York — beat out three other international banks in the bidding for the contract to run the U.N. Oil-for-Food account in 1996.

How did Paribas manage to climb on the gravy train?

...Paribas can argue that its customer was the United Nations — not Saddam. But U.S. banking law requires banks to employ reasonable safeguards to ensure that customers aren't laundering money — especially for terrorists.

Clearly, money was laundered.

So did Paribas do its legal duty?

The Treasury Department has first jurisdiction — the U.N. account was, in the end, an American bank account.

So far, the feds have shown no appetite for such a probe. But if they won't hit Paribas hard, Spitzer can — and should.

BNP Paribas used its New York reputation to gain an edge at the U.N. — and it's Spitzer's job to make sure that banks that want to use New York for marketing purposes obey state banking regulations....