Rabobank, a Roseville, California subsidiary of the Netherlands-based Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A., pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a felony conspiracy charge for concealing deficiencies in its anti-money laundering program and obstructing the regulatory examination of the bank. Rabobank will forfeit $369 million. Rabobank admitted to conspiring with several of its former executives to defraud the United States by unlawfully impeding the OCC’s ability to regulate the bank, and to allowing hundreds of millions of dollars in untraceable cash, sourced from Mexico and elsewhere, to be deposited into its rural bank branches and transferred via wire transfers, checks, and cash transactions, without the proper notification to federal regulators as required by law. Rabobank had been cited for nearly identical failures in 2006 and 2008. A Rabobank vice president, George Martin, also entered into a deferred prosecution agreement for his role in aiding and abetting the scheme. Martin admitted his conduct in Dec. 2017. Chief executive officer Mark Borrecco said in statement on Rabobank’s site, “Settling these matters is important for the bank’s mission here in California. Reinforced with strong levels of capital and liquidity, and enhanced internal controls and risk management functions, we are committed to growing with our customers for years to come.”
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