The Department of Justice has released a multimillion dollar agreement reached last month with an international Islamic banking network after a four-year criminal investigation.
After stonewalling all requests for a copy of the report and refusing to discuss the non-prosecution agreement with the Islamic Investment Company of the Gulf (Bahamas), or IICG, for weeks, a copy was given to U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., late Friday. Wolf had written to Attorney General Eric Holder urging its release after reports of the secret deal first surfaced.
Islamic Bank AgreementThe agreement strictly is based on tax issues, leaving it a mystery as to why DOJ officials fought against its release.
During a hearing on terror financing Wednesday, Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco told U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, that she had no information on the deal and could not explain why it was being withheld.
In the agreement signed Aug. 12, IICG admitted failing to pay $22.5 million in restitution, $4.5 million in fines and millions more in interest in exchange for not facing criminal charges.
The agreement describes money flowing out of a Boston-based company in which IICG controlled the majority of stock and into a network of Cayman Island accounts. Millions of dollars came back in the United States to start up 32 different development companies involved in apartments and other multi-family housing. All the companies were incorporated in Delaware and have overlapping directors.
