The Obituary
BCCI was founded in 1972 by Pakistani banker Agha Hasan Abedi and grew into a sprawling institution operating in 78 countries. Deliberately structured across Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands to evade unified regulation, it built a hidden empire of money laundering, fraudulent loans, and accounts for drug traffickers, arms dealers, and intelligence agencies. After a Price Waterhouse audit exposed massive fraud, regulators in several countries seized its operations on 5 July 1991, freezing assets worldwide. Investigations revealed losses estimated in the billions, making it one of the largest banking frauds ever uncovered. Depositors lost much of their money.
Worth remembering
- Critics dubbed it the 'Bank of Crooks and Criminals International' for its laundering and fraud.
- It operated in 78 countries and engaged in money laundering, arms trafficking financing, and fictitious loans.
Sources
- BCCI was shut down by regulators in 1991 amid revelations of fraud, money laundering, and an estimated multi-billion-dollar hole Wikipedia
- BCCI was closed in 1991 in what regulators called one of the largest banking frauds in history The New York Times
A graveyard tradition: leave a stone to show you came, and remembered.