For the fourth time in as many years, Western Union has been appointed a new independent compliance monitor as part of an anti-money laundering settlement agreement reached with the State of Arizona in 2010.

Earlier this month, the Superior Court of the State of Arizona approved the replacement of Western Union’s former court-appointed compliance monitor, Theodore Greenberg, with BDO USA, Western Union confirmed in a statement today.  “Western Union intends to continue to give its full cooperation to the newly appointed monitor and to the State of Arizona,” the statement said.

The company did not explain why Greenberg departed the role, which he assumed in March 2013. The Attorney General’s Office for the State of Arizona issued the following statement in response: "While there is still work to do, the State of Arizona is pleased with Western Union’s efforts to implement its anti-money laundering program along the Southwest Border," Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham says. "We’re grateful for the prior monitors’ service and believe that BDO Consulting is the right monitor at this stage in our settlement agreement with Western Union."

From April 2010 to September 2011, the compliance monitor role for Western Union previously was held by Marcy Forman, who is currently managing director of global investigations unit for AML compliance at Citigroup. Following Forman, Lonnie Keene was appointed Western Union’s compliance monitor before joining Kroll as managing director in the firm’s transaction intelligence and compliance practice.

The establishment of a court-appointed monitor was part of a $94 million settlement that Western Union reached with the State of Arizona in 2010 to resolve allegations the company turned a blind eye to drug smugglers who were using its money-transfer services in border-related crimes. As part of that settlement, Western Union agreed to implement a series of anti-money laundering procedures under the watchful eye of an independent and court-appointed compliance monitor.

In January, the court extend the terms of the settlement agreement after the State of Arizona determined that Western Union had not completed the monitor’s recommendations, and had not successfully implemented an anti-money launder compliance program. Western Union disagreed with those contentions, according to court documents.

In a prepared statement, John Dye, general counsel for Western Union, said, “We have made great progress in enhancing our compliance systems and look forward to continuing to work closely with the monitor and State of Arizona.”

Topics