FOR ME, IT ALL STARTED WITH WATERGATE

The outstanding Jeffrey Robinson article, that went from dismissing Al Capone's use of laundromats for money laundering, to efforts by Richard Nixon's man, MAURICE STANS, to raise and launder money in Watergate, brought back memories. I am reminded of a personal story. As a young bank lawyer at a Miami firm representing a local financial institution in the early 1970s, I received a call from the WATERGATE investigation; it appeared that BERNARD BARKER had laundered the attorneys' fees for the Watergate burglars through Mexico, and into our client's bank. This was a decade before the Money Laundering Control Act of 1986.

Mr. Robinson's excellent retelling of the process through which funds were extorted from American companies, and carefully laundered to remove any evidence of their origin, should be read by all compliance officers, especially those with FCPA responsibilities. This old money launderer finds the tradecraft employed quaint, but effective.

I remember all this, because I later was in Washington on the day Richard Nixon resigned the presidency, and the events of 1974 are indeed relevant to 2025.