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Liverpool sponsor facing accusations they helped fund terrorists

Published

6 months ago

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Liverpool sponsor facing accusations they helped fund terrorists

New York court filings show fresh allegations against British bank Standard Chartered in relation to payments made towards businesses linked to terror groups

Standard Chartered have been Liverpool’s shirt sponsor for many years.

Liverpool’s primary sponsors have been accused of carrying out billions of dollars of transactions for funders of terrorist groups, according to documents filed to a New York court.

Standard Chartered, the British bank that has a £50m per season deal with Liverpool, has previously been accused of carrying out thousands of transactions worth more than $100bn (£78bn) from 2008 to 2013 in breach of sanctions against Iran.



In 2012 the bank avoided prosecution over alleged money laundering by the US Department of Justice following an intervention by the British government, when David Cameron was prime minister. It has paid more than $2bn (£1.5bn) in financial penalties in relation to a number of sanctions violations and due diligence failures.

But a new filing, submitted last Friday – seen by the BBC – by a former bank executive turned whistleblower alleges that US authorities overlooked or concealed evidence showing that the bank completed more transaction with Iranian entities, including terror groups, than admitted.

The BBC report that an independent expert has identified $9.6bn of foreign exchange transactions with individuals and companies designated by the US government as funding ‘terror groups’, including Hezbollah, Hamas, al-Qaeda and the Taliban

The submission from whistleblower Julian Knight, who was head of Standard Chartered’s transaction services unit from 2009 to 2011, says that an independent expert has analysed spreadsheets.

And that expert claims to have found a further $9.6bn (£7.5bn) worth of transactions involving companies designated by the US government as funding “terror groups”.

In a statement Standard Chartered said the filing was “another attempt to use fabricated claims against the bank, following previous unsuccessful attempts.” And the bank added: “We are confident the courts will reject these claims, as they have already done repeatedly.”

Liverpool FC have been contacted by Mirror Football.

In February the US Supreme Court dismissed a civil suit filed by the whistleblowers. It had previously been dismissed by a lower court.

Standard Chartered have been Liverpool’s main shirt sponsor since 2010. Their £50m a year agreement is due to expire at the end of the 2026/27 season.

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