Tuesday 13th September 2005 AD
"A BAD DAY AT THE OFFICE"

It started off as any ordinary day at the local branch of Wells Fargo in Chula Vista, California. 

Paula Whitsell, a securities dealer, sat behind her desk on the phone to a client in when suddenly the FBI burst in, slapped her in handcuffs and dragged her past a line of stunned customers and bank clerks. 

That was 6 years ago, and now federal prosecutors have dropped their charges, and recently the National Association of Securities Dealers awarded Ms. Whitsell a settlement after finding that Wells Fargo had made the "filing error" that led to her arrest. 

What were the circumstances that led to her arrest? How could an insignificant filing error end up separating a hardworking mother from her family? What is the deeper problem lurking behind this disturbing true tale? 

Unbeknownst to Ms. Whitsell, the groundwork for her eventual downfall had begun as far back as October 1997 as the Federal Bureau of Investigation were investigating an insurance fraud along the Californian border. In a broad sweep, the agency had held 17 medical professionals (including doctors) in Tijuana and San Diego County for allegedly defrauding U.S. insurance companies. 

The FBI had become convinced that bankers were helping doctors launder their ill-gotten cash, so in an effort to lure the supposed accomplices into their trap, an FBI agent posing as a doctor started making large deposits in border banks. The agent deposited more than $10,000 with Whitsell at the Chula Vista branch. 

Due to a filing error, the deposit was not reported to federal authorities, as required by law, so Whitsell, and an associated teller, were arrested on money-laundering charges. 

"The FBI treated us like we were criminals and the bank refused to help us, even though we knew it had to have been some mistake that the bank had made," Whitsell said, "between being tossed into jail, subjected to half a dozen strip searches and trying to figure out what happened, the whole thing was a nightmare." 

Time would eventually reveal that the deposit form had become separated from the IRS slip, which had then been misfiled. When, after the bank eventually found the slip, prosecutors were forced to drop all charges against the women, but not before Paula Whitsell's life had been turned completely upside down. 

For 13 months, Wells Fargo had kept Whitsell on administrative leave, paying her a mere fraction of her previous salary. In the meantime she had been unable to find other securities work because of a notation on her U-4 form blaming her for the filing error. A few months latter, she was officially fired. 

Paula Whitsell was always innocent of any crime, yet her life was turned inside out. Fortunately today she is back on her feet, has a good job, and her U-4 form record has been cleared. 

Over recent decades our governments have waged many wars, all of which, we are told, have been fought "for the common good". We have had a "war on drugs", "war on corporate crime" and lately, the "war of terror". Some have claimed that little has changed, arguing; drug abuse in on the rise, corporate fraud in on the rise and terrorism in on the rise. 

So what HAS changed ? Clearly these wars have had little in common other than; a) A conditioning of the mindset of the masses, and, b) The drastic tightening on the grip on our financial and personal freedoms. 

Why have these wars all had the ambiguous term "money laundering" attached to them? What happens when our government and rulers progressively tighten the grip on our personal and financial affairs? Is it possible that our governments today are in fact more interested in the personal and financial affairs of their citizens than they are in the supposed wars they have waged? Questions that we will keep digging into in the days ahead. 

Best Regards - Philip Judge pjudge@anglofareast.com