Schiff also gets approval for the bank to transfer customer deposits to another financial institution if they prefer.
Schiff Attorney Lanny Davis asks the question, “Was false innuendo of criminal conduct by 60 Minutes /Australia and by senior IRS agent at a press conference responsible for destruction of a solvent bank, which always had enough cash to pay back all depositors and creditors? And did? I believe the answer is yes.”
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Sept. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Peter Schiff, owner of Euro Pacific Bank (EPB), today announced an agreement has been reached with the Puerto Rican Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (OCIF) on final liquidation of EPB. The agreement was reached on September 6, 2022, just over two months after OCIF issued an order appointing a Trustee to take over the process of liquidation and dissolution of EPB, whose sole stockholder was Puerto Rican resident and United States citizen Peter Schiff.
This decision on final liquidation of EPB was reached despite the fact the EPB was flush with cash well beyond the amount owed to depositors and unsecured creditors, and the bank made no loans.
Schiff’s attorney Lanny J. Davis added, “The IRS agent at the June 30, 2022 press conference in Puerto Rico, at times, inferred the criminal conduct of money laundering and tax evasion by EPB. However, he did not announce that EPB, any employee or Mr. Schiff, the sole shareholder, were charged with any crime despite an apparently extensive 2+ year investigation.”
Indeed, Davis pointed out that in response to a reporter’s question about whether EPB helped its customers launder money or evade taxes, the OCIF Commissioner followed the agent’s innuendo by saying, “That is a conclusion that has not been made.” This is contrary, Davis said, to the innuendo of criminal conduct by the IRS agent.
On August 9, 2022, EPB and OCIF reached an agreement, in which Mr. Schiff admitted to no wrongdoing, on a final plan to shut down the bank, which was announced on August 15. Thereafter, Schiff and EPB guaranteed that all bank customers will recoup 100% of their deposits through either a transfer or a direct return. EPB arranged to transfer all customer deposits, cash, and physical precious metals, as well as ownership of the bank’s four wholly owned subsidiaries, to Qenta, a U.S. based global financial services and technology company.
All EPB customers were also given the option of getting their deposits back by having their deposits wired to an alternative financial institution of their choosing.
The final agreement between EPB and OCIF committed the bank to maintaining cash reserves sufficient to cover all deposits, outstanding debts to creditors, and other operating expenses.
“Depositors were always safe with their money in EPB. Despite claims to the contrary, and the bank being put into receivership, the bank always had enough cash and cash equivalent reserves to cover all deposits. Plus, the bank made no loans, so EPB had sufficient capital to operate,” Schiff said.
Attorney Davis said, “Media watchdogs in Australia and elsewhere certainly should look into the journalism seen by 60 Minutes Australia correspondents and producers. It’s a reasonable question to ask, ‘Did you ambush Peter Schiff by setting up an interview about inflation under false pretenses, and then during the interview, ask leading questions falsely implying that Schiff was guilty of facilitating money laundering, tax evasion, and other criminal conduct by depositors?'”
“In addition,” Davis said, “I can’t help but wonder why Schiff’s proposal to OCIF for Qenta to purchase EPB several months before at a fair market price was rejected. That Qenta proposal included a commitment to contribute additional capital far in excess of regulatory requirements. It also would have allowed EPB to keep operating the bank in Puerto Rico, providing jobs and other benefits for the people of Puerto Rico. Yet, instead, Qenta was allowed to purchase EPB assets and customer deposits out of receivership at fire sale price—but to take all operations, jobs and benefits out of Puerto Rico.”
Davis added a statement once made by a senior Justice Department official: “We don’t shame without charging.” That, Davis said, seems similar to what the IRS official did at the press conference, as well as what 60 Minutes Australia did during their interview of Schiff.
“In my view, this might merit looking into by Treasury Department authorities,” Davis added.
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SOURCE Peter Schiff
