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The Software That Ruined Eliot Spitzer

Posted Mar 19, 08 3:20 PM CDT in Politics,  Technology 

(Newser) – The banks were watching Eliot Spitzer—and they’re watching all of us, too. These days, all large banks and most small ones are equipped with anti-money laundering software, Technology Review explains, which tracks even the most mundane transactions of every customer. Moves that don’t conform to a pattern—like Spitzer’s three $5,000 deposits—get flagged.

Ever since 9/11, the government has urged banks to keep stringent anti-laundering checks in place, to track both corporate crime and potential donations to terrorists. Spitzer’s bank won’t say what, if any, software it was using, but even the most rudimentary program would have caught his “structuring” scheme, especially because politicians and businessmen automatically fall into a higher risk bracket than others.

Source MIT Technology Review

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This undated image obtained from a MySpace webpage shows a woman identified as Ashley Alexandra Dupre.   (AP Photo)
New York State Gov. Eliot Spitzer announces his resignation amid a prostitution scandal as wife Silda looks on Wednesday, March 12, 2008 in his offices in New York City.   (AP Photo/Stephen Chernin)
New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer announces his resignation amidst a prostitution scandal Wednesday, March 12, 2008 in his offices in New York City.   (AP Photo/Stephen Chernin)
"All the big banks have these software systems," said one spokesman. "Depending on their volume, they might have thousands of alerts a month."   (Shutterstock.com)
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Eliot Spitzer  • sex scandal  • bank  • prostitution ring  • money laundering  • domestic surveillance  • structuring


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