‘This is one of the greatest abuses of power
that the country has never heard of’ (Fox News)
Mike Schuetz operates a small gun shop in
northern Wisconsin called Hawkins Guns. In November, just before one of his
peak selling times, his local credit union notified him his account needed to
be closed. “The bank manager said they made a mistake, and they were not
supposed to open accounts for those people involved in high-risk industries,
which the gun industry and ammunition industry is one of those,” Schuetz said.
It turned out there was a list created by a Justice Department program called
Operation Choke Point. The list equates legal gun sellers like Schuetz with
escort services, Ponzi schemes, people who sell cable TV de-scramblers — and at
least 30 other industries.
The program, which is facing tough questions
in Congress, intimidates banks with the threat of heightened scrutiny and
increased audits if accounts are maintained in those industries. Rep. Sean
Duffy, R-Wis., said Operation Choke Point began as a means of combating
fraudulent businesses — but evolved into an arbitrary list of businesses
targeted by bureaucrats in the DOJ and banking regulators purely on moral
grounds, backed by no legislation “What they’ve done is they put short-term
lenders out of business, gun dealers out of business, ammunition manufacturers
out of business. Because in America, if you can’t bank, you can’t do business,”
Duffy said. In northern Wisconsin, Schuetz became suspicious that something
strange was happening after his issue with the local credit union. So he
concealed an audio recorder and visited his credit union. A manager and then a
regional manager told Schuetz the credit union wanted his business, but he had
indeed been placed on a list of “high risk” industries. “We’re really not
anti-gun as a company but our hands are tied, and I feel horrible about this. I
didn’t sleep last night,” regional manager Troy Ewer said. Fox News found
several more businesses — from payment processors to ammunition dealers to pawn
shop owners to short-term lenders — who all had their bank accounts closed. In
response to an inquiry from Fox News, a spokesman for the DOJ wrote, “We do not
target businesses operating within the bounds of the law, and we have no
interest in pursuing or discouraging lawful conduct.” Duffy said, “That’s a
bald-faced lie.” Fox News was provided a DOJ memo in reference to short-term or
payday lenders that seems to suggest an indifference to harming legal
businesses. “Although we recognize the possibility that banks may have
therefore decided to stop doing business with legitimate lenders, we do not
believe that such decisions should alter our investigative plans,” Michael
Blume, director of the department’s Consumer Protection Branch, wrote. A
spokesman for the DOJ said that the “high-risk merchants” list was produced by
the FDIC. However, Brian Wise, of the U.S. Consumer Coalition, pointed out that
the FDIC sits on the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which is the
driving force of Operation Choke Point and is chaired by U.S. Attorney General
Eric Holder. Also, starting in August of 2013, the DOJ issued subpoenas to
banks and payment processors. The spokesman also said the FDIC has since
rescinded the “high-risk merchants” list. Wise, with the Consumer Coalition,
says there are hundreds and even thousands of businesses across the nation who
have had bank accounts closed, and they may not even know their bank was
intimidated by Operation Choke Point. “This is one of the greatest abuses of
power that the country has never heard of,” Wise said. The businesses owners
who spoke to Fox News say they have been able to find alternative bank
accounts, even Mike Schuets. However, Duffy thinks those accounts will only
stay open until federal investigators scrutinize the alternative banks. “They
might be able to get banked for a short time, but once that bank goes through its
next examination, Hawkins Guns might find itself without a bank,” he said.
Schuetz was told by his local credit union, after an overhaul, they may be able
to accommodate his business in February. However, he says he would have lost
his business if he didn’t find somewhere to bank between November and February.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/01/16/doj-accused-blocking-legal-gun-shops-other-businesses-from-banking/
Source:http://www.teaparty.org/doj-accused-blocking-legal-gun-shops-banking-77996/
Comments
It’s time for Georgia to pass a bill that
nullifies Federal gun grabs like other states have enacted. It sets up the
state to protect gun and bullet manufacturing in the state. All we need is to
pass the Bill and begin to invite gun and bullet manufacturers to locate
operations in Georgia.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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