The Pornocalypse, The Banks, And The Department Of Justice
Thursday, May 1st, 2014 -- by Bacchus
There have been reports for quite some time about porn stars having their bank accounts cancelled for no good reason that their banks would admit. Now comes word — in the form of an extended speculation at Vice.com — that the driving force behind this banking crackdown on adult customers is in fact the Department of Justice:
News is slowly surfacing that shows the US Department of Justice may be strong-arming banks into banning porn stars.
It’s called Operation Choke Point, and it has nothing to do with deep-throating.
Instead, it’s a targeted effort to shut down as many as 30 separate industries by making it impossible for them to access banking services.
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed Thursday, American Bankers Association CEO Frank Keating wrote that the Justice Department is “telling bankers to behave like policemen and judges.”
“Operation Choke Point is asking banks to identify customers who may be breaking the law or simply doing something government officials don’t like,” Keating wrote. “Banks must then ‘choke off’ those customers’ access to financial services, shutting down their accounts.”
Keating said the highly secretive operation was launched in early 2013. That’s when porn stars started to complain to the media that their bank accounts were being shut down without explanation.
And while the actors are quick to blame banks like Chase and Bank of America for discrimination, those institutions may in fact have no choice.
“If a bank doesn’t shut down a questionable account when directed to do so, Justice slaps the institution with a penalty for wrongdoing that may or may not have happened,” Keating wrote.
Reading between the lines, there seems to be (as yet) no solid evidence that the porn industry is among the 30 separate industries that’s being secretly targeted by “Operation Choke Point”. But it does offer a better explanation than corporate prurience for the banking difficulties adult performers have been routinely encountering of late.
Thanks to Violet Blue for the link.
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