The FBI has prevailed in a turf fight over which federal agency should take the lead in terrorism-related financial investigations. A memorandum of understanding between Attorney General John Ashcroft and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge gives jurisdiction over these probes to the FBI’s Terrorist Financing Operations Section, officials said Friday. The memo, signed May 13 and approved by President Bush, means that some counterterrorism finance-related investigations will no longer be headed by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is part of the new Homeland Security Department. Money laundering can still be investigated by immigration and customs officials, but once a link to terrorism develops the FBI will take over, said officials speaking on grounds of anonymity. But immigration and customs and other agencies will have a role through their membership in the national joint terrorism task force. Full Story
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