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Royal Bank of Scotland former unit had ties with Osama bin Laden's family accounts — WSJ

The Royal Bank of Scotland denied any links to Osama bin Laden and his family

Image of Osama bin Laden seen on a truck in Pakistan (archive) AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary

Image of Osama bin Laden seen on a truck in Pakistan (archive)

© AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary

NEW YORK, June 23. /ITAR-TASS/. Osama bin Laden, who was considered world’s terrorist number one, and his family were among the clients of a former unit of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), The Wall Street Journal reported, citing German custom authorities.

German tax officials confiscated two containers filled with account documents from private bank Coutts, former RBS unit, last year. After analyzing the files containing details of suspected German tax evaders, the custom authorities found out that the members of the bin Laden family were among the bank’s clients.

The Royal Bank of Scotland denied any links to Osama bin Laden and his family. “We didn’t take care of Osama bin Laden’s financials at any point of time, nor did we deal with his immediate relatives,” said the RBS official statement.

Among bin Laden’s relatives are some highly respected businessmen. For instance, one of them is the owner of Saudi Binladen Group, the largest construction company in Saudi Arabia.

Osama bin Laden, the founder of al-Qaeda terrorist organization, was killed on May 2, 2011, in Pakistan’s Abottabad (located around 100km from capital Islamabad) in the special operation carried out by US Navy Seals.

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