(NL Times) Rabobank used potentially discriminatory criteria to identify possible terrorist financing in customer transactions, according to an internal document from 2017 obtained by Argos.
The document outlined transactions flagged for further scrutiny, including the purchase of visas for Turkey, Islamic clothing, and donations to religious foundations or bookstores.
Marieke de Goede, a professor of political science, warned that the criteria were overly broad. “You would expect transaction monitoring to focus on abnormal patterns. But this list includes activities that are not abnormal at all.”
According to the document, titled “Best Practices / Red Flags,” Rabobank employees were instructed to identify indicators suggesting possible terrorist activity. The guidelines were reportedly intended to detect individuals traveling to Syria and so-called “grassroots terrorists.”
