Everett Alexander Stern (born ) is an American businessman, whistleblower, and political candidate who is the intelligence director of Tactical Rabbit, Inc. He exposed an HSBC money laundering scandal, where he uncovered illegal money laundering transactions. Having formerly attempted to run for office as a member of the Republican Party, he ran as an independent write-in candidate in the 2022 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, but dropped out in late October.
Early life and education
Stern was born in New York City to a Jewish family. His father was a radiologist who worked for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, and his mother was a social worker. Raised in Wellington, Florida, he graduated from Wellington High School in 2002. He earned a Bachelor of the Arts degree from Florida Atlantic University in 2008. Stern sought a position with the Directorate of Operations, but was turned down shortly before graduating. He earned a Masters in Business Administration degree from Stetson University in May 2010.
Business career
HSBC money laundering scandal
In October 2010 Stern took a position as an anti-money laundering (AML) compliance officer for HSBC in their New Castle, Delaware office where he monitored the bank's Middle Eastern transactions. Stern identified many suspicious transactions tied to terrorist groups in the Middle East, such as Hamas and Hezbollah. Specifically, he uncovered a multinational money-laundering network that generated millions of dollars for Hezbollah through the Lebanese brothers Ali, Husayn, and Kassim Tajideen through their Gambia-based company, Tajco Ltd. Stern sent numerous alerts and was repeatedly ignored by his HSBC supervisor. After several such episodes, Stern made contact with the FBI and CIA, which began to investigate HSBC. Self-directed, Stern continued to collect and pass information to the CIA regarding HSBC's blatant abuse and manipulation of wire filters to approve illegal wire transfers. He left HSBC in October 2011. By the summer of 2012, the inquiry had broadened to the bank's money laundering operations in the Middle East, Mexico, Iran, Sudan, and North Korea.
In February 2013, Stern was first featured as an HSBC whistleblower in Rolling Stone magazine in the article Gangster Bankers: Too Big to Jail.
In February 2018, Stern was featured as an HSBC whistleblower in the Netflix series Dirty Money.
Aftermath
Stern reached a resignation agreement from his position with HSBC in October 2011. After being "blacklisted" from the financial community Stern began working at a P.F. Chang's restaurant as a server. Stern self-funded and launched the private intelligence agency Tactical Rabbit the following year. In March 2013, Stern and the law firm Berger & Montague submitted evidence collected by Stern to the SEC that HSBC had continued to violate anti-money laundering regulations through October 2011, when Stern's employment with HSBC ended. In August 2013, Stern joined with an Occupy Wall Street working group called Alternative Banking to further publicize his allegations against HSBC. At a protest held on August 29, 2013, in New York City, Stern publicly alleged that HSBC had committed anti-laundering violations through the end of his employment in 2011, and asked that the government re-open the case against HSBC.
In December 2013, HSBC reached a settlement with the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control regarding funds that had been transferred to financiers of the terrorist organization Hezbollah between December 2010 and April 2011. HSBC was required to pay $32,400. The Treasury department stated that this settlement was "unrelated to the bank's December 2012 agreement." Stern has continued to speak publicly through the media about his HSBC allegations, especially as they relate to the funding of terrorist groups and activities
Tactical Rabbit
Stern founded Tactical Rabbit with the intention of "exposing wrongdoing" in financial and corporate institutions.
In May 2015, Stern conducted an investigation into the closing of Sweet Briar College. Stern held a press conference on May 9, 2015, at the college and alleged that the company's intelligence operation revealed fraud. Stern pleaded for the American public and the FBI to get involved. Stern noted that "Saving Sweet Briar is not a Virginia problem, but it is a national problem requiring all Americans to act." In May 2015 Stern issued a public letter to FBI Director James Comey asking for an FBI investigation into his company's findings on the closing of the college.