ACCOUNTING FIRM IN COLOMBIA BOUGHT LAUNDERED MONEY

LOS ANGELES (AP) Price Waterhouse executives in Colombia knowingly bought
more than half a million dollars in laundered drug money on a currency
black market, according to a government affidavit filed in U.S. District
Court.

Investigators seized $156,607 of the money from a bank account in New York,
where the funds were wired by undercover officers posing as money
launderers for Mexican and Colombian drug cartels.

"In electing for an exchange of Colombian pesos for U.S. dollars on the
black market, the officials at Price Waterhouse S.A. knew they were
breaking Colombian law and had reason to believe the U.S. dollars they
received were likely proceeds from drug sales in the United States," the
seizure affidavit said.

Officials in the U.S. Attorney's Office refused to comment. The director of
Price Waterhouse's Bogota office, chief partner Hugo Ospina, was out of
town Friday and the only person authorized to comment, his secretary said.

Price Waterhouse, one of the nation's Big 6 accounting firms, said in a
statement from New York that it did not believe the Colombian firm
laundered any money or broke any U.S. laws.

"Discussions are currently under way with the U.S. Attorney's Office and
the U.S. Customs Service, and we are confident that the matter will be
resolved fully," the statement said.

Law enforcement sources speaking on condition of anonymity said the United
States was not contemplating criminal charges against Price Waterhouse
S.A., the Colombian entity. Civil action could be pursued if the company
contests the seizure of the money, sources said.

Customs Service agents began investigating the Price Waterhouse office in
Bogota as part of Operation Casablanca, a wide-ranging attack on money
laundering that has resulted in the arrest of 160 people, including Mexican
and Venezuelan bankers. Authorities also seized $87 million, two tons of
cocaine and four tons of marijuana.

Price Waterhouse has 56,000 employees in 119 countries and reported $6.5
billion revenue last year. The Colombia office has 19 partners, 350
employees and had revenues of $25 million last year, a company spokesman
said.

Checked-by: Richard Lake