To the editor:

Re: Media silent on Biden family (Aug. 15).

A recent letter to the editor implied that an individual who has had SARs (suspicious activity report) filed on them is somehow tainted and of dubious character. I can’t speak to the rest of Mr. Markell’s statements. It is obvious we follow different news sources. But I am very knowledgeable about SARs.

Having a SAR filed on you does not mean you have done anything illegal. You would not know that a SAR has been filed on you. Mr. Markell could very well be in the data bank with a SAR for all he knows.

But most importantly, I could not confirm the existence or non-existence of any SAR filed by the institution I work for. There are civil and criminal penalties for such disclosure — $100,000 and $250,000 respectively for each incident. I could also face five years of prison time. Any reputable news source reporting the existence of SARs got that information illegally from a person or persons acting illegally. If they are merely implying or speculating, they are acting very irresponsibly. Perhaps Mr. Markell misheard the insinuation or perhaps his “news” is indulging in wild speculation?

I hope knowing concrete facts will help him sort out truth from the sorts of wild fiction and muck raking some opinion hacks spew. It seems obvious to me that where there is outright lie and obvious flame fanning conjecture, there is more, but I will leave that to rational people to decide.

Karen DeRoode

Ghent