Meta says properly issued cards to Dubai suspects

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Meta Financial Group's MetaBank said that it followed proper procedures when it issued prepaid bank cards to some of the suspects in the killing of a top Hamas commander in a Dubai hotel.

Authorities told the bank that the suspects appeared to have used stolen passports to get employment and compensation from U.S. companies, Meta said in a statement on Tuesday. Those companies paid the employees with pre-paid cards issued by Meta and other banks.

Meta Payment Systems issued the cards, the company said. Meta Payment Systems sells prepaid cards that U.S. companies can use to pay employees who live abroad.

Meta launched its own review of the matter, and has so far found that it followed all bank and regulatory requirements. The suspects that authorities identified were not on any list that would indicate that their identities were fraudulent.

Dubai authorities have identified at least 27 suspects that tracked and killed Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh last month in a hotel room.

(Reporting by Dan Wilchins. Editing by Robert MacMillan)