STORM LAKE, Iowa — some suspects in the slaying of a top Hamasleaders used stolen IDs and fake passports to fraudulently obtainMetaBank prepaid credit cards, the Storm Lake, Iowa-based banksaid.

The prepaid cards, loaded with funds by outside companies, wereissued by a Meta partner, New York-based Payoneer Inc., and notthrough one of its retail bank branches, Meta said in astatement.

Authorities in Dubai had earlier tied MetaBank and Payoneer Inc.to cards members of a hit squad allegedly used to book flights andreserve hotel rooms in the Middle Eastern country.

Meta, whose parent company is Meta Financial Group (CASH),publicly responded to the reports for the first time Tuesday. Thebank said an internal review of compliance with bank and regulatoryrequirements found no signs of wrongdoing.

The names of those applying for the cards were not on aprohibited user watch list maintained by the U.S. TreasuryDepartment’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Individuals named were not on the OFAC list, and no otherreadily apparent method existed for Meta to determine that identitytheft had been perpetrated on valid governments and theircitizens,” the bank said in an email to the Journal.

Funds were loaded onto the cards by outside companies usingdirect deposit for payroll, disbursements and other compensation,Meta said.

The bank said its division, Meta Payment Systems has issued morethan 150 million payroll cards through various program managers,including Payoneer, to offer “reputable U.S. companies networkbranded payroll cards with which American companies can payexpatriates, employees and contractors of their company who live inthe U.S. and in foreign countries.”

Payoneer provides prepaid MasterCards issued by MetaBank andother lenders. the company and has a research and developmentcenter in Tel Aviv, raising suspicions of Israeli involvement inthe killing.

Israel’s Mossad spy agency is widely suspected of carrying outthe Jan. 19 slaying of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, whoIsrael accuses of smuggling weapons to Hamas militants controllingthe Gaza Strip. Israel has neither confirmed nor deniedinvolvement.

Payoneer is headed by Yuval Tal, who in a 2006 Fox Newsinterview was identified as a former member of the Israeli specialforces.

Payoneer has said it was cooperating with authorities but hasdeclined further comment. It has not made Tal available to discussthe company’s involvement.

Area bank: Partner issued credit cards used in Dubai killing