2023-04-17 17:41:39
The former employees of the Estonian subsidiary of the first Danish bank are accused of having laundered at least 1.6 billion dollars and 6 million euros between 2007 and 2015.
Six people were charged Monday with laundering at least $1.6 billion and €6 million at the Estonian branch of Denmark’s largest bank, Danske Bank, local prosecutors said.
According to information gathered during preliminary proceedings, six former employees of the foreign banking division of the Estonian subsidiary of Danske ‘provided money laundering services for an amount of at least 1,611,963’ 711 dollars and 6,074,878 euros” between 2007 and 2015, the prosecution said in a press release.
“Assets worth around 10 million euros, allegedly obtained through money laundering, have been seized,” said the prosecution, citing only the first names of the accused.
According to him, they “deliberately concealed the real owners of the money, probably of criminal origin, transferred to the Estonian accounts of Danske, as well as the origin and the nature of the money, probably criminal”.
The former employees “created their own money laundering business which they concealed from other units of the bank” and sold to customers of companies “which concealed the true owners”, the prosecution said.
They also helped customers “hide the electronic imprint from the bank during transfers, and offered a chargeable service for drafting documents on transfers. In the opinion of the prosecution, this was professional money laundering, ”said Maria Entsik, public prosecutor, quoted in the press release.
“The charges relate to eight predicate offenses committed in Russia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Switzerland, the United States and Iran,” she said.
Danske Bank announced heavy losses in 2022 on Thursday, weighed down by the payment of American and Danish fines following the huge money laundering scandal involving its subsidiary in Estonia, which broke out in 2018.
The bank had pleaded guilty to fraud in various lawsuits launched in the United States, and agreed in mid-December to pay 2 billion dollars to close the procedures launched by several authorities.
Danske was also sentenced to 3.5 billion crowns (470 million euros), this time by the Danish financial policeman.
In total, the bank had recognized flaws at the origin of the money laundering, between 2007 and 2015, of around 200 billion euros through its Estonian subsidiary.
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