- Europol has eliminated a criminal bank network
- These criminals cleaned money for other organizations
- Criminals use more and more alternative bank solutions
Europol has eliminated a criminal parallel banking organization with multiple branches throughout Europe, the agency confirmed. This demolition comes in the form of arrests for 17 individuals (15 in Spain, as well as one in Austria and Belgium).
Together with the arrests, criminal assets were seized worth € 4.5 million, as well as electronic devices and firearms. The arrested criminals were mainly Chinese and Syrians in nationality, and are accused of providing money laundering services to criminals.
“This covers parallel banking services, Hawala’s illegal banking, cash collection, cash messaging services and the exchange of cryptocurrencies for cash. Money wasters were operational in at least two branches: one that largely serves the Arabic criminal world and the other to the criminal networks originated from China,” confirms Europol.
An underground financial system
It was also seized in the demolition of € 183,000 in cryptocurrencies, and 77 bank accounts, this structured underground financial system used alternative banking methods to evade the application of the law.
“This operation is an excellent example of the interconnection between criminal networks,” said a Europol spokesman for Cybersecury News. “Following the trail of money left by previous investigations on migrants smuggling, we have managed to eliminate a key financial infrastructure that allowed several criminal activities throughout Europe.”
This occurs after Europol and Eurojust dismantled an extensive investment scam that robbed 3 million euros of around one hundred victims. This fraudulent company encouraged users to pour money into false investment schemes, with cybercriminals obtaining ‘substantial profits’ from the platform.
Digital and financial fraud is increasingly connected, with more and more tools available for criminals to access victims and to grow crime networks. The criminals are resorting to alternative banking systems to clean and move money thanks to the reduction of monitoring and regulation.
