"As much as £90 billion is being laundered in the UK, so in order to protect themselves, firms must respond and increase the levels of their checks and procedures."
Based in Spain, the main suspect and his associates were in charge of collecting large amounts of cash from criminal organisations which they would then ‘deliver’ to other criminal organisations in other countries.
The money was transferred using the hawala underground banking system, an informal method of transferring money without any physical money actually moving. During the course of the 1.5 year investigation, it is believed that the suspects have laundered over EUR 200 million using this method. The scope of activity of this criminal organisation is worldwide.
Two of his associates were also arrested in Spain, with 11 property searches being carried out in Spain and the United Kingdom.
The main suspect was considered a high-value target by Europol for his involvement in a number of high-profile criminal cases throughout Europe. Earlier in April of this year, this person and his company were designated by the US Department of the Treasury for providing support to the Kinahan clan.
His arrest follows a complex investigation led by the Spanish Guardia Civil, who worked together on this case with the British National Crime Agency (NCA), the Dutch National Police (Politie) and the Irish Garda (An Garda Síochána), with international activity coordinated by Europol’s European Financial and Economic Crime Centre.
Martin Cheek, managing director of anti-money laundering software SmartSearch, commented: “The high-profile arrest of one of Europe’s biggest money launderers – responsible for laundering over 200 million euros, clearly demonstrates the determination of authorities all across Europe to crack down on serious fraud and financial crime.
“But while this is a huge win, there’s still plenty of work to do and businesses need to remain vigilant to this very real threat. The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) estimates as much as £90 billion is being laundered in the UK, so in order to protect themselves, firms must respond and increase the levels of their checks and procedures.
“As the landscape continues to change and criminals find more innovative ways to filter money, that means ditching the manual paper checks of the past. As few people can spot fake documents, manual checks of passports and driving licences just aren’t robust enough, so it’s imperative that companies switch to digital onboarding and electronic verification (EV).
“EV checks are not only more thorough, but they take only minutes to do. Then with enhanced due diligence, detailed monitoring, robust checks and sanction screening, businesses can best protect themselves from fraud and serious financial crime while clearly demonstrating a compliant culture – a key requirement of many regulators.”
