Dirty Money Flowed Across Europe for Years, But Little Happened
- Lack of a central watchdog exposes Europe to money laundering
- But even if suspicions are flagged, they’re often not pursued
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A full decade before ING Groep NV was pulled into the widening scandal involving Russian money laundering, the bank flagged suspicious accounts to the Belgian authorities.
The matter was probed and findings shared with the prosecutor in Lithuania, where a local bank served as a conduit for the flow of money into the West. By 2013, the investigation was halted because there was no proof the funds came from criminal activities.