Amsterdam, Feb. 29, (dpa/GNA) – Investigators from Italy, Latvia and Lithuania took action against a money laundering ring and arrested 18 people in a joint operation, Europol announced in The Hague on Wednesday.
The main focus of the operation was reportedly a financial institution in Lithuania, which had been set up under a cover by an organized criminal gang from Italy.
“Since 2017, an estimated €2 billion ($2.1 billion) has been laundered by two main suspects via a worldwide web of shell companies. The suspects, who now have been detained, offered money laundering online as a service to criminals,” Europol said.
According to Europol, thousands of criminals used the service to help them to legalize money obtained through crime. This mainly involved money obtained by tax evasion, fraud, cybercrime and drug trafficking.
The authorities said another suspect was arrested in Italy who allegedly channelled €15 million, embezzled from public funds, through the gang’s system.
On Tuesday, around 250 investigators raided locations in the three countries. A total of 55 buildings were searched and more than €11.5 million were confiscated.
Europol and the European judicial authority Eurojust coordinated and supported the operation.
The financial institution in Lithuania had already been shut down by the authorities in 2022. Intensive investigations then led to the dismantling of the system, Europol said.
GNA