The Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD) of the Netherlands recently arrested a 34-year-old man from Beverwijk on suspicion of ML and operating an unlicensed money remittance business. The authorities searched the detainee’s home and two business premises in Beverwijk, a retail property in Amsterdam and a warehouse in Assendelft. They seized a house, physical and digital administration, two cars, jewelry and cash of over 50,000 euros ($56,570).
The FIOD had identified the detainee through a previous investigation into carousel fraud and ML. The detainee had cultivated clients who wished to send large sums of cash abroad. He purportedly acted as the coordinator of a Netherlands-based criminal network. In this role, he handled hundreds of transactions of over 100 million euros ($113.14m) since March 2019.
The suspect conducted some of these illicit transactions in the form of cryptocurrency. He appointed money couriers who would collect and transport the cash, suspected to be of criminal origin.
Source: Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD), Netherlands