A Government TD has expressed concern people may be laundering old punts, sourced by illegitimate means, by exchanging them for euro at the Central Bank. Labour’s Kevin Humphries has called on the bank to set a cut-off date after which punts would no longer be exchangeable for euro. He said some of the sums being exchanged were so large as to raise questions about where the money came from.
“The figures provided to me by the Minister for Finance on the daily exchanges of punts to euro at the Central Bank indicate that on 62 days in 2011 cash sums of over €15,000 were converted from old notes and coins. A total of €2.7 million was exchanged in 2011. “On 9th November alone, €160,242.21 was exchanged. This is not the kind of money a person might find down the back of a couch.” He said the bank had not been able to provide a breakdown by transaction – only daily totals. Two days before the €160,242 was exchanged, a total of just €266.14 was changed.
Detailed news link: click here