Bank of China has paid €3.9 million (US$4.3 million) to end a probe into its role in a trade-based money laundering (TBML) operation in France.

Investigations centred on the bank’s failure to report a rapid rise in revenue at one of its clients, a Paris-based emergency locksmith and plumbing shop and the channelling of millions of euro to China.

Fine and damages

Bank of China, agreed to pay a total of €3.9 million, of which €3 million was a fine while €900,000 was paid in damages to tax authorities to halt the criminal prosecution of the bank.

The prosecution of 28 business owners and intermediaries associated with the fraud continues.

Rapid revenue increase

Bank of China, one of the big four Chinese state-owned banks, was charged with aggravated money laundering over suspicious fund transfers of nearly €40 million to hundreds of accounts in China.

The investigation was triggered by Tracfin, a French anti-money laundering body that detected a rapid increase in revenue at the Paris-based plumbing and locksmith shop and reported the unusual activity to the tax authorities.

Categories: Trade Based Financial crimes News