ZCZC
BCN-16
DENMARK-ESTONIA-RUSSIA-BANK-CORRUPTION
Danske Bank’s money laundering scandal spinning faster
STOCKHOLM, July 8, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Denmark, a Nordic kingdom not often
associated with financial shenanigans, is facing a massive scandal with
banking champion Danske Bank accused of helping to launder $8.3 billion
through an Estonian subsidiary.
Danske, Denmark’s biggest bank, had been in the crosshairs of
investigators since Danish daily Berlingske last year claimed that it had
been behind the laundering of around $3.9 billion of dirty money from a
string of Eastern European countries.
But after receiving bank statements from 20 companies with accounts in
Danske Bank’s Estonian branch between 2007 and 2015, the paper this week
reported that the real figure was actually more than twice that.
“This gravely serious case will become much worse if the latest
information is correct,” Denmark’s business minister Rasmus Jarlov said on
his Twitter account.
“This casts a shadow of doubt over the entire financial sector,” Jarlov
said, adding the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority is reviewing the
information which appeared in Berlingske.
The watchdog is in contact with its Estonian counterpart to discuss
possible actions.
An audit in the spring concluded that there was no basis for raising
criminal proceedings against the bank.
“It is too soon to draw any conclusions about the extent of potential
money laundering in Estonia,” Danske Bank’s head of group compliance, Anders
Meinert Jorgensen, told AFP in an e-mail.
“That is the reason why we have not ourselves published figures or
commented on speculations about potential amounts,” he added.
– ‘Wrong to speculate’-
The group has acknowledged that its control over the Estonian branch has
not been good enough and launched its own investigation into the matter last
year. The results are expected in September.
“Until the investigations launched have been completed in September…it
would be wrong to speculate any further,” Jorgensen said.
MORE/HR/1230
ZCZC
BCN-17
DENMARK-ESTONIA-RUSSIA-BANK-CORRUPTION 2 STOCKHOLM
Danske Bank’s share prices has fallen by over 25 percent over the past
year on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange.
Unexpectedly, Danske finds itself in the company of other major European
banks that have been ensnared in massive laundering scandals in recent years
including France’s BNP Paribas and Germany’s Deutsche Bank.
“There is no doubt that even one krone laundered is one too many, and that
we take this matter very seriously,” Jorgensen said.
But critics are not convinced that they do.
“Any competent money laundering scientist would have come to the
conclusion that there were clear indications of money laundering that should
have been reported to the authorities,” British money laundering expert
Graham Barrow told Danish broadcaster TV2.
“The extent of this case is so big that management should have been aware
of the billion-dollar suspicious transactions,” Danish legal adviser Jakob
Dedenroth Bernhoft added.
– Criminal complaint –
The bank statements from 20 companies at Danske Bank are linked to a fraud
case exposed by the Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who was jailed for
revealing high-ranking Russian officials involvement in stealing massive tax
payments from several companies, including the investment fund Hermitage
Capital.
Magnitsky died in 2009 aged 37 after being held for a year and denied
medical care.
Bill Browder, CEO of Hermitage Capital and Magnitsky’s former client who
was kicked out of Russia for exposing corruption at the largest state owned
companies, said he has spent nine years tracking money laundering in the
nation.
“We are currently drafting a criminal complaint with the new information
revealed about money laundering at Danske Bank that we intend to file with
the Danish and Estonian law enforcement authorities,” Browder told AFP in an
e-mail on Wednesday.
MORE/HR/12332
ZCZC
BCN-18
DENMARK-ESTONIA-RUSSIA-BANK-CORRUPTION 3 LAST STOCKHOLM
The US-born British citizen said the money was laundered at Danske Bank’s
Estonian branch between 2007 and 2015 after travelling through “a complex
network of sham companies and money laundering banks” in Moldova, Estonia,
Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine.
Russia and Azerbaijan are also mentioned among the list of countries in
Berlingske’s report.
Browder has led a high-profile campaign in memory of his former employee.
In 2012, the US passed the “Sergei Magnitsky Act” which imposed a visa ban
and froze the assets of Russian officials suspected in the lawyer’s death.
“I’ve been on a nine-year fight for justice for Sergei Magnitsky which has
included tracing the proceeds of the crime, which led us to Danske Bank,” he
said.
BSS/AFP/HR/1235