Eight persons have been arrested, 500 bank accounts frozen and €440,000 in cash confiscated in a major money-laundering bust by federal police in Hal-Vilvoorde.
During the operation, carried out on Thursday, police conducted 13 searches in Hal-Vilvoorde as well as in Brussels, Mons, Walloon Brabant, and Charleroi.
The raids capped an investigation launched by the Financial Information Processing Unit (CTIF), which communicated suspicious activities in a company’s bank accounts to the office of the public prosecutor.
Sabine Lievens, spokesperson for the public prosecutor’s office, revealed on Friday that over a 14-month period, the company’s accounts had received deposits totalling more than €1.5 million. Given the history of the company and the nature of the deposits, this aroused suspicions of money laundering.
Following an initial investigation, further inquiry led to the discovery of an organisation involved in money laundering and injecting undeclared money into the economy.
“This organisation served as a hub linking criminal groups loaded with cash and companies needing liquid assets to pay their under-the-table workers," the prosecutor's office said. "The money-laundering process involved the organisation issuing invoices for non-existent services to its ‘clients’, who then paid through their bank accounts.
"The organisation reimbursed this money in cash, after deducting a commission. This enabled companies to have ‘black money’ to use for various purposes, including paying workers.”
To manage this flow of liquid cash, several bogus companies were set up, run by Portuguese nationals.
An estimated €50 million was circulated annually within this scheme, with the criminal organisation taking an 8% to 10% commission.
