Italy arrests 18 over illicit China bank transfers
AFP - [email protected] •
17 Dec, 2014
Updated Wed 17 Dec 2014 17:34 CEST
Italy's financial police on Wednesday arrested 18 people suspected of making illicit cash transfers totalling more than a
billion euros, most of them to China through a British company.
The suspects are accused of having laundered profits from the import of counterfeit goods made in China through money-transfer agencies, defrauding the tax authorities in the process, the police said.
The suspects were described as mostly Rome-based ethnic Chinese who were known to police.
To move their alleged ill-gotten gains, the businessmen reportedly used British cash transfer company Sigue Global Services Ltd and took care to ensure the amounts of each transaction did not exceed levels which require a declaration to authorities under international money-laundering rules.
Sigue assets worth €13 million, equivalent to the company's profits on the transfers, have been frozen pending the outcome of the inquiry, police said.
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The suspects are accused of having laundered profits from the import of counterfeit goods made in China through money-transfer agencies, defrauding the tax authorities in the process, the police said.
The suspects were described as mostly Rome-based ethnic Chinese who were known to police.
To move their alleged ill-gotten gains, the businessmen reportedly used British cash transfer company Sigue Global Services Ltd and took care to ensure the amounts of each transaction did not exceed levels which require a declaration to authorities under international money-laundering rules.
Sigue assets worth €13 million, equivalent to the company's profits on the transfers, have been frozen pending the outcome of the inquiry, police said.
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