Analyses by FIU-the Netherlands show that criminal third-party payments are often part of complex money-laundering schemes.

Tens of millions of euros in fake invoices, multiple companies with identical business operations, and huge amounts of cash withdrawn from business accounts. Sometimes, as a financial investigator at FIU-the Netherlands, you receive reports that immediately give you the gut feeling that something isn’t right.

Ivan has never known anything other than a life of luxury. Designer clothes, expensive dinners, exquisite watches: as the youngest child of a high-ranking government official, he has everything he desires. That is, until his country is hit by wide-ranging EU sanctions. The luxury goods he enjoys so much are also included on the sanctions list. In this case study, we demonstrate how Ivan tries to maintain his lavish lifestyle despite the sanctions.

A court recently sentenced a metal recycling company to a multi-million euro fine for forgery, money laundering, cocaine importation and participation in a criminal organisation. Several suspects involved received lengthy prison sentences.

In this series of articles, we describe five mini cases involving false or forged invoices. In this article we focus on trade-based money laundering.

In this series of articles, we describe five mini cases involving false or forged invoices. In this article we focus on corruption.