Poor IT skills mean investigations into money laundering rarely bear fruit

The FIU reports need too much further investigation and even then it is not clear if a case will stand up in court
Dutch News (Netherlands)
Monday, July 27, 2020

money laundering washing machineOnly a handful of the tens of thousands of annual reports of suspected money laundering end up in court case because watchdog staff lack IT expertise. Some 155,000 cases of possible fraud were brought to the attention of the government’s Financial Intelligence Unit (Fiu) last year by banks, accountants and payroll offices, of which 39,000 were followed up by the prosecution office and the FIOD financial fraud unit. However, only a very small number actually went to court because the reports were not thorough enough to form the basis of a prosecution, money laundering expert professor Brigitte Unger told Trouw.