Madrid: Spanish authorities are tracking about 80 million euros ($88 million) of funds allegedly laundered through the offices of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. in the country, according to a person with direct knowledge of the investigation.
The inquiry is examining deposits made during 2011 at ICBC’s unit in Madrid and also those made in 2012 via a correspondent agreement with the Spanish lender CaixaBank SA, said the person, who asked not to be identified because details of the inquiry are confidential. The European Union’s law enforcement agency Europol said last month that police were initially investigating the suspected laundering of at least 40 million euros.
The Spanish civil guard raided ICBC’s Madrid offices last month as part of an investigation ordered by a judge. The investigation has already identified international links to France, Germany and Lithuania, Europol said at that time.
ICBC didn’t have any immediate comment, said a spokeswoman in Madrid for Kreab, a communications firm that is advising the lender.
A spokesperson for Barcelona-based CaixaBank, which isn’t a target of the probe, declined to comment.
The probe into money laundering stemmed from an inquiry into alleged tax fraud by Chinese business people in Spain, the person said. Liu Gang, the head of the lender’s Spanish unit at time, later took on pan-European responsibilities in Luxembourg and investigators are working with authorities in other European countries to see if the methods alleged to launder funds in Spain were also used elsewhere, the person said.
The bank’s law firm in Spain White & Case declined to comment through an outside spokesperson at Burston-Marsteller. A lawyer for Gang declined to comment when contacted by phone.
Luxembourg’s Financial Intelligence Unit is considering opening an administrative probe into the ICBC’s unit in the country, which is the holding company for the lender’s operations in the continent, said the person. No one at the financial intelligence unit was immediately available for comment when contacted by Bloomberg Friday. No one at ICBC’s Luxembourg unit was immediately available for comment.
