Europol probe - Black mark for hot money
The agency says Ireland has the ninth highest number of financial transactions linked to money laundering or terrorist financing in the EU, with the number of transactions subject to Garda probes almost doubling between 2006 and 2014.
The country, of course, is by no means alone in its inability to deal successfully with what is now a major problem across the planet, thanks in part to technology that has created crypto currencies, moves funds around the globe in seconds and makes it harder for police to identify who benefits from money laundering. Earlier this week it was revealed that Azerbaijan’s ruling elite ran a €2.4bn racket through UK companies to fund a public relations lobbying campaign. The Guardian reported that the Azerbaijani leadership — accused of serial human rights abuses and systemic corruption — made more than 16,000 covert payments from 2012 to 2014. Billions of pounds came through two Glasgow-based companies using structures that let owners hide identities.
