Public Prosecution Service seized over €364 million of criminal money flows in 2023

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) and cooperating parties have seized at least 363.5 million euros in 2023. That is about 50 percent more than a year earlier when 246 million euros were claimed, the OM reports. The results show that a lot of money comes from money laundering and fraud cases.

The amount also anticipates the annual overview of criminal financial flows 2023, which will be published this spring. According to National Coordinator for Confiscation and Money Laundering Anita van Dis, this is now "a snapshot. We know from experience that the seizure figure for 2023 will increase by approximately 30 percent." According to the report, there were 3,905 money laundering cases in 2023 in total.

In any case, the Public Prosecution Service's objective of seizing 281.6 million euros in criminal money by 2023 has been amply achieved. For this year, the target has been increased to 300 million and by 2026 at least 332 million euros in criminal money must be recovered.

Last year, investigative and law enforcement authorities achieved several successes in dismantling the criminal income model. For example, a mixing service that made it easier for criminals to launder more than 178 million euros in bitcoins was taken down. Most of the money came from crypto thefts committed by a North Korean hacker group, the OM reports.

The Public Prosecution Service sees the detection of criminal financial flows as an important part of tackling crime because money is often the "motive" in crimes, "but also a means to maintain the criminal system".