Accountancy firm BDO fined €1.3 million for work with Russian-held football club Vitesse

Accountancy firm BDO has been issued a fine of 1.3 million euros for breaking anti-money laundering laws. The agency’s CEO, René Nelis, confirmed this after initial reporting by the Financieele Dagblad (FD). BDO is going to appeal the decision.

The fine is regarding the work that BDO did as an accountant for football club Vitesse, and a holding company of the former owner of the club, Russian businessman Valeri Oyf, sources told FD. There are said to have been murky cash flows surrounding deposits of 6.2 million euros, FD reported on Wednesday.

BDO was supposed to report an unusual transaction to the national Financial Intelligence Unit in 2020. That is the reporting point in the Netherlands for potentially suspicious transactions that may be linked to money laundering or other criminal activity.

The fine of 1.3 million euros is the highest that Financial Supervision Office (BFT) has ever handed out, according to FD. That was confirmed by Yolanda de Groot, who leads the regulator. The fine was issued at the beginning of this month, Nelis affirmed.

BDO allegedly did not stick to the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act (Wwft). “We believe that the BFT seems to have abandoned the legal framework of the Wwft on several points in the fine decision. BDO, therefore, cannot agree with the qualification that the BFT has given to the alleged violation, nor with the fine imposed as a result," said Nelis.

The accountancy firm did not specify what it believes the regulator did wrong. Nelis did not want to comment further about the fine.