ING accused of allowing €123 million in money laundering

Dutch bank ING is accused of enabling 123 million euros of money laundering, channelling the flow of funds into companies in tax havens such as the Virgin Islands, reported Volkskrant.nl. Statements made by financier Sam van Doorn, 71, says that ING was repeatedly warned about the shady business practices going on there. Van Doorn’s ex-business associate Erwin van Ruiter, who led the management of their company, allegedly pumped money through a joint trust before diverting it to the tax havens. Van Doorn says ING had to know what was going on. In 2006 British bank Barclays became skeptical of ING when the Dutch bank refused to provide enough information about a suspicious bank transfer ING wanted to conduct via Barclays, the newspaper says. Barclays declined to participate in the transaction due to the lack of information, and that economic reasons for the transaction were unclear. ING continued operations even while there was sufficient evidence to seriously suggest suspicion of money laundering and tax fraud, according to Van Doorns’ attorney, Robert Hein Broekhuijsen. An ING spokesperson reported that they have taken note of the declaration and that they could not comment at the time.