France charges Danske Bank in money laundering case

Danish bank’s Estonian office again at the centre of controversy

It’s been rough times for Danske Bank in recent months. The money laundering scandal at its Estonian office is a problem that simply won’t go away.

From the Azeri regime to a Russian arms dealer, it has become glaringly clear that a number of shady players have taken advantage of the lax protocols that have existed at Danske Bank’s Estonian office. As if that wasn’t enough, now the French are getting involved.

A French court, Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris, has charged the bank in connection with money laundering via the bank’s Estonian operations from 2008-2011.

“The investigation concerns historical conditions at Danske Bank Estonia. The investigation encompasses transactions of about 15 million euros, which were transferred to France by former customers of Danske Bank Estonia between 2008 and 2011,” said Flemming Pristed, the general counsel at Dansk Bank.

“The customers were part of the portfolio of foreign clients of Danske Bank Estonia [‘non-resident’ clients] – a portfolio we have since shut down. Currently, we are unable to say whether the figure stemmed from illegal activities.”

READ MORE: Russian arms dealer syphoned millions through Danske Bank

Cleaned up
Danske Bank wrote in a press release that the transactions were part of the bank’s investigation into the conditions that existed at its Estonian office from 2007-2015 and that the bank was co-operating fully with the authorities.

The bank maintains that since 2014 the conditions at its Estonian office have been cleaned up.

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