Rotterdam suspect linked to 60 million euro money laundering network

A 55-year-old man from Rotterdam is suspected of helping launder around 60 million euros through an international criminal network that allegedly smuggled gold from Germany to Turkey. Dutch and German police arrested five people during coordinated raids in October, seizing vehicles, cash, property and precious metals. Investigators estimate that the network moved between 1 and 4 tonnes of gold over six years.

The coordinated operation took place on October 7, involving Dutch and German police and German Customs. Dutch police say around 500 personnel took part, with support from Europol.

The 55-year-old from Rotterdam was arrested in Eindhoven. The four suspects arrested in Germany are men aged between 43 and 59. The Dutch investigation was conducted by Rotterdam's Seaport Police and the Rotterdam Public Prosecution Service. They searched two locations, in Rotterdam and Eindhoven.

German police searched around 40 locations across several German states. They also searched properties in the Dutch towns of Sliedrecht and Zwijndrecht.

The 55-year-old Rotterdam man is suspected of acting as an illegal financial intermediary, also known as an underground banker. Police believe he had links to a predominantly Turkish-German criminal organisation. He allegedly helped receive and send large amounts of cash, totalling approximately 60 million euros.

During the searches in Rotterdam and Eindhoven, investigators seized around 10,000 euros in cash, a vehicle, real estate, and data carriers.

The network allegedly offered money-laundering services to other criminal groups. German investigators describe this as Crime-as-a-Service: criminal organisations could pay the network to move and disguise the proceeds of their crimes.

The money allegedly came from several types of criminal activity, but investigators believe drug trafficking was the main source. The network used the money received from criminal clients to buy old and scrap gold from cooperating jewellers, particularly in Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia region.

The gold was melted down, sometimes together with jewellery allegedly obtained through crime, and turned into gold bars. The bars were transported from Germany to Turkey by road or air. Specially modified vehicles were allegedly used for some road journeys.

In Turkey, the gold was processed further or used to purchase high-quality gold jewellery. This was allegedly used to pay the criminal clients. Some of the jewellery or processed gold was then smuggled back into Germany, outside customs controls, to compensate the jewellers for their original purchases.

The investigation began in October 2023, when German traffic police stopped a specially modified vehicle during a routine check on a motorway in Bavaria. Officers discovered several kilograms of gold and almost 500,000 euros in cash hidden inside the vehicle.

The discovery led investigators to examine the origins of the gold and money and identify people potentially involved in moving them. In a separate investigation, the gold and cash, together worth more than 4 million euros, were confiscated. The subsequent investigation uncovered suspected links to a predominantly Turkish-German criminal organisation and a wider gold-smuggling operation.