Europol, a law enforcement agency operating across Europe, released details of a January takedown of a “mafia crypto bank” responsible for laundering over $23.5 million in crypto for clients in China and the Middle East. Europol arrested 17 suspects in January, but has only now released information about the ongoing investigation. The takedown of the crypto mafia was a complex investigation because the case overlapped with other cases, such as migrant smuggling and drug trafficking. The crypto mafia had a banking system called hawala, which relied primarily on crypto transfers. The press release, by Europol, announced that 17 individuals were arrested and that the suspects were part of a coordinated criminal network. The operation involved various jurisdictions, including Austria, Belgium, and Spain. The Europol operation extended upon another case involving migrant smuggling. The arrested suspects included nationals from China and the Middle East. Europol reported over €21 million of laundered money, using hawala banking and crypto transactions. Europol listed many assets seized, totalling €4.5 million, including firearms, cash, bank accounts, real estate, and vehicles. Europol concluded that the agency was essential in providing operational support for other law enforcement agencies, helping to take down a complex network committing economic crime. “Following up on the successes in taking down the migrant smugglers”, wrote Europol in a press release, “who relied on this criminal network’s illicit banking services, national investigators and Europol’s experts in financial crime jointly picked up a new trail. Examining the migrant smugglers’ phones led to the criminal network laundering illicit proceeds, which kicked off this latest investigation. On the action day, Europol financed three Spanish investigators to travel to Belgium and Austria. Additionally, two Europol experts travelled to Austria and Belgium to provide support on the ground, while two more Europol experts were deployed to Spain. The crypto mafia tried to cover up its illicit activities by operating a remittance service. But authorities were not fooled by their attempts and continued investigating the organisation. The crypto mafia, meanwhile, became more brazen in its attempts to procure new clients, advertising its remittance service on social media. Spanish authorities coordinated with Europol through the Belgian branch. Spanish courts handled the legal case against the crypto mafia. Blockchain analysis reveals that the remittance service operated by the crypto mafia transferred over $50 billion in illicit funds. Europol became aware of the illicit network thanks to a German couple reporting the crypto mafia to local authorities. The crypto mafia had been masquerading as financial consultants and manipulating the German couple to deposit more funds, using fake charts to suggest their successful investment strategies. Spanish authorities started to monitor the group and discovered millions of dollars being transferred monthly. The January raid involved over 250 officers and had a command and control centre that could monitor the raids in real time. Out of the 17 suspects arrested, 15 remain incarcerated, charged with money laundering and being associated with a criminal organisation.
