RO lawmaker alludes to banks’ possible involvement in money laundering

The head of Romania's senior ruling party’s caucus in Senate, Serban Nicolae, suggested that the Anti-Money Laundering Office should be involved in the supervision of the banking system, alongside Romania's National Bank (BNR).

In the context, during talks with banks’ representatives related to the additional taxation of financial assets (the “greed tax”), Nicolae alluded that Romanian banks might have been involved, at least indirectly, in the laundering of money siphoned out from Russia, Profit.ro reported.

“It is hard for me to believe that important Western banks commit money laundering at such a level without the involvement of their subsidiaries in an important country as Romania,” Nicolae stated, explaining that Romania’s importance stems from its geographic proximity to Russia where the money originated.

Nicolae also blamed “the Western banks” for laundering money and getting away by settlements with Western states while advocating tighter anti-corruption principles in countries like Romania.

Several banking groups in Western Europe are believed to have been involved in transactions with a Russian bank that helped corrupt Russian politicians launder billions of dollars, according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).

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