French prosecutors have initiated an investigation into alleged “aggravated money laundering” linked to transfers made by TCR International Limited, a Cypriot brokerage firm that collaborated with BNP Paribas’ custodian unit. The preliminary probe focuses on transfers totaling several hundred million euros and dollars conducted by TCR International Limited between 2019 and 2021. The investigation was launched after an alert from the French finance ministry’s anti-money laundering unit, TRACFIN, in May. The transfers are deemed to have “possibly dubious origin and/or flows with no explicit economic logic.” TCR International Limited had worked with BNP Paribas Security Services from 2019 to 2022. BNP Paribas, when asked about the investigation, stated it could not comment on ongoing matters but emphasized its global compliance system and commitment to regulatory obligations. The French authorities’ interest in TCR International Limited reportedly stems from a U.S. investigation into Yevgeny Prigozhin, the former chief of the Wagner mercenary group. Prigozhin died in a plane crash in August, and the prosecutor’s office has not publicly commented on any connection between Prigozhin and the transfers. “Aggravated money laundering” is punishable in France by up to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of 750,000 euros or half the value of the assets laundered.
By FCCT Editorial Team
, an independent military force, and allied militias in Sudan raped several dozen women and girls in West Darfur’s capital, El Geneina, and those fleeing to Chad between late April and late June 2023, Human Rights Watch said today. The assailants appear to have targeted people because of their Massalit ethnicity and, in some cases, because they were known activists.){kind=link}