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Düsseldorf / Rhine-Ruhr. 85 property searches with over 1,000 emergency services found in Bergisch Gladbach, Bochum, Bottrop, Bremerhaven, Castrop-Rauxel, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Erkelenz, Essen, Geilenkirchen, Gelsenkirchen, Hanover, Heinsberg, Hückelhoven, Cologne, Krefeld, Mönchengladbach, Neuss, Olfen , Remscheid, Schwerte, Viersen and Wuppertal
Today, Wednesday, October 6, 2021, officials from the Düsseldorf police, the public prosecutor’s office and the tax investigator participated in an investigation at the central and contact point for the prosecution of organized crimes in North Rhine-Westphalia (ZeOS NRW) on suspicion of membership a criminal organization, money laundering and breaches of the Payment Services Supervision Act in the early hours of the morning began to search a total of 85 properties (houses, apartments, offices and business objects). In this context, arrest warrants were executed against eleven people.
The operation was preceded by investigations lasting several months, after the first indications of larger money transports and the existence of an international hawala network emerged due to isolated cash finds by police and customs officials and suspected money laundering reports. The proceedings are directed against a total of 67 suspects who are attributed to the network.
The focus of the proceedings are two main accused, 44 and 42 years old, respectively. These are urgently suspected of having operated a so-called hawala system and thus offered a large number of customers the opportunity to transfer money outside of the state-approved banking and finance – in particular from Germany and the Netherlands to Syria and Turkey – against payment of a commission – to make. According to the current status of the investigations, the transaction volume moved in this way for the period since August 2016 amounted to approx. 140 million euros. The task of the two main accused was to collect cash in German and Dutch so-called payment offices and to ensure the balance of the cash stocks in the Turkish and Syrian payment offices. According to current knowledge, at least some of the money collected and transferred comes from criminal offenses.
The balancing of the cash stocks in the German and Dutch payment offices on the one hand and in the payment offices in Turkey and Syria on the other hand takes place, among other things, through the transfer of money for so-called reverse customers. One of these customers is suspected of having bought up to 75 stolen catalytic converters from North Rhine-Westphalia and neighboring federal states every day. For this he received around 35,000 euros in cash per day from one of the main suspects. The balancing of the cash stocks also took place in such a way that the cash was used to pay bills from companies around the world for the delivery of goods to the Middle East. The invoices were settled via third-party companies in Germany, to whose accounts the cash was deposited.
If there were disagreements or differences of opinion within the network, for example with regard to the use of the funds provided, according to the current status of the investigation, assaults and threats up to death threats were made in order to sanction the alleged misconduct. For this purpose, groups are said to have been commissioned by the accused to collect the claims against payment or to settle the disputes. One of these groups was led by a so-called justice of the peace. In this respect, suspicions of particularly serious robbery, hostage-taking, dangerous bodily harm and coercion arose in the course of the proceedings against individual suspects.
A large number of the accused are also suspected of having wrongly received social benefits, of not having complied with their social security and tax obligations and of having supported each other in concealing this.
In total, the more than 1,000 emergency services searched 85 objects, ten of them with the support of special units. In addition, several mission teams as well as drug and money tracking dogs were involved in the measures.
In addition to ZeOS NRW and the Düsseldorf police, the Düsseldorf tax investigation – Taskforce NRW -, the main customs office Düsseldorf – financial control of illegal work – and the State Criminal Police Office of North Rhine-Westphalia were involved in the investigation.
As part of today’s measure, 10 property arrests were carried out, including the registration of a security mortgage for a property and 14 accounts attached. Cash and assets of around 4.5 million euros were also secured, including luxury watches, jewelry, paintings and several high-priced sports cars.
The searches took place in Bergisch Gladbach, Bochum, Bottrop, Bremerhaven, Castrop-Rauxel, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Erkelenz, Essen, Geilenkirchen, Gelsenkirchen, Hanover, Heinsberg, Hückelhoven, Cologne, Krefeld, Mönchengladbach, Neuss, Olfen, Remscheid, Schwerte, Viersen and Wuppertal instead. The investigation continues.
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