German banks accused of illegal operations
According to the Paradise Papers reveal, a number of German banks have handled illegal online casinos payments.
Germany.- The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has recently revealed the Paradise Papers, a document leakage which uncovers unlawful business conducts by politicians, banks and other personalities. And according to the investigation, German banks have been handling international online casino operators’ payments, which would be against the country’s laws.
German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and public broadcaster NDR revealed last Wednesday that the DZ Bank, the Postbank, the Hypo-Vereinsbank and Wirecard (a financial services provider) have been processing internationally licensed casino operators’ payments, which would be considered illegal under German law. However, banks have denied participating in “payments in the context of unlawful gambling.”
The Süddeutsche Zeitung went even further by quoting the German state of Lower Saxony saying that bank’s activities and their alleged operations make them guilty of asstisting illegal gambling and money laundering.
Among the operators linked to these alleged illegal operations are Bwin, Tipico, Royal Panda, Casino Club, and many other prestigious companies.
The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), the German financial watchdog, stated: “We at BaFin are not in a position to determine whether a gambling provider is operating illegally on the market.”
