Italian prosecutors are seeking to indict 297 people and the Bank of China (BOC) for illicit financial activities, which includes money laundering and tax evasion.
According to a document signed by Florence prosecutor Giulio Monferini, the Chinese bank and the individuals have been smuggling nearly EUR4.5bn ($5bn) out of Italy to China during 2006 to 2010 through agencies of the Money2Money (M2M) transfer service in various Italian cities.
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The money was transferred in small amounts to fictitious names in China to avoid detection.
The money transferred allegedly includes proceeds from several crimes including counterfeiting, embezzlement, exploitation of illegal labour as well as tax evasion.
Over EUR2bn ($2.27 billion) were reported to have been processed by the Chinese bank. BOC allegedly received over EUR700,000 in commissions for supervising the transfers.
The document submitted by Florentine prosecutors is due to be reviewed by a judge, who will then decide on whether the bank and the individuals will face trial.
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By GlobalData
