Investigations into Money Laundering by Competitors

With continuous progress, especially in technology and information sectors, economic crime unfortunately advances in parallel. Germany is affected, but Luxembourg as a financial centre even more so. Typically, a small portion of illegally acquired money is introduced into the financial system through the purchase of securities, luxury goods, horse racing, or casinos. Later, larger sums – declared as profits from these activities – are moved through various transactions, such as offshore accounts or transfers to shell companies, making the origin untraceable and the money “clean.”

 

This type of tax evasion harms the state and its citizens, and also directly affects the perpetrators’ competitors. Beyond the criminal aspect, it is a market and competition issue. Many companies therefore have a vested interest in exposing money laundering and tax fraud by competitors, for example via the experienced detectives of Kurtz Detective Agency Luxembourg and Trier: +49 651 2094 0060.

Exponential Rise in Offences

Money laundering involves the insertion of illegally earned money or assets into the legitimate financial and economic system. This money may result from crimes such as drug and arms trafficking or undeclared work, or be intended to finance further criminal activity. Money laundering is a criminal offence under both German and Luxembourgish law (Law on the Fight against Money Laundering).

 

In Germany alone, recorded money laundering cases rose from 198 in 1994 to 7,673 in 2012 – an increase of 3,875.25 percent over 18 years. While Germany now has strict monitoring systems, such as designated money laundering compliance officers for banks, the situation differs globally and across Europe. In Luxembourg, a major international financial hub, money laundering offences increased by 40 percent between 2011 and 2013. It is therefore essential that private investigators, such as the economic detectives of Kurtz Detective Agency Luxembourg and Trier, support authorities in combating money laundering.

Comic depicting money laundering in a laundromat; Economic Detective Luxembourg, Economic Investigator Luxembourg, Detective Agency Luxembourg, Detective Luxembourg

What this cartoon portrays humorously is, in reality, a serious problem: money laundering remains a global issue decades after the heyday of mafia films. Credit: Igor Zakowski.

Crime Scene: Workplace – Offenders from Within

According to a PWC study (2013), Africa, North America, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Western Europe are most affected by economic crime. Globally, nearly half of all fraud cases were committed by employees with six or more years of tenure. Key areas include asset crimes such as theft, embezzlement, and breach of trust (69 percent of surveyed businesses experienced at least one incident), fraud in procurement (29 percent), bribery and corruption (27 percent), cybercrime (24 percent), and accounting fraud (22 percent).

 

These findings highlight the necessity of employee monitoring, both through internal controls and, where these fail, via external specialists such as our detectives in Luxembourg: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-luxemburg.com.