87 convictions for money laundering in Luxembourg in 2012

Luxembourg's efforts to crackdown on money laundering bore fruit last year with 11,423 new cases opened and 342 cases analysed by a fraud watchdog.

The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Luxembourg's Justice Department confirmed the figures in its 2012 annual report.

Among these cases, 169 resulted in court proceedings out of which 87 ended in convictions.

From 2011 to 2012, the number of cases increased by 32 percent, the report said, adding that electronic banking accounted for 85% of these new cases.

Altogether 27 of these 11,423 files related to claims or suspicions of financing terrorism, on the basis of lists of suspected individuals or entities released by international authorities.

In 2012, 58 requests for international judicial assistance were made to the Luxembourg authority. Forgery, fraud or attempted fraud, embezzlement, misuse of corporate assets and bankruptcy were the most commonly found trends in the annual report.

This was thought to be a result of the July 17, 2008 law which came into force and broadened the scope of offences.

The FIU is headed by a Deputy State Attorney and composed of five judges (including two part-time), five analysts and a secretariat of five people. A police officer attends the FIU as a liaison officer for financial intelligence activities.

Translated from an article by Thierry Labro