Summary:
Two former Monaco bankers have been convicted for their involvement in laundering millions of euros in cash deposits made by Italian businessmen in the principality, resulting in fines and suspended prison sentences, while four other bankers were charged with failing to report suspicious deposits.
Full Story:
Several former Monaco bankers have been convicted of money laundering in recent news. According to Bloomberg, Alexandre Balga, a former employee of Banque Havilland, and Nicolas Gelso, a former employee of CMB Monaco at Mediobanca SpA, were both fined €10,000 and given suspended prison sentences of up to six months by Monaco courts. Two Italian businessmen, Fabrizio Amore and Maurizio Fratti, were each sentenced to one year in prison, with six months suspended, and fined €500,000. Amore and Gelso have announced their intention to appeal. Additionally, four other bankers were charged with failing to report suspicious deposits. Three of them, including two from Edmond de Rothschild, were convicted and given fines ranging from €5,000 to €7,000. However, the most prominent banker in the case, Patrick Dauguet, the current CEO of Havilland Monaco, was acquitted. The banks themselves face no prosecution.
The Monaco case followed a far-reaching investigation that originated in Italy, known as the “Mafia Capitale.” Fabrizio Amore has been a suspect since 2015, though his defense lawyers claim he has never been convicted. They argue that “no guilty verdict should have been rendered in Monaco for the primary reason that money laundering is a secondary crime that requires our client to have been convicted in Italy first, which he has not.” Whether secondary or not, the offense took place in the Principality, which aims to demonstrate greater vigilance regarding the origin of incoming funds, and has the capacity to issue effective convictions through recent laws. Monaco’s ultimate goal is to be removed from the Financial Action Task Force’s “grey list.”
As highlighted by Monaco’s Attorney General, Stéphane Thibault, during the judicial opening, “the risk of being controlled, arrested, pursued, and severely sentenced, including with confiscation, will prevent criminals and offenders who wish to hide and launder their money in Monaco from doing so.” Half a billion euros have already been seized in the past year.
Source:
Monaco Tribune
