Danke Bank pleads guilty in US to defrauding $2 billion | Banking

For years, Danske Bank failed to investigate suspicious money flows through its Estonian subsidiary, even as it became clear since 2014 that foreign criminals may have laundered large sums of money through Estonia. As a result, $160 billion in potential money laundering passed through the U.S. financial system, the U.S. Department of Justice writes. American banks believe that Danske Bank has the controls in place to prevent this.

“For years, Danske Bank misled and lied to American banks to pump billions of dollars of suspicious and criminal money through the American financial system,” said New York attorney Damian Williams. According to him, Danske Bank broke the law from pure profit and facilitated the financing of criminals.

Another litigator, Lisa O. Monaco warns that “the Department of Justice will continue to protect the U.S. financial system from suspicious foreign money, whether it comes from Russia or elsewhere.”

At the same time as the settlement with the Justice Department was announced, the SEC also announced that Danske Bank would pay $413 million for misleading investors in the United States. The bank has reached a settlement with authorities in its home country of Denmark.

Danske Bank admitted in 2018 that cash flows through a subsidiary in Estonia were often suspicious. In total, it is about 200 billion euros, which ended up in the accounts of the Estonian branch from abroad. In October, the company announced it had earmarked $1.9 billion for a major settlement surrounding the money laundering scandal.