Europol Busts 'Hawala Banking' Network Cashing Crypto for Criminals

European authorities dismantled a clandestine banking network that laundered more than $23 million (€21 million) using crypto siphoned from organized crime groups across Europe. Most of the groups are also involved in migrant smuggling and drug trafficking, authorities said.

The EU Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) detailed in a report released Wednesday how at least 17 individuals linked to a money laundering and criminal banking ring were arrested in operations across Spain, Austria, and Belgium.

The ring's activities involved "parallel banking services, illegal hawala banking, cash collection, cash courier services, and the exchange of cryptocurrencies for cash," Europol reported.

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Those arrests come as the European Union considers tracking crypto transfers by applying its current anti-money laundering laws.

The EU is looking for ways to do this by recording "data on the senders and recipients of funds," in such a way that it could be applied "to crypto-asset providers," according to Paschal Donohoe, Ireland's Finance Minister.

Modern 'hawala' system

Authorities reportedly seized approximately $229,600 in cash, $204,960 in crypto, 18 luxury vehicles worth more than $232,000, 10 properties valued at over $2.8 million, high-end cigars worth around $701,000, and luxury handbags estimated to be worth at least $259,000.

Europol claims to have financed three Spanish investigators who went to Belgium and Austria, with two other Europol agents sent to "provide support on the ground." Two more Europol special agents were deployed in Spain.

Chinese and Syrian nationals were later identified among those nabbed in the operation executed earlier in January, with their clientele said to be primarily based across the Middle East and mainland China.

The criminals reportedly operated through two main factions: Chinese nationals managing domestic cash collection in Spain; and Arab nationals handling international transfers, modernizing the traditional "hawala system" by integrating crypto.

The hawala system is an informal fund transfer (IFT) system that allows funds to move from one person to another without physical movement of money, according to Mohammed El-Qorchi, senior economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

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Hawala means "transfer" or "wire" in Arabic banking jargon, El-Qorchi explains. The networks facilitating such services are informally called "hawaladars."

Spanish media outlet The Olive Press first described the operation as a "mafia crypto bank," a label later adopted for its similarities to mafia operations.

Decrypt reached out to Europol to confirm how and which specific cryptos were involved.

Edited by Stacy Elliott.