The Public Prosecution Service (OM) has imposed a penalty order on TMF Management B.V. (TMF) for violating the Dutch Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act (Wwft). The company failed to promptly report two unusual transactions and must pay a fine of 130,500 euros.
The OM accuses the trust office TMF of failing to report two unusual transactions of a client to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-NL) in 2020 and 2021. This is a violation of the Dutch Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act (Wwft).
Background
The Dutch Central Bank (DNB) and the OM work closely together to ensure compliance with supervisory rules. The criminal investigation was initiated following a report from DNB.
Gatekeeper role
Gatekeepers (such as banks and trust offices) have an important role in reporting unusual transactions to the FIU-NL. This enables law enforcement agencies to more quickly and effectively prevent criminal money from entering society or falling into the hands of terrorist organizations.
Criminal offenses
Investigations by the Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service (FIOD) show that the trust office remained involved in the (re)structuring of bond issuance by its client, while TMF became demonstrably aware in 2020 of negative media reports concerning ongoing lawsuits related to suspected fraud by the client. According to the OM, TMF failed to report two unusual transactions in 2020/2021 to the FIU-NL, although it should have. The OM believes TMF seriously failed in its responsibilities as a result.
Fine amount
The OM states that TMF neglected its duties in 2020 and 2021. Unusual transactions must be identified and promptly reported to the FIU-NL. TMF is an international trust office and serves as an example. This means the OM raised the fine category from the fourth to the fifth category with a maximum fine of 87,000 euros. Ultimately, two unusual transactions were not promptly reported. Therefore, a maximum fine of 174,000 euros applies in principle. However, the OM applies a 25 percent fine reduction because TMF voluntarily, fully, and timely cooperated with the criminal investigation, which allowed the investigation to be completed more quickly.
