Italian prosecutors want to indict the Bank of China's Milan branch on a money-laundering scheme. It is supposed that the bank charged commission for the transfers of money earned through prostitution, counterfeiting, and tax evasion. The sum of €4.5bn was channeled from Italy to China. Almost half of the amount was transferred between 2007 and 2010. The Bank of China received €758,000 in commission for these operations.
Four senior managers with the Bank of China and some Chinese people who live in Italy are the main suspects.
Neither the Chinese government nor the management of the bank made any comments. Italy’s prosecutors emphasize the fact that despite the 2014 agreement on the cooperation in the judicial sphere, China’s authorities are not participating in the investigation.
At the moment the Italian court is deciding whether to consider the lawsuit involving the Bank of China and 297 people or reject it.
