The Bank of China-based in Beijing has been charged with a fine up to 3 million euro and 900,000 euros for damages to French tax authorities after it allegedly ignored probe allegations by France as customers transferred almost 40 million euros to about 168 Asian accounts between 2012 and 2014 without paying European taxes. It was also accused of not finding the origin of the funds as those account owners have no particular business activity in China. The bank has been charged with negligence which led to a massive money laundering. As part of the settlement, the charges were dropped as approved on January 15 by a Paris Court. However, the bank has refused to plead guilty for the offence, emphasizing its unwavering effort to comply with the anti-money laundering law as well as developing strict measures to prevent such an act. Although the lender acknowledged the underlying facts and legal structure presented by the investigators but said that the case of the transferred funds only concerns the transfer of a subsidiary in China, and does not in anyway concern the Paris Unit.
