A Dutch cyber crime team has played an important role in an international fraud and money laundering investigation called ‘Operation SKEIN’. As part of this investigation, Irish police recently arrested two individuals in Dublin on suspicion of money laundering and their involvement in a criminal organization.
Authorities began their investigation after a Rotterdam port authority reported a Business Email Compromise (BEC) fraud in April 2020. Investigation revealed that fraudulent emails had been sent from Dublin. Detectives from the Rotterdam cyber crime team then collaborated with the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB), the fraud department of the Irish police. Authorities collaboratively searched a residence near Dublin in early May 2020, seizing telephones, storage devices, financial data, and evidence that pointed at money laundering, billing fraud, and the recruitment of money mules.
Further, the Irish authorities found evidence suggesting that the criminal organization was operating both in and out of Ireland, committing BEC fraud around the world. Further, the authorities identified complex money laundering schemes operating through corporate and personal bank accounts in Turkey, the UK, the EU, and Asia. So far, the authorities have arrested 203 suspects in Ireland, all of whom have links to this criminal organization.
Source: Netherlands Police
