Former Monaco bankers convicted for laundering Italian money
Half a billion euros were seized last year in Monaco @ All rights reserved
In a recent article, Bloomberg reported that two former Monaco bankers were convicted for their part in laundering millions of euros deposited in the Principality in cash by two Italian businessman.
Bloomberg states that Alexandre Balga, who previously worked at Banque Havilland and Nicolas Gelso, formerly of Mediobanca SpA’s CMB Monaco office, were both fined €10,000 and handed suspended jail sentences of up to 6 months by the Monegasque courts.
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The two Italian businessmen, Fabrizio Amore and Maurizio Fratti each received a one year sentence, with six months suspended, and a €500,000 fine. Amore and Gelso, through their lawyers, have announced their intention to appeal.
In addition, four bankers were accused of failing to report the suspicious deposits. Three were convicted by the Monegasque courts, two of whom worked for Edmond de Rothschild at the time, with fines of between €5,000 and €7,000 each.
The judges cleared the highest-profile banker in the case, Patrick Dauguet, the current CEO at Havilland Monaco. The banks themselves do not face any allegations.
A ball set in motion in Italy, netted in Monaco
The Monaco case came about after a tentacular Italian investigation, known as ‘Mafia Capitale’. Amore was named as a suspect in 2015, although his defence lawyers stated that he was never convicted. They claim “no guilty verdict should have been reached in Monaco for the main reason that money laundering is a secondary offence that requires [their] client was convicted in Italy in the first place, which is not the case.”
Secondary or not, the offence took place in the Principality, which is keen to show renewed vigilance about the origin of incoming funds and that it can effectively bring convictions, on the strength of recent new laws. The ultimate aim is for Monaco to be taken off the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) “grey list”.
As Monaco’s Chief Public Prosecutor Thibault pointed out at the start of the new judicial year, “It is the risk of being checked, arrested, prosecuted and severely sentenced, with confiscation penalties in particular, that will prevent criminals and delinquents who wish to hide and launder their money in Monaco from doing so.” Half a billion euros were already seized in Monaco over the last year.