A unit of ING is being probed for allegations of money laundering.

A division of the Dutch banking conglomerate ING is under investigation for possible money laundering.

The Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD) raided ING's subsidiary Payvision's office in Amsterdam in May.

According to Bloomberg, a representative for the Dutch Public Prosecution Service stated that a criminal investigation against the firm had been opened in response to a report from the Dutch Central Bank investigating alleged violations of the country's AML/CFT laws.

The Amsterdam-based corporation is believed to have failed in its customer and money laundering checks and to have "willfully ignored" fraud indications.

In response, ING issued a statement saying that it was aware of the Payvision probe but was unable to speak further.

"However, we can clarify that ING is not a subject of this inquiry, which is considered to be directed at conduct before to ING's acquisition of Payvision," ING stated.

According to sources, Payvision broke three anti-money laundering laws in the Netherlands: the Financial Supervision Act (WFT), the Money Laundering and Terrorism Prevention Act (WWFT), and the Sanctions Act (SW).

Customers' emails, meeting minutes, and documents were collected as part of the investigation.

Payvision allegedly laundered tens of millions of euros between 2005 and 2010, prior to ING purchasing a 75% share in the company for a reported €350 million.

ING sold its investment less than a year later.

Following the acquisition of Payvision, ING began to offboard client groups who did not suit the intended risk profile, taking "several efforts" to align Payvision's governance and risk profile with ING.

However, in a statement made in 2021, ING said that Payvision's services as a payment service provider and acquirer would be phased down after the bank determined that it was "not practicable" to "meet its aims" with the company.

By fLEXI tEAM