The Bank of Italy is said to be carrying out an on-site inspection at the Italian offices of Chinese state owned bank, Bank of China. The Chinese bank said the inspection was a routine procedure.
Reports from news agency Reuters have detailed that part of the inspection, focuses on the relationship between Bank of China and now defunct Chinese money transfer operator Money2Money.The operator used to dominate the market for Chinese remittances from Italy.
A probe known as «River of Money» began in 2008 and focused on money transferred to China. Funds that prosecutors in Florence say came from exploiting illegal labour, counterfeiting money and tax evasion, and according to Italian media reports, is linked to the Milan branch of Bank of China.
Currency Smuggled
In 2015 the Italian daily publication La Repubblica said that between 2006 and 2010 over 4.5 billion euros was smuggled to China, with 2.2 billion euros going via the Bank of China's (BOC) Milan branch.
Denouncing it as an awe-inspiring hemorrhage of money to China while Italian businesses were dying, torn apart by Chinese competition, the daily said 287 Chinese citizens in Italy were being probed, along with four bank officials.
