The whistleblower who was involved in the money-laundering scandal at Danske Bank has claimed he was offered money to keep silent.
Howard Wilkinson revealed at a Danish parliamentary hearing on Monday that Danske Bank and another European lender that he is refusing to identify, attempted to silence him.
“We are now here at the back-end of 2018 talking about dirty money from 2007 to 2015, there is no chance in the world… that any of that money is ever going to be tracked down and that any criminals lose a single cent,” he told MPs on Monday, speaking for the first time since the scandal emerged.
It emerged earlier this year that thousands of suspicious customers were responsible for €200 billion (£180 billion) of transactions over the past nine years. This is thought to be the largest money-laundering scandal in history.
Nienke Palstra, at campaign group Global Witness, said: “Europe has a major money-laundering problem.”
“Until we see senior executives held fully accountable for criminal wrongdoing and serious fines for the banks involved, this kind of scandal will continue for decades to come.”
Since the scandal emerged, there are enquiries underway in Denmark, Estonia, the UK and the US.
Former chief executive, Thomas Borgen, has since resigned. In his resignation statement, Borgen said that the report concluded he had “lived up” to his legal obligations.
Jesper Nielsen is Danske Bank’s interim chief executive and has encouraged anyone that might have any information about the scandal to come forward to the authorities.
Shares in the lender (CPH: DANSKE) are trading -0.99% at 135.45 (1601GMT).
