This is shown by figures collected by news. You will soon be able to meet one of those charged with smuggling, after being arrested when a truck with NOK 40 million was stopped. But first let’s see where smuggled money often ends up. In a town in northeast Syria, Norwegian 500 notes fly through the money counting machine. Norwegian cash is a common sight here. How did the banknotes end up in a war-torn country in the Middle East? Outside the money changer’s office is a bustling market of clothes and vegetables. Inside there are banknotes in all denominations. The mobile phone lights up frequently. Many need his services. – Without this money, people here would have struggled a lot. Mostly people live here on money transfers, says Isam Abu-a-Ziz to news. Isam Abu-a-Ziz works as a money changer in Syria. Photo: news The exchange office in Qamishli operates completely legally in Syria. – Do you know where the money comes from? – This is from undeclared work. Some have restaurants, and others have hair salons. Let’s say that people have one million kroner. They are unable to launder everything from undeclared work in Norway. Then they come here. Especially to countries in the Middle East, a lot of money is sent, shows the figures obtained by news. The gap of 36 billion Money from undeclared work and crime cannot simply be put in the bank. The banks must know where the customers’ money comes from. If someone suddenly has a lot of money, without it being possible to trace where it came from, alarm bells should go off at the bank. That gives banknotes a big advantage: They are difficult to trace. If black money is taken out of the country and exchanged there, you end up with values that are almost impossible for the authorities to find out where they come from. Norwegian banknotes are often sent round trip. First, banknotes are sent out of Norway, without this being registered. The notes often end up in the Middle East, where they are exchanged for dollars or a local currency. The money changers then go to banks with the money. The notes are then collected at the banks’ European head office. The notes are then brought back to Norway, usually via value carriers. This round trip makes it almost impossible to trace where the money first came from. The authorities are trying to keep track of notes that cross the border. All amounts over NOK 25,000 that are going into or out of the country must be declared. This is free. In theory, therefore, the same amount of Norwegian banknotes should return to Norway as what is declared out. After all, it is only in Norway that you can use these notes without further ado. Nevertheless, far larger sums in Norwegian banknotes are brought back each year than was taken out legally. From 2018 to 2022, NOK 36 billion was recovered in the form of Norwegian banknotes, which were never registered as leaving the country, as required by law. 36 billion is almost as much as there is Norwegian cash in circulation. If you have a note in your wallet, it is therefore quite likely that it has been on an illegal trip abroad. In addition to the billions in Norwegian banknotes, other currencies are smuggled out of Norway, such as euros and dollars. These notes were stopped on the way out of Norway. Photo: The police in Oslo Narcotics, illegal work and terror news’s figures do not surprise Økokrim. Every day they believe that a double-digit number of millions is smuggled out of the country. – Banknotes that are crossed out of Norway illegally, i.e. that have not been declared, the essential part of which there is serious reason to believe come from crime, says the head of Økokrim, Pål Lønseth. – We know from investigations into the black economy that the numbers are very large, says Økocrim chief Pål Lønseth. Photo: Mohammed Alayoubi / news A large part of this money is laundered and not taxed, says Lønseth. – It is very destructive for the Norwegian economy. – How can this money laundering take place? – It can take place in many ways. The simplest is probably for cash to be exchanged for some local currency somewhere, Lønseth answers – What type of crime could the notes come from? – There are a few assumptions, but it is clear that drug activity and workplace crime generate large sums of cash. – What about terrorist financing, is that something you fear? – Yes, of course. Old trucks On Monday 20 February, a white and blue concrete truck was stopped in Sweden. In the lorry, which had Turkish plates, there were millions in Norwegian and Swedish banknotes. Five men were arrested. Millions in Norwegian and Swedish kroner were found in the cavity of the concrete truck. In Oslo prison, news meets one of the five who were arrested. He is now charged with money laundering of NOK 38.7 million. The family man from Syria enters on crutches. His role must have been to collect cash, before it was sent out of Norway. – I misunderstood Norwegian regulations and broke the law, by participating in hawala activities without a licence. I did it with the intention of helping and doing good for others. It was never my intention to break Norwegian law. The police believe that the money comes from criminal offences. The notes were from people who sent money to their families in the Middle East, the man claims. He claims that many people are sending money home, after the severe earthquakes that hit Syria and Turkey in February this year. The Syrian father of the family says that his Norwegian is weak, and that it was therefore difficult to understand the regulations. Photo: Mohammed Alayoubi / news The more money he delivered, the more he earned, he says. – It was between NOK 25,000 to 30,000 a month. – Based on trust That millions were sent out in the form of Norwegian cash, he explains with the fact that people in the Middle East do not trust the banks. – Many people have lost money in the bank. I am one of many who was robbed by the bank. They stole money from many people, says the man. Due to his health, the man did not have enough experience in Norway to understand the laws, the culture and the language, he says. Photo: Mohammed Alayoubi / news The Syrian man says he was in a network, where he was recruited by a business associate. He says he didn’t get to know much about how things were going. But he shares some details. – They buy a truck or concrete truck that is not approved in Norway, but which can work in the Middle East after being repaired. When this car goes there, they don’t send it empty. They send money with these cars. This depends on the confidence of the driver. The whole operation is based on trust, says the man. The police had spied on the lorry before it was stopped in Sweden. The man’s defense attorney, Omar Tashakori, says that his client did not know that this would result in a criminal case. – It has been a big shock for him, says Tashakori. – Can you understand that the police believe that the 40 million comes from money laundering? – With the large amount, I think it is interesting that the police are unable to uncover where the money comes from, and link it to something illegal. That question is important, the lawyer replies. Lawyer Omar Tashakori in Legalis says that it is a common problem for Syrians to send money to their family in their home country. Photo: Mohammed Alayoubi / news In Sweden, five men have already been sentenced in the case. The case has been fully investigated in Norway, and it will appear in court in December. – The police believe they have uncovered an international criminal network that transports and launders large amounts of cash between several countries. This is what Ole-Jacob Schelver, who is head of prosecution in the Section for Finance and Special Legislation, in the Police in Oslo, tells us. Prosecutor Ole-Jacob Schelver says that the case has been fully investigated and will appear in court in December. Photo: Anne Lognvik / news When asked that they have not been able to uncover where the money comes from, Schelver replies: – The prosecution decision concerns money laundering and fraud. The subject of evidence is to rule out legal acquisition. Beyond this, we have no comment. Norwegian banknotes are the currency that is stopped fourth most often at the border between Bulgaria and Turkey. These never appeared. Photo: The police in Oslo Don’t believe in ignorance It is known to Økokrim that people send money out of the country to support their family in countries without a well-functioning banking system. – We believe that it can be done in a legal way. And in any case, this money must be declared. You are obliged to do that, says ecocrime chief Lønseth. The ecocrime chief cannot understand the need to smuggle money, when it is free to declare. Ignorance can explain something, says Lønseth. – But the most important part of this here is every reason to believe it comes from criminal activity. Økokrim is constantly working against money laundering, says Pål Lønseth in Økokrim. Photo: Mohammed Alayoubi / news Økokrim does not see the fight against currency smuggling as powerless. – Millions will always go into money laundering. – We know from investigations into the black economy that the numbers are very large, says head of Økokrim Pål Lønseth. This is where the money goes Money that is smuggled out of the country often ends up with the big European banks. These banks collect the notes in a country, before they are brought back to Norway via value carriers. When it is recorded where the money comes from, it only states which country it was finally picked up in. So even if a Norwegian banknote first went to the Middle East, it can say that it came from France, Great Britain or Switzerland when it comes back to Norway. This means that only a fraction of the banknotes that were brought back to Norway can be traced where they originally came from. But the sums showing the amounts officially declared out of the country give a hint as to which countries large sums go to: the Middle East, and especially Turkey, stands out when it comes to currency smuggling, according to Økokrim. – Turkey is an attractive destination partly because of the country’s periodic value amnesty. This means that persons and businesses do not need to provide information about the origin of the money and will also not be held criminally liable for money that originates from crime, says Lønseth. – Over 1,000 people One of the countries that does not appear on the top list is Syria. It is forbidden for Norwegian banks to send money to the country. And this summer it became clear that Norwegian banks refuse to accept Norwegian cash abroad. The reason is the risk of money laundering. The money changer in Syria says that the job has become more difficult. But that the networks that exchange money always find new ways, when the authorities close their doors. – These people change mobile phones all the time. They change the systems. Sometimes they work from Oslo, other times they work from other places. They work secretly, so that the authorities don’t know they came, says Abu-a-Ziz. Money exchange in the area is run by a large network. – There are over 1,000 people, says Abu-a-Ziz. The way money changers make money is by giving people less of the currency they change into, than what the exchange rate dictates. And the more difficult it becomes to exchange, the more the money changers charge. – The authorities must make it easier to transfer money. Ordinary people lose money when it gets harder, they get less money. His recommendation to the authorities is clear: – It would have been nice if this was made legal, so that the police had better control. Because the need to send money to countries like Syria is only getting bigger, he believes. More than one million Syrian asylum seekers and refugees have arrived in Europe after the civil war that broke out in 2012. – How do you see the future? – Many live abroad. In the future it will be even better. Do you have tips or input? We work with currency smuggling and the black economy. Feel free to give tips and input by email or Signal/Whatsapp.Fredrik Kampevoll: +47 41 767 111Mohammed Alayoubi: +47 901 49 298
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