On November 19, 2019, LKA NRW investigators struck as part of a nationwide operation: with the support of several hundred police officers and government employees from North Rhine-Westphalia and other states, they arrested three people for whom arrest warrants had been issued. Some of the arrests were carried out by special units. The searches of the companies and homes confirmed that the investigators had the right nose. In total, they secured assets with a value of over €22 million. These included €6.2 million in cash, €7.1 million in gold and other precious metals, over €6 million in jewelry and gemstones and €2.2 million in other assets.

Preliminary investigations

It all began around two years ago with a preliminary investigation on suspicion of serious fraud. The background to this was trading in worthless shares. In the course of further investigations, it emerged that funds were being moved abroad via a private individual using a "hawala banking" system. This circumstance led to the separation and initiation of separate investigation proceedings.

Task Force NRW

The investigation was the first of the new NRW task force, which was set up by the Ministers of the Interior, Justice and Finance in December last year. The task force, which is made up of police officers, public prosecutors and tax investigators, was set up for precisely this purpose: to track down illegal financial flows and secure illegal assets.