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CRIME

Migrant dies from gunshot wound in northern France

A migrant found shot in northern France died of his wounds overnight, prosecutors said on Sunday, with a second person injured.

Published: 4 February 2024 15:01 CET
A photograph showing a flashing light with a sign reading police on a police car in France.
A photograph showing a flashing light with a sign reading police on a police car in France. A migrant found shot in northern France died of his wounds overnight, prosecutors said on Sunday. (Photo by Pascal GUYOT / AFP)

The fatally wounded man was “found, still alive, on the side of the A16 road near the town of Grande-Synthe,” said Charlotte Hutet, prosecutor in adjacent Dunkirk.

“This man was living in a migrant camp near to the spot where he was found” at Loon-Plage, she added, saying his identity had yet to be confirmed.

He had been shot in the chest, a police source said.

The second person, a 33-year-old Iraqi also believed to be living in the camp, was wounded in the hand, the source said on condition of anonymity.

Police opened an investigation into the shooting.

Up to 600 migrants currently live in camps around Dunkirk, according to Claire Millot of the Salam aid group.

The area has long been a jumping-off point for people attempting irregular crossings to Britain, which has poured resources into police cooperation with France in a bid to halt arrivals.

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BANKING

Danish bank to pay millions to end French laundering probe

Denmark’s largest bank has agreed to pay a multi-million sum to end legal pursuits in France linked to alleged money laundering in its Estonian subsidiary that resulted in heavy US penalties

Published: 18 September 2024 16:27 CEST
Danish bank to pay millions to end French laundering probe

Danske Bank will pay €6.3million (47million kroner) to end French financial authorities’ investigation.

An independent auditor’s report published in 2018 alleged Danske Bank’s Estonian unit allegedly laundered some €200billion through 15,000 accounts from 2007 to 2015.

The payment was agreed on August 27th with France’s national financial crime prosecutors and validated by a court on Wednesday. The agreement does not involve any admission of guilt.

Danske last December pleaded guilty in the United States and paid a $2billion fine.

The bank last October set aside an amount roughly equal to its US fine in expectation of legal pursuits in several countries.

Probes are underway in Estonia, Denmark, and Britain.

France charged Danske in 2019 with organised money laundering, which it denied, saying it was unaware of its Estonian subsidiary’s activities.

Tracfin, the French finance ministry’s anti-money laundering unit, found suspect movements on two accounts linked to a Franco-Russian businesswoman who has since been handed a two-year suspended sentence.

At Wednesday’s hearing, Danske’s counsel Niels Heering said his institution was “happy to reach this accord which for us is a way to close this chapter”, adding that “cracking down on financial fraud remains a priority” for the bank.

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