Germany's Money Laundering Problem is €50bln Bigger Than Anybody Thought

The origins of more than 100 billion euros ($113 billion) each year are disguised by criminals who carry out money laundering transactions in Germany, German newspaper Wirtschafts Woche reported on Thursday, citing a report from Germany's Finance Ministry.

The Finance Ministry's report is based on a study by Professor Kai-Detlef Bussmann of Martin Luther University, which estimates that there are between 15,000 to 28,000 suspected cases of money laundering annually.

The largest sums of money are laundered through the financial sector, but 20 to 30 billion euros per year are laundered through the non-financial sector, in such transactions as real estate, automobiles, yachts, watches, jewelry or the art market.

"The entire volume of money laundering in the financial and non-financial sectors therefore exceeds 50 billion euros and is probably in the order of more than $100 billion a year, when companies in industries like catering and hospitality, gambling and import and export are also included, which were specially set up for money laundering," the report stated.

Bussmann's study made a series of recommendations to combat the problem, including tighter regulation and accounting within the financial sector to identify transactions or firms intending to launder money, greater state supervision of Germany's non-financial sector, and the introduction of an upper limit on cash payments.