Louis Vuitton’s Dutch arm agrees to pay 500,000 euros to settle a money laundering case
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.99/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch branch of French-based luxury goods maker Louis Vuitton has agreed to pay half a million euros ($595,000) in an out-of-court settlement linked to a money laundering investigation, the Netherlands’ national public prosecution office announced Thursday.
Prosecutors said the fashion house did not adhere to a law aimed at preventing money laundering and terrorism financing when a 36-year-old woman allegedly repeatedly used different names as she spent cash “on luxury goods at retailers such as Louis Vuitton.” The woman is suspected of spending more than 2 million euros in criminal proceeds from August 2021 to February 2023.
“Louis Vuitton violated the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act … and did not do enough to prevent money laundering by its customers. For an extended period, the company failed to properly identify the customers who repeatedly came to spend large sums of cash,” the prosecutors’ statement said.
A spokesperson at Louis Vuitton’s head office in Paris did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Prosecutors alleged that after buying luxury handbags, the woman sent them to China to be resold to make it look like the proceeds came from legitimate trade.
A money laundering case is ongoing against the woman and two other suspects, including a former sales assistant at Louis Vuitton in the Netherlands. The assistant is alleged to have tipped off the woman when new and expensive bags came into stock and warned her if her spending exceeded limits that would require Louis Vuitton to alert authorities about suspect payments.
The settlement with the Dutch arm of Louis Vuitton was reached out of court “to free up limited courtroom space at the Rotterdam District Court,” prosecutors said.