Dutch Authorities Arrest 2 Individuals Over Money-Laundering Allegations

Dutch officials at the Netherlands’ Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Services (FIOD) arrested two men last week, who allegedly laundered millions of euros in cryptocurrency, said the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5) in a statement.

One of the defendants had used the defunct Bitcoin mixing tool Bestmixer.io, according to the statement provided by J5, a global joint operational group committed to fighting tax crime. J5 is comprised of Australia, U.K., U.S., Canada and the Netherlands.

During the investigation, the authorities managed to find Bitcoin addresses, which led them to an IP-address, resulting in the arrest. The suspects used the Bitcoin mixer to cover and launder the digital funds. Authorities have seized the physical bank accounts and digital accounts linked to the defendants.

FIOD seized and shut down the bestmixer.io in May 2019. During the operation, Dutch authorities collected a huge amount of user data in IP and Bitcoin addresses, information that FIOD shared at the Los Angeles tax summit in late 2019.

In the statement, J5 also highlighted the arrest of another man who allegedly laundered close to 2.1 million euros.

More similar arrests may follow, as J5 said it doesn’t rule out further investigations.