The money laundering network, dismantled after an investigation by the Romanian and French authorities. Over 300 million euros run through companies controlled by Romanians

A criminal group dealing with money laundering, founded by four Romanians since 2018, was dismantled, after a cooperation between the judicial authorities in Romania and France, according to News.ro. The suspects established several commercial entities in France, through whose accounts 300 million euros passed, money derived from the commission of several types of crimes. Four people were arrested in Romania, another 9 were arrested in France.

“The police officers (…) implemented, on February 3, 2026, 10 home search warrants, in the city of Bucharest and the county of Satu Mare, in a case regarding the commission of the crimes of forming an organized criminal group, the transport, possession or other operations regarding the circulation of high-risk and high-risk drugs, money laundering, tax evasion and forgery in documents under private signature,” the IGPR said on Friday evening and DIICOT, in press releases.

Prosecutors' accusations

According to the cited sources, starting in 2018, four people, Romanian citizens, constituted an organized crime group with the aim of obtaining important material benefits from laundering sums of money derived from crimes.

“The members would have established several legal entities of the individual entrepreneur type and simplified joint-stock companies (ODG), on the territory of France, companies through which they would have taken, in exchange for commissions, large sums of money, obtained from high-risk and high-risk drug trafficking, which they would have transferred through several bank accounts of some companies, controlled by the organized crime group, so as to conceal their illicit origin. At the same time, the members of the group would have created a fictitious financial circuit within which they would have unreally invoiced services between various legal entities on the territory of the European Union in order to change the destination of some financial funds, existing in the companies' patrimony, with the immediate consequence of reducing the taxable base related to the calculation of the fees and taxes owed to the European Union Budget and implicitly in the distortion of the financial results of the companies involved”, the press release states.

Research has shown that bank transfers of over 300,000,000 euros were carried out through the bank accounts of the legal entities involved, and part of these sums of money were reintroduced into the commercial circuit in order to hide their origin, being invested in real estate in Cluj-Napoca, Bucharest and Satu Mare, real estate purchased in the name of other people from the entourage of the organized criminal group.

“Following the searches carried out by the police, on February 3, 2026, documents, laptops, data storage media, jewelry, 4 watches bearing the name of a luxury brand, more than 23,000 euros, the sum of 65,700 euros made up of banknotes likely to be counterfeited, as well as other evidence were discovered and seized. European arrest warrants issued in the name of 4 of the persons, Romanian citizens, on February 4, 2026, the judges of rights and liberties of the Oradea and Bucharest Courts of Appeal ordering the measure of their preventive arrest”, the IGPR also specified.

Following the cooperation with the French police, it was established that the members of the group were supported in their criminal activity by 3 other persons, Romanian citizens.

“Concurrently with the action carried out on the territory of Romania, the French authorities implemented 15 home search warrants and ordered the preventive arrest of 9 other people under investigation,” the release states.