A 40-year-old man has been sentenced to four years in prison and deportation from Denmark, with a six-year ban on re-entry, for his involvement in a large-scale money laundering case in which at least 104 million Danish kroner (approximately 14 million USD) was laundered. The ruling was delivered on Thursday at the District Court in Lyngby, Denmark.
The man, who is a stateless Palestinian, has chosen to appeal the verdict. The court has decided that he will remain in custody while the case is reviewed by the Eastern High Court (Østre Landsret). He resides in Denmark with his wife and two children.
According to Judge Ulrik Finn Jørgensen, the convicted individual did not have a leading role in the money laundering operation. “However, money laundering is a very serious crime. Therefore, I have concluded that the interests of society outweigh his family circumstances,” the judge stated during the sentencing process.
The defendant expressed remorse before the sentence was handed down. “I am truly sorry for what has happened. It will never happen again. I should have just focused on my children and my family,” he said.
The case involves collaboration with Rabib Karnib, who was sentenced last year for laundering 217 million kroner (approximately 29 million USD) through the same company in northern Jutland. Karnib received a sentence of four years and six months for issuing fictitious invoices and allowing money to flow through companies without providing services.
The 40-year-old explained in court that he had known Karnib for many years and that he was persuaded to participate in the money laundering due to his financial situation. He claims his role was limited to forwarding fictitious invoices and that he only earned a percentage of the total amounts.
During a police search of the man’s residence in Birkerød (a town in Denmark) in June, law enforcement discovered over 850,000 kroner (approximately 115,000 USD) in cash, which he was also convicted of attempting to launder. The funds have been seized by the police.
The man is under a name ban, which will continue to be in effect during the appeal process at the High Court.
Source: Ritzau