The Laundromat – November Edition 2025

Welcome to the November edition of The Laundromat, your go-to newsletter on money laundering and financial fraud. Our goal is to keep you informed and to sharpen your awareness of current financial crime tactics.

This month, we take a closer look at the Principality of Monaco, the world’s second smallest country after the Vatican. Monaco might be almost negligible in size at just 2.084 square kilometers, and yet it has earned a reputation for magnetically attracting the wealthy and influential from all around the globe.

Topic of the Month: Secret Deals, Corruption, and Money Laundering: EU Commission Places Monaco on Blacklist

Monaco has long been considered a tax haven, though it no longer fully fits that description. The tiny nation on the Côte d’Azur has aligned itself with EU regulatory requirements. Still, tax conditions remain highly favorable for its roughly 40,000 residents: except for French citizens, they pay no income, wealth, property, inheritance, or gift taxes. Tax residency in Monaco allows residents to preserve most of their income, and dividends, capital gains, and interest as they remain tax-free.

Businesses benefit as well. Only companies generating more than 25% of revenue outside Monaco pay corporate tax (which is usually at 25% but is often reduced). New companies enjoy a two-year tax-free holiday before the corporate tax burden gradually increases.

Despite close cooperation with regulatory authorities, Monaco was added to the EU Commission’s so-called blacklist in July 2025, following its grey listing by the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) in 2024. The EU cited insufficient measures to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing as the reason for including Monaco alongside high-risk countries such as Afghanistan, Syria, and Venezuela.

Investigations into these matters began as early as 2021.

Allegations Surrounding Prince Albert of Monaco

The allegations focus on a “quartet” of close confidants of Prince Albert, who are suspected of enriching themselves over several years. Key figures include Didier Linotte, President of the Supreme Court, Albert’s childhood friend and lawyer Thierry Lacoste, former chief of staff Laurent Anselmi, and tax expert Claude Palmero.

The scandal, which also involves influential real estate magnate Patrice Pastor, escalated in July 2023 with house searches and investigations into corruption and bribery. In Monaco, where property can cost up to €100,000 per square meter, this is a story of power, wealth, and influence in one of the world’s priciest real estate markets.

The affair was triggered by the foreign-registered website Les Dossiers du Rocher, which in 2021 started to publish articles, videos, and confidential documents alleging corruption by the four men, including bank statements and email exchanges. Media reports suggest hackers accessed Lacoste’s email account.

Prince Albert responded immediately, severing ties with the quartet and acting as a co-plaintiff in ongoing proceedings. He has long pursued an image overhaul, pledging “greater transparency and ethics.”

Yet the situation remains delicate. In early June 2025, Le Monde published statements made by Palmero to police during ongoing investigations, revealing highly sensitive details about the Grimaldi family’s financial dealings. For instance, the family’s wealth is reportedly routed through companies in Panama via multiple intermediaries. There are also suspicions of a “fictitious service calculation system” not only designed to embezzle funds and discreetly resolve various “problems,” such as removing compromising photos.

Rising Pressure on Monaco

These developments have resulted in increased scrutiny, stricter reporting and transparency obligations, and heightened regulatory pressure to strengthen Monaco’s anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) frameworks.

Enhanced supervision could reduce Monaco’s appeal as a financial hub, home to over 30 financial institutions, and prompt a reassessment of business relationships. Financial institutions outside the microstate are also affected:

Enhanced due diligence: Institutions must apply extended checks when dealing with Monaco, including verification of fund sources and ultimate beneficial owners.

Stricter reporting obligations: Tighter rules require institutions to report suspicious activities more rigorously.

The inclusion on the FATF grey list and the EU Commission’s blacklist increases the risk of reputational damage for Monaco within the global financial community.

In case you want to learn more about the origin of the state and its structures, we recommend the episodes Dandies and Straw Men and Stars and Real Estate Agents from the three-part ARTE documentary Monaco: Small State with a Big History.

In Case You Missed It: Your AML News Overview

Crypto Scam Victim Loses Over €300,000

At the end of October, Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that a man from the Rems-Murr district fell victim to a crypto scam over two months, losing more than €300,000.

He joined a WhatsApp group via an Instagram ad, supposedly for people interested in investing in stocks and cryptocurrencies. The scammers repeatedly convinced him to invest. He was given access to a non-existent portfolio via an app, which allegedly held millions in profits. When he attempted to withdraw a portion of his “earnings,” he was asked to pay another six-figure sum. After filing a complaint, the fraud was exposed.

Fraud via chat groups is on the rise. In the Ravensburg area, for example, a 60-year-old recently lost around €1.2 million on a fraudulent crypto trading platform.

Italy Seizes Campari Shares Worth €1.3 Billion

Campari, known for brands such as Aperol, Crodino, and Cynar, is one of Italy’s largest spirits companies, with a market capitalization exceeding €7 billion.

Italian tax authorities have seized Campari shares worth approximately €1.3 billion, as reported in early November 2025 by Süddeutsche Zeitung (article in German language). The investigation concerns alleged tax evasion in foreign transactions.

The shares are held by the majority shareholder Lagfin, Luxembourg, which owns 51.8% of Campari. The investigation followed a 2023/24 tax audit and focuses on undeclared profits from a previous merger (“Exit Tax”) exceeding €5 billion.

Further Reading

Know Your Business (KYB)

Whether arranging a real estate deal with a Monaco-based company or establishing another business relationship, financial institutions rely on verified sources to identify ultimate beneficial owners.

Learn how to initiate an efficient and secure KYB process.

Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD)

Now that Monaco has been blacklisted by the European Commission, financial institutions in the principality are subject to stricter reporting requirements for suspicious activities. This goes hand in hand with the need to comply with enhanced due diligence requirements as part of KYC processes.

Get informed about enhanced due diligence (EDD)