This post was most recently updated on December 5th, 2018

Nordea Bank on of the banks that attacked bitcoin in January 2018 banning all their 31,000 employees from buying or trading bitcoin was caught in a money-laundering scandal, receiving dirty money from banks inside the Baltics.

Nordea said :

“We are aware of the report, and at Nordea we work closely with the relevant authorities in the countries in which we operate, including the Nordic Financial Intelligence Units,”

The Irony of Fate

This is the second case in the last months that banks with hate speech against bitcoin get caught to be involved in money laundering.

In January Nordea Bank prohibited its personnel from buying and selling cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin due to its unregulated nature and risk of money laundering.

At the time, a spokeswoman for Nordea Bank which name is Afroditi Kellberg said:

“It is widespread practice across the banking industry to restrict the personal account dealing of staff to prevent them taking positions in speculative investments, or which might expose them to a risk of financial loss and therefore impact their financial standing. Nordea therefore, like all banks, has the right to set out policies in this area that apply to its staff.”

To confirm more their ban toward bitcoin, another Nordea spokesperson, Raymond Frenken said that they would cooperate with the European Banking Federation and central banks to establish a general regulatory framework with regard to cryptocurrencies.

Raymond Frenken Said:

“If banks like Nordea are going to have a very specific policy on this — and we’re hearing regulators are taking a look at this, including the ECB and central banks — probably it will be that it’s changing. With developments like this, it’s more likely that it will have to be discussed in the context of the European Banking Federation,”

Niels Mosegaard, Djøf leader consultant publicly criticized the ban, stating that it has no legal basis.

He said:

“It is clear that employees should not speculate on something that is criminal. But that’s not the case for bitcoin, as it seems at this time. We think that a ban is being made without a legal basis.”

The Money Laundering Schema

Bill Browder, the U.K.-based investor has filed complains with Nordic prosecutors declaring that he can point to 365 accounts in Norway Finland Denmark and Sweden that received dirty money from shell accounts set up from companies to launder money and evade taxes.

BREAKING: We’ve filed criminal criminal complaints in Sweden, Denmark and Norway about $175 million of potentially illicit Russian funds going through Nordea Bank from Magnitsky case. We’re asking for an investigation to be opened in all those countries https://t.co/uyojADo4Sz — Bill Browder (@Billbrowder) October 17, 2018

Earlier this year the largest bank in Denmark “Danske Bank” was fined for laundering $243 billion, previously informed customers and personnel about Bitcoin money laundering implications and told them to stay away from cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin.

Why do you think banks that hate bitcoin get caught in money laundering?

A theory would be because Bitcoin has a public ledger which definitely hurt the ability to profit from money laundering.

Post your opinion in the comments below.