Bank of China fraud: Italy seeks trial for 300 people Published duration 21 June 2015

image copyright Reuters image caption Four senior managers with the Bank of China could be indicted by Italian prosecutors

Italian prosecutors want to indict the Bank of China's Milan branch and almost 300 people over a money-laundering scheme.

Prosecutors in Florence allege €4.5bn ($5.1bn, £3.2bn) was transferred from Italy to China.

It was earned through prostitution, counterfeiting, tax evasion and labour exploitation, they say.

Close to half the €4.5bn, transferred between 2007 and 2010, went through the bank's branch in Milan, investigators say.

The Bank of China received €758,000 in commission for the transfers, it is claimed.

There were millions of transactions, Ansa said, that were below the €2,000 threshold that would have triggered money-laundering checks.

That threshold has since dropped to €1,000.

image copyright AFP/Getty Images image caption Seven people died in a Chinese garment factory fire in Tuscany in 2013

A judge will now decide whether the Bank of China and 297 individuals will face trial.

Neither the bank nor the Chinese government has yet responded.

"The maxi-laundering strengthened the economic capacity of the Chinese mafia organisations devoted to illegal immigration from their country," said Ansa.

Some factories were linked to Chinese organised crime, Tuscany's regional governor said.

Related Topics Italy

Milan

China

Banking