Vietnamese man laundered Colombian drug mafia money in Hungary for years

Budapest prosecutors have brought money-laundering charges against 20 members of a gang that operated in Hungary between 2007 and 2014 linked to Colombian drug dealers. The charges state that HUF 46 billion (EUR 121 million) of drug money was laundered by the gang who smuggled euros and dollars to Hungary and deposited it in bank accounts in the country and Slovakia.

The gang was led by a Vietnamese national who moved to Budapest in the late 1980s, the municipal prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Wednesday.

Under a deal with Colombian drug dealers, the man contracted 19 Hungarians accomplices to launder drug money mainly linked to cocaine distribution in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Spain. The gains were then transferred to companies in Asia.

The prosecutor is seeking prison terms and fines for members of the gang as well as the expulsion of the Vietnamese defendant.

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