The Hague, 20 December 2024
As the hub for cross-border judicial cooperation, Eurojust works together with national authorities to fight organised crime. Our support and expertise helps authorities to solve complex investigations into a variety of crime types. In 2024, we saw a number of long running cases lead to joint operations that arrested suspects, seized goods and stopped criminals in their tracks.
Some highlights of our 2024 casework:
EUR 2 billion money laundering network dismantled
A financial institution in Lithuania was discovered laundering around EUR 2 billion through a worldwide web of shell companies. Italian, Latvian and Lithuanian authorities, supported by Eurojust and Europol, took down the network during an action day on 27 February. Eighteen people were arrested and over EUR 11.5 million in assets and bank accounts were frozen.
Takedown of online infrastructure used for terrorist propaganda
After a complex investigation that monitored the online activities of terrorist groups, authorities in Spain traced servers across the globe that were supporting multiple media outlets disseminating worldwide propaganda meant to incite terrorism. A global coalition between Spanish, German, Dutch, American and Icelandic authorities was set up to take the servers offline. With the support of Eurojust and Europol, servers were taken down and nine radicalised individuals were arrested.
Large anti-mafia operation leads to arrest and freezing of EUR 50 million
Authorities uncovered an intricate money laundering scheme run by a mafia family in Brazil. Profits of their crimes were reinvested into multiple companies in Brazil, including a well-known hotel. Through a joint investigation team at Eurojust, Italian and Brazilian authorities investigated the activities of the mafia family and planned a large global operation to arrest the suspects. The operation led to the arrest of one of the mafia members and the freezing of financial assets worth EUR 50 million.
Belarusians Charged for Forced Plane Landing
Eurojust supported a joint investigation team between Polish and Lithuanian authorities that investigated the forced landing in Belarus of a commercial flight. The unprecedented case shed a light on the real reason behind the flight’s diversion: suspects instructed air traffic controllers to land the aircraft in order to arrest a Belarusian dissident. In September, the investigation led to the arrest warrants for three Belarusian officials.
Authorities stop malware targeting millions of people
Two infostealers, malware that is able to steal personal data from infected devices, was taken down by a global operation. Authorities from the Netherlands, the United States, Belgium, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Australia and Eurojust and Europol shut down three servers in the Netherlands and seized two domains. The operation stopped the malware from stealing data such as usernames and passwords that were used to steal money or carry out other hacking activities.
Fake art network discovered that could have cause losses of EUR 200 million
Banksy, Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh are among the artists whose work was forged by a criminal group that set up a sophisticated fake art operation. The group produced the art, organised exhibitions of the forged works and worked together with compromised auction houses to sell the pieces. Eurojust supported Italian authorities to dismantle the criminal group and set up the cooperation between Belgian, French and Spanish authorities. During an action day in November, 38 people were arrested and over 2 000 fake art works were seized.
Source – Eurojust