Banks ‘let dirty money be moved’

Some of the world’ s biggest banks let criminals and fraudsters move dirty money around the world, according to leaked banking documents seen by BBC Panorama.

More than 2,000 bank - ing papers detailing more than two trillion US dollars’ worth of transactions were analysed after being leaked to Buzzfeed News and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which distributed them to news organisations, said Panorama, which broadcasts its findings tonight.

They allegedly show banking officials allowed fraudsters to shuttle money between different accounts after being made aware the profits were from multi-million-pound scams or crimes. The files are also reported to show how Russian oligarchs use banks to avoid sanctions and get their money into the West.

The cache of files from the US Financial Crimes Investigation Net work are mostly files banks sent to the US authorities between 2000 and 2017, raising concerns about suspicious activity in their clients’ accounts, Panorama said.