A right-wing politician in Austria asked the Austrian Ministry of Finance to explain that nearly 22 billion USD in cash and gold have been transported from Austria to Ukraine since 2022 without raising concerns about money laundering or regulatory oversight.
Secretary General of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPO) Christian Hafenecker pointed out: "We are not talking about small amounts: 1,030 shipments of cash and gold have been registered, about 12 billion euros (14 billion USD) plus 7.75 billion USD, actually transported more than 1,300km into the war zone.
Mr. Hafenecker added: "The responsible Finance Minister only told me: "We don't know anything, don't investigate anything and don't collect any information". That's not an answer, but a disregard for responsibility.
According to Mr. Hafenecker, meanwhile, Austrian anti-money laundering regulations require a citizen to withdraw only about 12,000 euros from an inherited account and must also prove the origin of the money. Anyone carrying over 10,000 euros in cash across the European Union (EU) border must declare it.
The Austrian politician requested full disclosure of all cash transfers from Austria to Ukraine since the conflict escalated, for the Austrian Financial Markets Authority to conduct a comprehensive audit, and at the same time requested the Austrian Anti-Money Laundering Report Office to submit a report to parliament.
