Revealed in September, the 100 million euro fraud affair at Kiabi experienced an unexpected twist in Germany. Indeed, a regional mutual bank, the Volksbank Dusseldorf Neuss, indicated this Thursday, October 17 that it was “ faced with a claim of 100 million euros whose legitimacy is very controversial » from the ready-to-wear brand, confirming information from the economic newspaper Handelsblatt.
Aurélie B., the former treasurer of Kiabi suspected of being at the origin of the embezzlement and indicted for fraud and money laundering in an organized gang, would have used an account opened within this German bank to transfer the 100 millions of euros stolen. Problem: this sum that the northern group is now demanding from the Volksbank Dusseldorf Neuss has since been transferred to Türkiye.
Possible use of fake
How could such an operation be possible? This is what the German bank is trying to find out, which also poses itself as a victim of this large-scale sophisticated fraud. According to The Echoes, the company has already decided to set aside a provision of 30 million euros. It also appealed to the solidarity system of the association of mutual banks to obtain a guarantee of an additional 70 million.
The Volksbank Dusseldorf Neuss is particularly concerned about the use of forgeries. “ Only people designated by the customer can carry out movements in compliance with legal requirements. », Explains a spokesperson for the company, who specifies “to respect the legal regulations of international trade, for example in terms of money laundering or authentication rules”.
Now in Türkiye
It remains to be determined who opened this account and had access to it. Because transferring large sums of money from one account to another is subject to strict procedures, especially in large groups like Kiabi. This requires the agreement of several people, including the treasurer and the financial director, and even general management for very large operations.
This new twist in any case confirms fears that the embezzled money will quickly disappear abroad. via rebound accounts. The 100 million would thus have been distributed into numerous individual transfers from an account in Türkiye to different recipients via several Turkish banks.
Belgium
