Three-digit million amount smuggled into Turkey: leading hawala banker has to go to jail

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District court Düsseldorf (archive picture): More than four years imprisonment for leaders

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Michael Gstettenbauer / imago images

The head of an illegal hawala banking system has been sentenced to four years and two months in prison.

The Düsseldorf Regional Court found the 52-year-old jeweler from Duisburg guilty of illegal payment services, illegal possession of weapons and as a member of a criminal organization.

A 53-year-old accomplice has been sentenced to two years and ten months behind bars.

Three other defendants received suspended sentences of between one year and eight months and one year and ten months as helpers.

They too were convicted of being members of a criminal organization.

The court also ordered the confiscation of 174 million euros as the proceeds of the crime.

The men had confessed to having illegally smuggled a three-digit million amount past banks and the tax authorities into Turkey from Duisburg within two years.

Jeweler confessed to all allegations

The hawala system is widely used in Muslim countries as an alternative remittance system.

With the system, customers can transfer money outside of the government-approved banking and finance system for a commission.

The network was blown in mid-November 2019.

"All of the charges listed in the indictment are true," the jeweler had confessed.

"I knew that hawala banking was a criminal offense in Germany, but I never thought of organized crime."

His defense lawyer announced that he would have the judgment reviewed by the Federal Court of Justice.

ptz / dpa / AFP