By Stephen Peter
Here the boss still sees to the right(s) herself! Large joint operation of the police, customs, tax investigation and public order office in Neukölln. At the top: Economics Senator Franziska Giffey (45, SPD). You are responsible for money laundering supervision in the capital.
From Section 54 on Sonnenallee, the blue lights flashed to the “random check” (as Giffey called it). The police (with 80 officers on duty) and investigators rushed to the first company – a drinks wholesaler on Juliusstrasse – in a long column of police vans and civilian vehicles.
The aim of the action: “Against organized crime, against clan crime,” said Giffey to the BZ That does not apply to all companies controlled on Friday. But money laundering is “damaging for our business location”.
The senator emphasizes: “Entire industries are being damaged because people are not following the rules. Ultimately also a slap in the face for honest traders”.
This wholesale market on Lahnstraße was also visited by the police, customs and money laundering supervision Photo: Christian Lohse
Giffey was the first senator to be in the midst of such an operation. “Because I want to know how it works on site so that we can better support everyone involved in politics in the future.” Neukölln is the district that works most intensively with money laundering supervision.
There are regular joint assignments there, around 30 to 40 a year. Undeclared workers are always fished out. “They have to work as the boss tells them to, and they usually stay in Germany illegally,” said one police officer. “A modern form of slavery.”
The Money Laundering Supervision is a department of the Senate Department for Economics Photo: Christian Lohse
Giffey: “Beverage stores, jewelers, car dealerships are places where a lot of cash is being traded. We’ll take a closer look.” How much money is laundered in Germany every year: “100 billion euros,” said the senator. “In Berlin around ten billion euros. That’s almost a quarter of the state budget!”
Economics Senator Franziska Giffey (SPD) was right in the middle of the operation Photo: Christian Lohse
Slot machines play a major role in money laundering. In Neukölln, individual devices are reportedly billed with six-figure sales per month – money from the drug trade or arms trade is laundered, among other things.
This means that 100,000 euros of black money after deduction of 20 percent entertainment tax becomes 80,000 euros, which can be legally invested in real estate. “We want to further strengthen money laundering supervision,” announced Giffey. There are currently nine posts, and more were requested in the draft budget for 2024/25.
The money laundering investigators did not find anything on Juliusstrasse and the two next controlled companies. However, the operation was not in vain: the experts found suspicion of undeclared work and violations of the right of residence as well as incorrect cash management. At one company, employees suddenly pretended to be customers to the officials…
A car dealer on Lahnstrasse was the third target of the Verbund operation Photo: Christian Lohse
Giffey distributed an instruction sheet to the head of the beverage wholesaler. “She was informed that she is obliged to report suspected money laundering.” Apparently, the dealers were not angry with the politician: “We are glad that we saw you!”