COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The man who blew the whistle on a massive money laundering scheme through the Estonian branch of Denmark's Danske Bank, says the bank "deliberately ignored" the warning he made that dirty money was flowing, some from Russia.
Howard Wilkinson says "there was a big smoke alarm that started. But (Danske Bank) tried actively to turn off the smoke alarm."
Wilkinson told a hearing at Denmark's Parliament on Monday that he wrote four whistleblower reports. He also said Denmark' financial regulator only reacted nine years after he first reported something was wrong.
Jesper Berg, the head of Denmark's Financial Supervisory Authority, admitted it wasn't until Denmark's Berlingske daily in February cited an internal Danske Bank report that it launched an investigation.
