Be careful – your money could be seized!

Have you, for example, lived in Italy for several years and now wish to bring all your funds with you when moving back to Denmark? Then you should be aware of the risk of seizure.

The Anti-Money Laundering Secretariat’s system, GoAML, is a portal used to report suspected financial crime. If you are subject to the reporting obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, you can report suspicions of money laundering or terrorist financing to the Secretariat via GoAML.

It may sound rather dramatic – “suspicion of financial crime” – but when is it actually relevant?

At Hulgaard Advokater, we have assisted private clients with the transfer of funds from abroad to Denmark. One foreign national residing in Denmark wanted to transfer approximately DKK 1 million of his funds from abroad to Denmark. To ensure the money was not seized, we submitted a report to the Anti-Money Laundering Secretariat via GoAML (and informed his Danish bank).

Another client also wanted to transfer around DKK 1–2 million of their funds from abroad. The police threatened to seize the money if it could not be documented from where the funds originated.

We therefore recommend that you act proactively and file a report before a potential threat of seizure – or worse, an actual seizure – arises.

The Anti-Money Laundering Secretariat no longer accepts reports via email, which means the GoAML system must be used. Access to the system is restricted, and not everyone can file a report directly.

Hulgaard Advokater is registered as an organization/user in the system, so we can assist our clients with submitting these reports.

Although it may sound dramatic, it is important to report large transfers to reduce the risk of seizure – even if the funds have nothing to do with financial crime.