Dozens of cases of suspected money laundering among German extremists

The German Customs Criminal Investigation Office (ZKA) and its anti-money-laundering unit (FIU) have received dozens of suspicious activity reports on extremist people or organizations identified as "Reich Citizens" and "Self-Governors" in recent years.

According to an answer given by the federal government to a question by the hard-left opposition Die Linke (The Left) party, a total of 144 corresponding tips relating to suspected violations of the Money-Laundering Act have turned up at the authority since 2017.

As the answer further states, 39 of the cases involved suspicions of criminal offences directly related to the beliefs of Reich Citizens and Self-Governors, namely politically motivated crime. The other suspected cases concerned, among other things, arms dealing or real-estate transactions.

Reich Citizens and Self-Governors doubt the legitimacy of the Federal Republic of Germany. They often refuse to pay taxes. The supra-regionally active groups include associations with names such as "Confederation of the German Reich" or "Kingdom Germany."

The domestic intelligence agency, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, estimates that the scene has around 21,000 followers.

In six suspected cases, of which the ZKA and the FIU (Financial Intelligence Unit) have become aware since 2017, trade in and distribution of weapons and ammunition were involved.

According to the answer, which was made available to dpa, five of the cases involved suspicions of offences related to real-estate transactions.