Gigantic trial in Vienna: trio on trial for brutal hawala system

Gigantic trial in Vienna: trio on trial for brutal hawala system

A high-profile trial begins in Vienna on Friday against three people who are said to have worked in Austria's largest hawala office. The defendants, two men aged 41 and 37 and a 45-year-old woman, are suspected of having brokered hundreds of payments for smuggling between summer 2021 and spring 2024. The public prosecutor's office is bringing charges for alleged machinations in a system that processes money transfers through middlemen - a procedure that is primarily used in migrant circles, but is also repeatedly the focus of criminal investigation offices. As meinkreis.at reports, the trio is said to have used its own couriers to transport money, with at least 21 cash transports involving several million euros being traced in the first quarter of 2024 alone.

During the course of the investigation, it emerged that some of the cash was stored in the 45-year-old's home in Vienna-Floridsdorf. The 41-year-old defendant acted as the manager of a bar in Vienna-Ottakring, where the hawala system was operated, while his 37-year-old brother acted as a supporting hand. Despite the serious allegations, all three defendants have so far pleaded not guilty and claim to have had no knowledge of the use of the transferred sums for harmful activities.

Brutality and crimes

But the indictment accuses the trio of more than just economic crimes. In March 2024, a money courier was said to have been tortured after he was supposed to bring 355,000 euros from Germany to Vienna. This courier was robbed on the A22 near Stockerau, and the defendants tried to force a confession through violence. According to kleinezeitung.at there were reports of massive bodily harm, with acts of torture such as punches and the use of a leather belt being used. What is particularly shocking is the claim that the 45-year-old tried to physically harm the courier with garden shears.

While the defendants speak of “massive assaults,” they deny more serious allegations such as rape and specific acts of torture. Their defense lawyers argue that the defendants have been investigated for years without any criminal behavior being identified. The trial will continue in the coming days; verdicts are not expected until July at the earliest.

Background about hawala

The hawala system, an ancient financial transfer system, is popular with both criminals and aid organizations. It allows money transfers between people without involving banks. How it works is easy to explain: a sum of money is handed over to a trustworthy person (hawaladar), who then commissions another courier in the target region to hand the money over to the recipient. People often trust that everything will go well - a principle that is based heavily on trust and in some regions, such as southern Africa, determines up to 65 percent of the money flow, as tagesschau.de reports.

However, from the EU's perspective, this system, which moves around 200 billion US dollars worldwide every year, is unregulated and is considered illegal due to the lack of licenses. Without proper documentation of cash flows, hawala is particularly vulnerable to misuse, for example for money laundering or terrorist financing. The investigation shows that the use of hawala includes both legal and illegal money transfers, adding to the problem.

The trial in Vienna could not only determine the fate of the defendants, but also take a further look at the dark side of the hawala system, which is often seen by the public as a means of support for migrants, but also hides dark machinations.