Gigantic process in Vienna: Trio in court for brutal Hawala system

Gigantic process in Vienna: Trio in court for brutal Hawala system

On Friday, a well-respected process against three people starts in Vienna, who are said to have been active in the largest Hawala office in Austria. The accused, two men aged 41 and 37 and a 45-year-old woman, are suspected of having conveyed hundreds of payments for towing between summer 2021 and spring. The public prosecutor files charges for alleged machinations in a system that processes money transfers through middlemen - a procedure that is used especially in migrant circles, but is always the focus of crime offices. As reported [meinzirk.at] (https://www.meinbezirk.at/wien/c-lokales/process start-in-wien-payferschlepperfahrten_a7459777), the trio is said to have used their own couriers for money transportation, where could.

brutality and crimes

But the indictment not only accuses the trio of economic offenses. In March 2024, a money courier is said to have been tortured after taking 355,000 euros from Germany to Vienna. This courier was robbed on the A22 near Stockerau, and the accused tried to force a confession through violence. According to Kleinezeitung.at, there were reports on massive assault, with torture acts such as fist strikes and the use of a leather belt. The claim that the 45-year-old has tried to harm the courier physically with a garden scissor.

While the defendants speak of "massive assaults", they deny more serious allegations such as rape and specific torture actions. Her defenders argue that the accused had been investigated for years without being able to determine punishable behavior. The process will continue in the coming days, judgments can be expected in July at the earliest.

background about Hawala

The Hawala system, an ancient financial transfer system, is popular with both criminals and aid organizations. It enables money transfers between people without banks being involved. The functionality can simply be explained: a amount of money is handed over to a trustworthy person (Hawaladar), who then commissioned another courier in the target region to hand over the money to the recipient. It is often known that everything goes well-a principle that is strongly based on trust and determines up to 65 percent of the monetary flow in some regions, such as Tagesschau.de.

This system, which moves around $ 200 billion worldwide, is unregulated from the EU's perspective and is considered unauthorized due to the lack of licenses. Without correct documentation of the money flows, Hawala is particularly susceptible to abuse, for example for money laundering or terrorist financing. The investigation shows that the use of Hawala includes both legal and illegal money transfers, which increases the problem.

The process in Vienna could not only determine the fate of the accused, but also take a further look at the dark side of the Hawala system, which is often seen in public as a means of support for migrants, but also hidden dark machinations.