Police fined Skpay for failing to report €16 million in suspicious transactions. (source: SITA.)
A special police unit has criticised Skpay, a card payment company linked to the Slovak postal service, for failing to properly check transactions worth over €16 million, according to online news portal Aktuality.sk.
Slovenská Pošta, the state-owned national postal service, launched a financial service allowing customers to withdraw cash at any branch. However, this led to unusual activity – individuals were seen withdrawing cash using dozens of bank cards, while others deposited large sums into accounts in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Belgium and Luxembourg.
Slovakia's Financial Intelligence Unit (FSJ) investigated these transactions between 2020 and mid-2023. Some individuals managed to withdraw over €1 million in cash within six months. Despite these red flags, Skpay did not take action, which police deemed a serious oversight. Financial institutions are required to monitor transactions to prevent money laundering or terrorist financing. As a result, Skpay was fined €50,000.
Link to the war in Ukraine?
Skpay, a joint venture between Slovenská Pošta (60 percent) and 365.bank (40 percent), attributed the issue to the early months of the war in Ukraine.
"The FSJ’s review covered a period when refugees were arriving in Slovakia and needed to access their finances. These were unprecedented situations that challenged the financial sector," Skpay stated. The company implied that displaced individuals may have been behind some of the flagged transactions.
Skpay accepted the fine but insisted it had already addressed the concerns before the FSJ investigation began. "The penalty was set at the lowest possible level, confirming that the FSJ did not consider the breaches severe," the company claimed. However, it did not specify what corrective measures were implemented.
Previous issues with 365.bank
This is not the first time authorities have intervened in financial operations linked to 365.bank. In a previous case, the FSJ fined the bank a record €2 million after identifying suspicious transactions. One company based in the Marshall Islands allegedly moved over €250 million through its accounts, while €150 million was linked to a suspected Chinese money-laundering network.
Before penalising 365.bank, the FSJ also fined ČSOB bank €1.5 million for similar violations.
