The Chinese Embassy in Spain on Wednesday issued a statement, expressing its concern over the reported raid of the Madrid offices of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) by Spanish law enforcers.
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The Chinese government always demands that Chinese companies working overseas strictly abide by the laws, both of China and the country they are working in, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei at a routine press briefing.
The comments came after Spanish media reported that local police searched the bank’s Madrid branch on Wednesday and arrested five of its directors to probe suspected money laundering of at least 40 million euros ($44.5 million).
The investigation by police, the Spanish tax agency and Europol surrounds funds handled by a criminal group acting in Spain which the Ministry says passed through the bank and were transferred to China.
China on Thursday urged Spain to “safeguard the legal rights and interests” of employees of Chinese megabank ICBC, following their arrest by Spanish authorities on suspicion of laundering tens of millions euros.
Five people were arrested, a police spokesman said.
The raid followed last year’s police operation aimed at busting Chinese gangs based in Madrid, who are suspected of smuggling huge amounts of goods from China.
The agency said it deployed a unit to Madrid to assist Spanish authorities with intelligence which found signs that the alleged money laundering had links to activities in France, Germany and Lithuania.
“Our Madrid branch is cooperating actively with the investigation”, ICBC said in the statement.
Two police officers stood guard at the door of the bank as the court-ordered search was conducted.
State-owned ICBC, which launched its Spanish operations in 2011, is the world’s biggest bank with about $3 trillion in total assets.
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“According to what we understand about events, all Chinese enterprises in Spain are doing so”.
