60 Minutes Features Danske Bank Whistleblower

Washington, D.C. May 20, 2019. He “found one loose thread and decided to pull on it,” Steve Kroft said as he introduced the story of how whistleblower Howard Wilkinson uncovered the biggest money-laundering scheme in history. Last night 60 Minutes featured an account of the Danske Bank Scandal which involved $230 billion in suspicious transactions from one small branch in Estonia.

The Danske Bank money-laundering scandal revealed that the bank was not performing the necessary screenings of non-resident customers before allowing them to open an account. It was from these accounts that the suspicious transactions flowed for 6-7 years. “Banks are supposed to check the money coming in. Is it clean? And the banks are supposed to check where does the money go in the end. Evidently, it wasn’t being done,” said Wilkinson.

Mr. Wilkinson is represented by whistleblower lawyer Stephen M. Kohn, who also appeared in the segment. In discussing why the big banks who figured out what was going on but didn’t report it Kohn asked, “Why was it up to one guy in a bank in Estonia to figure it out and turn it in, risking everything? Why is it always up to the whistleblower?”

Watch the full segment here:

How the Danske Bank money-laundering scheme involving $230 billion unraveled.