A Luxembourg investigating judge and the judicial police’s anti-money laundering unit worked on the case that saw €11m in assets frozen in the grand duchy on 25 March Library photo: Nader Ghavami

A Luxembourg investigating judge and the judicial police’s anti-money laundering unit worked on the case that saw €11m in assets frozen in the grand duchy on 25 March Library photo: Nader Ghavami

Authorities in France, Germany and Luxembourg have seized €120m worth of assets linked to a money laundering case in Lebanon, an EU criminal justice agency said on Monday.

The main investigation is directed against five suspects accused of money laundering and embezzling funds worth more than US$330m and €5m between 2002 and 2021, Eurojust said.

The EU agency for criminal justice cooperation did not provide further details on the suspects. “The suspects in the main investigation are assumed to be innocent until they have been proven guilty, according to law,” Eurojust said.

The assets were frozen on 25 March, which Eurojust referred to as “action day” in an official press release published on Monday.

Authorities in Germany seized three properties worth an estimated €28m, further assets worth around €7m as well as securing shares in a property company based in Düsseldorf. In France, two property complexes in Paris valued at €16m were seized as well as bank accounts in France (€2.2m) and Monaco (€46m). A €7m building in Brussels was also seized.

In Luxembourg, approximately €11m were frozen across several bank accounts, Eurojust said.

The EU agency coordinated a joint investigation team between the three countries. In Luxembourg, an investigative judge and the anti-money laundering unit of the judicial police worked on the case.