Notary Karine Reuter appeared before the Court of Appeal in Luxembourg City on Monday to answer charges of breaching anti-money laundering regulations. In February last year, she was fined €20,000 in the initial ruling. The public prosecutor’s office is now seeking confirmation of that verdict, arguing that the financial volume of the transaction in question was limited.
Reuter did not attend the hearing in person and was represented by her lawyer, Lydie Lorang. She is not the only defendant in the case. A property dealer and his associate stand accused of abusing a vulnerable person after attempting to purchase a house in Neudorf from a 78-year-old German man for €200,000, despite the property’s estimated value of €800,000.
The preliminary sales agreement was signed in January 2021, and there was reportedly pressure to move quickly towards a notarised deed of sale. One notary had refused to proceed, partly because the seller had in the meantime sought to withdraw from the transaction.
The two men subsequently contacted Reuter’s office, and an appointment was arranged shortly afterwards. However, the seller did not attend. The notary then issued a document intended to enforce the sale through the courts. According to the public prosecutor’s office, Reuter should have recognised that the purchase price was suspiciously low and reported the matter to the Financial Intelligence Unit (CRF), as required under the rules governing her profession.
During the initial trial, Reuter stated that, had a notarial deed ultimately been signed, she would have examined the details of the transaction more closely.
The property dealer and his associate were each given 30-month suspended prison sentences, along with fines of €5,000. The public prosecutor’s office is now requesting that conditions be attached to the property dealer’s suspended sentence, while for the man who intended to buy the house in Neudorf it is seeking that the suspended sentence be replaced with an immediate prison sentence, arguing that he does not have a clean criminal record.
Another case involving Reuter is due to be heard before the Court of Appeal on Wednesday. The allegation is similar: she is accused of breaching anti-money laundering rules in connection with property transactions involving questionable investors from Azerbaijan. In that case, she was fined €100,000 in February last year.
