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Danske Case May Turn Out to Be Hybrid Warfare, Estonia Says

Danske Case May Turn Out to Be Hybrid Warfare, Estonia Says

(Bloomberg) -- One of Europe’s largest money-laundering scandals centered around the Estonian branch of Danske Bank A/S could be a type of hybrid warfare waged by the Baltic nation’s former Soviet master Russia.

Estonia’s definition of money laundering should change, because it doesn’t allow for a proper response to laundering "condoned or organized by an unfriendly third country,” the government said in a report published Thursday. It cited research "showing Russia’s new tools for increasing tensions in the Baltic Sea region.”

“This kind of laundering should be considered one form of a hybrid threat,” said the report from the state commission on preventing money laundering and terrorism financing. “Money laundering abetted or arranged by foreign country could be a part of acts affecting free elections or a cyber attack.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Ott Ummelas in Tallinn at oummelas@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrea Dudik at adudik@bloomberg.net, Michael Winfrey, Andrew Langley

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