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Danish lawmakers seek to probe if Danske Estonia laundered money under Sampo

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Danish lawmakers seek to probe if Danske Estonia laundered money under Sampo

Danish lawmakers are seeing to find out whether Danske Bank A/S' controversy-ridden Estonian unit had a history of illicit trades under former owner Sampo Oyj, Bloomberg News reported.

The financial regulator and police may "consider the Sampo lead as part of their investigations," said Torsten Schack Pedersen, a Liberal Party representative on the Danish parliament's committee on bank laws.

The Estonian operations were purchased from Sampo in 2007.

Meanwhile, Bjorn Wahlroos, current chairman and former CEO of Sampo, "categorically" ruled out any wrongdoing at the Finnish insurer, Bloomberg reported. Danske Bank conducted "an incredibly thorough analysis" of the Estonian bank before it agreed to buy the unit from Sampo, Wahlroos, who is also the chairman of Nordea Bank Abp, added.

Sampo's bank assets were never probed by authorities before the sale to Danske Bank, according to Wahlroos. Moreover, the Finnish lender bought the lender from Eesti Pank, Estonia's central bank, six years before the sale to Danske Bank, Bloomberg reported, citing Wahlroos.

Danske Bank's chairman and CEO stepped down after the bank confirmed that a "significant" portion of $234 billion in money flowing through its Estonian branch from nonresident clients was "suspicious."