US embassy cable - 03THEHAGUE2244

C O N F I D E N T I A L THE HAGUE 002244 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB/ESC/ESP, S/CT, INR/EC, EUR/ERA, INL/C/CP 
TREASURY FOR ZARATE (TREASURY), WOLFE (GENERAL COUNSEL), 
NEWCOMB (OFAC), AND TASK FORCE ON TERRORIST FINANCING 
JUSTICE FOR OIA/FRIEDMAN 
FBI FOR LORMEL 
BRUSSELS ALSO FOR LEGATT 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/08/2008 
TAGS: PTER, ETTC, NL 
SUBJECT: TERRORIST FINANCE: USING CALL CENTERS FOR ILLEGAL 
FUNDS TRANSFERS 
 
REF: FBIS EUP20030826000011 OF 8/25/03 
 
Classified By: Economic Counselor Richard Huff Reason 1.5(b) and (d) 
 
1.  (C) Summary: Dutch officials expect to take action 
against several Amsterdam call centers for illegal money 
exchange activities.   Their investigation has developed 
independently from an Amsterdam city council report on 
possible hawala banking activities by these call centers. 
End Summary. 
 
2.  (U) The Dutch press (reftel) reported August 25 on an 
Amsterdam city council report highlighting the possibility of 
"call centers" being used as hawala banks.  These centers-- 
often little more than an office with two or three phone 
lines --  draw upon immigrant populations for their clientel 
and claim their ability to secure telephone lines wholesale 
from KPN (the dominant player in the Dutch telecom market) 
makes their business model (charging immigrant workers to 
call their country of origin) viable.  The explosive growth 
in the number of these centers over the past year -- the team 
preparing the above referenced report surveyed 117 call 
centers in Amsterdam alone -- led many to wonder whether 
international calls alone could sustain so many centers. 
According to the press, the Amsterdam city council decided to 
look at call centers after investigation into approximately 
100 million dollars in illegal money transfers by group of 
ethic Pakistanis suggested that call centers may have 
facilitated the transfers. 
 
2.  (C) Dutch authorities have long been aware of the 
possibility of call centers being used for hawala banking. 
The Dutch press reported in late 2001, for example, of 
several call centers in Rotterdam possibly being linked to 
the Barakat network.  Our contacts have told us that the 
Amsterdam city council report is incomplete and inconclusive 
-- the authors purposely did not coordinate or exchange 
information with police authorities and the Central Bank 
(charged with registering and supervising informal money 
transfer systems) who are conducting a similar investigation. 
 Our contacts indicate that Dutch authorities are 
investigating calls made through several of the calling 
centers and expect be able to take legal action against 
several of the call centers for conducting illegal money 
exchange activities. 
SOBEL