Consistent application of EU law on money laundering with regard to assets held by senior officials of the Venezuelan regime

Question for written answer E-000050/2026
to the Commission
Rule 144
Alvise Pérez (NI), Sebastian Tynkkynen (ECR)

Judicial investigations in several Member States have established that the acquisition of assets in the EU using funds derived from the plundering of public resources by senior officials of authoritarian regimes constitutes money laundering, even where transactions are formally lawful.

In the case of Venezuela, international bodies have long documented systemic corruption, large-scale diversion of state resources and, in some cases, links between senior regime officials and transnational drug trafficking. Public information also indicates that members of the regime's upper echelons have acquired assets in several Member States.

In the light of the EU framework on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing:

• 1.Is the Commission aware of such assets in the EU and of indications that their origin may be linked to the plundering of public funds or serious criminal activities?
• 2.Does the principle whereby the illicit origin of capital constitutes money laundering regardless of the formal legality of the transaction apply in these cases?
• 3.Does the Commission intend to encourage coordinated investigations by Member States, including through the use of EU judicial and police cooperation instruments, and, where appropriate, asset-freezing or confiscation measures under EU law?

Submitted: 8.1.2026