Digital money transfer giant Wise is under criminal investigation by Belgian prosecutors over concerns that its accounts were used by international criminal organizations to launder proceeds of fraud, corruption, and drug trafficking, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported Monday.

Prosecutors in Belgium opened the investigation last year after Wise accounts appeared in hundreds of cross-border judicial requests from more than 30 countries across Europe, according to the Bureau. The transactions under scrutiny amount to half a billion euros. Authorities have identified what they describe as “indications of non-compliance with anti-money-laundering legislation” by the company.

Wise confirmed knowledge of the probe, with a spokesperson telling the Bureau that its Belgian office handles all law-enforcement requests from across the European Economic Area and that around a third of its staff is “dedicated to fighting financial crime.” The company said it was “working with the Brussels prosecutor to respond to queries about our business, as we routinely do with regulators and law-enforcement authorities.”

The investigation relates specifically to Wise’s European operations and is not directly connected to its approximately three million UK users, who are managed from London. The Financial Conduct Authority declined to comment when the Bureau asked whether it was also examining Wise or providing assistance to European investigators.

Founded in 2011, Wise has around 15 million customers globally and specializes in cheap international transfers. It moved its primary listing from London to the Nasdaq Stock Exchange last month and remains headquartered in London, with a market value of approximately £10 billion. The Brussels public prosecutor’s office separately told the Financial Times that its probe was at an advanced stage and nearly complete.

The investigation is not the first time Wise’s AML controls have attracted regulatory attention. In 2024, the FT reported that the National Bank of Belgium found the company lacked proof of address for hundreds of thousands of customers and forced it into a formal remediation plan. In 2025, Wise’s U.S. subsidiary was fined $4.2 million for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and AML laws.