Markus Bitzer has over 20 years of experience in various customs areas. At the Customs Criminal Investigation Office in Cologne, he investigated export control and proliferation in criminal proceedings for the Federal Public Prosecutor General. He later worked as a money laundering investigator at the Customs Investigation Office in Essen as part of the Joint Police/Customs Financial Investigation Group at the North Rhine-Westphalia State Criminal Police Office in Düsseldorf (LKA NRW). Before leaving the customs administration, he conducted various investigations at the Customs Investigation Office in Essen, based in Cologne, in the Customs & Excise department.

From 2021 to 2024, Markus Bitzer ran his sole proprietorship ‘DER BITZER – Experts for Customs and Tax’. In 2024, he founded the law firm Bitzer Mainfort GmbH together with Dr. Andreas Striegel, Heiner Neuhaus and Werner Wingender with a focus on legal and tax advice on customs, VAT and money laundering prevention. He is also Managing Director of AML-EX UG with a focus on training on anti-money laundering, fraud and sanctions as well as KYC audits.