I want to stick with the topic for a few posts about the scope and scale of money laundering. We discussed earlier as to how money laundering began mainly by criminal groups to whitewash illegally obtained funds and the term itself was coined in the 1920's. But, it has reached far beyond these early stages.
Money laundering by international criminal enterprises is now to the point where it challenges the legitimate governments of many countries. In some countries, such as Mexico, Russia, some states of the Former Soviet Union and Haiti, the wealth and power of criminal enterprises actually rivals the wealth and power of the government of the country. To say this problem is "vast" is an understatement.
Money laundering assists with the drug trade. Not just the street dime bag vendors, but the manufacturing of drugs in large scale, organized and commercial operations (like meth labs). Billions of these dollars need to be laundered so that the recipients can have an income.
Illegal arms sales use money laundering to hide these sales.
Prostitution. Once again, we are not talking about street-corner isolated incidents, but the trafficking of human beings (large scale) which involves literally the buying and selling of people and the money from these transactions which is laundered away.
Corruption. Countries that rank high in corruption are also high in money laundering for obvious reasons - the recipients of these corrupt dollars (or whatever currency) needs to show the money is coming from a legitimate source.
This gives us an idea of the scope of money laundering and how it affects us all.
As always, have a great and fraud-free day.
htt
Money laundering by international criminal enterprises is now to the point where it challenges the legitimate governments of many countries. In some countries, such as Mexico, Russia, some states of the Former Soviet Union and Haiti, the wealth and power of criminal enterprises actually rivals the wealth and power of the government of the country. To say this problem is "vast" is an understatement.
Money laundering assists with the drug trade. Not just the street dime bag vendors, but the manufacturing of drugs in large scale, organized and commercial operations (like meth labs). Billions of these dollars need to be laundered so that the recipients can have an income.
Illegal arms sales use money laundering to hide these sales.
Prostitution. Once again, we are not talking about street-corner isolated incidents, but the trafficking of human beings (large scale) which involves literally the buying and selling of people and the money from these transactions which is laundered away.
Corruption. Countries that rank high in corruption are also high in money laundering for obvious reasons - the recipients of these corrupt dollars (or whatever currency) needs to show the money is coming from a legitimate source.
This gives us an idea of the scope of money laundering and how it affects us all.
As always, have a great and fraud-free day.
htt
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