How To Launder Money

Money laundering is as old as money itself - and yet the laws designed to prevent it are as ineffective as they ever have been. Today's anti-money laundering (AML) regulations were designed to eliminate profits from drug trafficking and combat tax evasion, terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction. However, the modern laws have done little to stop crime and have instead significantly increased the regulatory burden on legitimate businesses and consumers. As one banker at an AML conference quipped, 'This does not stop money laundering; it just enables those in the know to charge more.' Indeed, AML laws have laid the foundations for massive and sophisticated criminal enterprise support services that help criminals evade detection. This work offers a peek behind the veil to see the bent levers of finance and how they are pulled. It also examines how many who have pulled them, including one of the authors, have ended up behind bars.