NCJ Number
213569
Date Published
December 2005
Length
81 pages
Annotation
This report presents an analysis of different money laundering methods.
Abstract
Each chapter describes a different money laundering method, providing an overview of the method, its vulnerabilities, and the regulatory policies pertaining to it. The introduction discusses the various efforts of different government departments to combat money laundering and notes that estimates of the amount of money laundered in the United States and internationally are difficult to make and are generally based on indirect indicators. Chapter 1 describes money laundering within the banking industry, which is vulnerable to consumers who may attempt to disguise their true identity and source of income, which has been exacerbated by the proliferation of online banking. Chapter 2 focuses on money service businesses, which are vulnerable to exploitation due to the fleeting nature of the customer-business relationship. Chapter 3 describes the vulnerabilities of emerging online payment services, which include ineffective customer identification and record keeping by service providers. Chapter 4 addresses how Informal Value Transfer Systems (IVTS) can be used to launder money in near anonymity due to the spotty nature of IVTS customer identification record keeping. Bulk cash smuggling is the topic of chapter 5, which may be on the rise in part due to the effectiveness of policies protecting United States financial institutions. Chapter 6 examines trade-based money laundering schemes, which are used to separate cash from the criminal activity early in the money laundering process. One such scheme is the Black Market Peso Exchange, the largest known money laundering system in the Western Hemisphere used to move billions of dollars worth of drug proceeds from the United States back to Columbia every year. Chapter 7 discusses the vulnerabilities of the insurance industry while chapter 8 describes how shell companies and trusts are used to launder money. Chapter 9 examines the susceptibility of casinos to money laundering operations. Tables, illustrations, footnotes, appendixes