Archives for money laundering
Our Friends, the Oligarchs: Financial Crime, Foreign Influence and Democracy
Germany’s attempts to penetrate the United Kingdom with spy networks in World War Two were spectacularly unsuccessful. Hastily recruited assets rushed across the Channel were spotted because of their broken English, thick accents and ignorance of pub closing times. Of the 115 German agents deployed to the U.K. during the…
Targeting Enablers of Transnational Crime: Insights from Operation Ironside
Operation Ironside, a global operation led by the FBI and the Australian Federal Police (AFP), came to a resolution in June 2021. Across Australia, 4,000 police executed search warrants and made arrests, capping a two-year investigation which was undoubtedly the most significant in Australian law enforcement history. Ironside struck a…
Corporate Vehicles and the Organisation of Illicit Finances: A Criminological Perspective
In July 2018, a joint report from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Egmont Group provided an overview of the range of techniques and mechanisms that criminals use to obscure their ownership and control of illicitly obtained assets, in particular via schemes that exploit otherwise legal arrangements and…
Money is Power: Why it is Time to Follow the Money Once Again
Money is power. People will assume that this statement is so obvious it no longer needs repeating. Yet many law enforcement agencies do not seem to have got the message. Money is the crucial element that links organised crime with corrupt officials within governments, financial institutions and various actors within…