Money laundering in the 21st century: risks and countermeasures

Abstract

The term money laundering is used to describe the process by which the proceeds of crime ("dirty money") are put through a series of transactions which disguise their illicit origins, and make them appear to have come from a legitimate source ("clean money"). Money laundering is of great concern to law enforcement agencies. The complex criminal activity which generates "dirty money", whether drug trafficking, arms smuggling, corruption, or other offences, are often extremely difficult to detect. Accordingly, finding and following the "money trail" has been a basic strategy to combat sophisticated crime. Success in money laundering means that detection of the predicate offence, and the identification of the offender, become that much more difficult.