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Jewelers and AML: A Long Road Ahead
By Carla Valero
printSpanish authorities recently cracked a major gold-based money laundering scheme run by a group of jewelers - illustrating to some experts that the jewelry and precious metals industries lack the necessary regulations and controls to prevent laundering. The investigation, coined Operation Phoenix, involved jewelry dealers from the cities of Cordoba and Barcelona. These dealers formed a company that purchased gold in Switzerland and then sold the goods to wholesalers and jewelry manufacturers in Spain, authorities said. They managed to launder €154 million (about $202 million) through precious metal sales by creating a seemingly legitimate front for their illegal business using...
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