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Trade-Based Laundering, Cash Smuggling Among Most Common Methods of Financial Crooks: ICE Official
printTrade-based schemes and bulk cash smuggling are among the most common tactics used by international money launderers, according to Joseph Gallion, the deputy assistant director of the Financial, Narcotics and Special Operations Division for the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) directorate of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. For investigators, working with international partners to trace the movement of such funds is crucial, said Gallion, who formerly served as HSI's chief of staff. Along with other investigators, HSI officials and others in the Department of Homeland Security are taking part in the White House's strategy to combat transnational organized crime, an initiative...
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Although investigators have little empirical insight into how often criminals exploit trade to transfer illicit value, the scope of trade-based money laundering is likely "overwhelming," according to John Cassara, a former U.S. Treasury Department official.
A long-negotiated economic treaty finalized Monday will require global banks to review billions of dollars in subsequent trade transactions for potential links to financial crimes, according to analysts.
Within the cargo containers lined along American ports and the semi-trailer trucks driven past U.S. border crossings, there is at times more than just goods en route to a profitable sale. Less detectable and often hidden within the paperwork, illicit value is an occasional stowaway.
A $400 million settlement with an Israeli bank accused of facilitating tax evasion and an ongoing probe into loan fraud and AML violations at a Citigroup affiliate seemingly have little in common, but they share at least one trait: the exploitation of a typically low-risk, trade-finance instrument.
There has been modest success in a decades-long effort to minimize the exploitation of gold. In many instances, money launderers have successfully transferred illicit proceeds through gold by simply tweaking its reported value in customs documents and other records.
An expected U.N. plan to tackle illicit financial flows and other global problems could make curbing the manipulation of trade invoices an international priority.
Long considered one of the toughest illicit finance schemes to crack, trade-based money laundering is on the rise in response to stricter regulatory oversight of financial institutions, U.S. investigators said Monday.
When imagining how dirty money is moved around the country, "think of FedEx," says Joseph Burke, chief of the National Bulk Cash Smuggling Center in Vermont. The center is tasked with tracing the sometimes elaborate path of drug proceeds from point-of-sale to the bank teller's window.
U.S. lawmakers Thursday criticized federal officials for delays in finalizing anti-money laundering rules and failing to prosecute banks and bankers that facilitate billions of dollars in illicit transactions.
Ongoing efforts by European Union's Parliament to crack down on financial crime and tax evasion will be complicated by free trade agreements with Latin American nations, according to Jurgen Klute, an EU lawmaker.
American officials will begin field-testing prepaid card readers at U.S. border stops next month as part of the lead-up to the Treasury Department regulations governing their cross-border transport, say officials.
Disputes and confusion over which companies will be responsible for anti-money laundering rules on stored value products has delayed federal registration and oversight of the sector, say industry representatives.
Mexico has lost as much $91 billion per year to capital flight associated with tax evasion and corruption during the last decade, according to a report by an American advocacy group.
Displeased with proposed regulations, federal and state law enforcement officials are asking lawmakers and the U.S. Treasury Department to strengthen controls on the cross-border movement of prepaid access products.
Key features of an anti-money laundering strategy to combat drug trafficking organizations pitched last year by Mexican officials may ultimately be dropped by lawmakers, say industry advisors.
Exemptions for Mexican hotels and other businesses from Mexico's limits on U.S. dollar deposits can be readily exploited by narco-traffickers and money launderers, say compliance professionals.
A dearth of U.S. Treasury Department regulations governing the cross-border transportation of prepaid access products has hamstrung American efforts to combat Mexican drug-trafficking organizations, according to lawmakers.
Mexico President Felipe Calderon introduced a bevy of measures Thursday designed to crimp the flow of illicit drug proceeds from entering the country's financial system, including by limiting cash transactions on purchasing aircraft, vehicles, and real estate.
New rules restricting U.S. dollar deposits at Mexican banks could end up pushing billions in illicit cash through U.S. and Latin American financial institutions, say compliance professionals.
Proposed regulations by the U.S. Treasury Department on the prepaid card industry are raising questions and concerns among anti-money laundering compliance consultants on how the rules can be implemented and enforced.