Money laundering
Money laundering is a process some criminals do to hide the money they make from crimes or political corruption, which is called "dirty money". Such dirty money needs to be "cleaned" so it looks like it came from legal sources, and banks can accept it without being suspicious on where it came from. Criminals also do money laundering to make it hard for the police to find out where the criminal got the money.
One way criminals launder money is by using the money earned from illegal activities to buy things (like gold and silver, shares or casino chips, other legitimate business activities like food or liquor stores) and then selling those things to get the money back. If a criminal buys and sells things many times it is hard for the police to find out where the criminal got the money.
Some countries have laws to try to stop money laundering. These laws help the police to find out when criminals try to do money laundering. Under the laws in some countries, business people must:
- tell the Government when someone pays them a lot of money (for example $10,000) or when someone puts a lot of money in their bank
- tell the Government if they think someone is doing money laundering, and
- write down on paper, or on a computer, every time someone gives them a lot of money or they give someone a lot of money.
In 1989, some countries set up a group of people from different Governments to tell countries the best ways to stop money laundering. This organization is called the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering. The following countries have joined the Financial Action Task Force (FATF/GAFI):
- Argentina
- Aruba
- Australia
- Austria
- Bahrain
- Belgium
- Brazil
- Canada
- China
- Curaçao
- Denmark
- European Commission
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hong Kong, China
- Iceland
- India
- Ireland
- Italy
- Japan
- Kuwait
- Luxembourg
- Malaysia
- Mexico
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Oman
- Portugal
- Qatar
- Republic of Korea
- Russian Federation
- Saint Maarten
- Saudi Arabia
- Singapore
- South Africa
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Turkey
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States
Money laundering in Canada
In Canada money laundering is a serious issue. The government of Canada has allocated more than $70 million to fight money laundering.[2]
The province of British Columbia announced it is holding a public inquiry into this issue.[3]
[4]10-BEST-WAYS-FOR-STUDENTS-TO-EARN-MONEY-ONLINE Archived 2023-12-09 at the Wayback Machine
Money Laundering Media
Placing 'dirty' money in a service company, where it is layered with legitimate income and then integrated into the flow of money, is a common form of money laundering.
1998 investigation, United States Senate, Contribution Laundering/Third-Party Transfers. Includes investigation of Gandhi Memorial International Foundation.
References
- ↑ "Members and Observers - Financial Action Task Force (FATF)". Archived from the original on 2015-09-19. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
- ↑ "RCMP's money-laundering unit not focused on that job: Report".
- ↑ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/money-laundering-public-inquiry-decision-1.5136952
- ↑ "A Guide To AML Regulations by the different countries".