3 - How much do we really know about money laundering?

Summary

If the United Nations definition of money laundering does not include ‘money’ or ‘launder ing’, or ‘placement’, or ‘layering’ or ‘integration’ – what then is money laundering?

The authors

Many of the world's population – even those with little interest in crime – will, with any good fortune concede dirty money drives current affairs and global politics, and cultivates corruption. Avid viewers of films via Netflix, Amazon Prime and similar, will quickly appreciate money laundering is one of those activities naturally connected to illicit drugs, fraud, corruption, human trafficking and many other serious crimes. It is even considered a threat to national security; something we have decided to discuss in Chapter 16. However, what is missing is how it impacts on people's lives.

The movies, first-hand accounts and crime thrillers, demonstrate how understanding of money laundering sits only as a general topic. The knowledge gained has, in many cases, chosen to ignore the backdrop of global businesses and social activities which have sped up the way people now connect and interact with, and equally choose to disconnect from, the outside world. These are factors which we think now complicate understanding of most problems, let alone understanding as to how money laundering impacts on all of our lives.

Choose to review the current and earlier Europol Serious Organised Crime Threat Assessments side by side and you quickly begin to understand today's issues with establishing what is really taking place in the world of money laundering. All we have are two Organised Crime Threat Assessments written years apart with no real material variation. The only difference is a more sombre and defeatist tone in the latest version. We think that this shows that the problems are intractable, thanks to the same mindset and techniques over the last 20 years.

Burkhard Mühl, Head of the European Financial & Economic Crime Centre at Europol was able to confirm the gloom and misery (albeit perhaps not his sole intention) when answering a question via an online seminar in June 2020 as to how criminals were managing their money laundering. His response was to say: “We are still learning, still gathering the intelligence picture.” Although most likely true, this must raise eyebrows among those involved in preventing serious crimes across Europe, and throughout the general population. Mühl's response clearly highlighted a losing battle.