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| Author: Mr. Amaru Bah |
Money laundering
is critical to the effective operation of virtually every form of transnational
and organised crime. Anti-money-laundering efforts, which are designed to
prevent or limit the ability of criminals to use their ill-gotten gains, are both
a critical and effective component of anti-crime programmes.
Money laundering
generally involves a series of multiple transactions used to disguise the
source of financial assets so that those assets may be used without compromising
the criminals who are seeking to use them. These transactions typically fall
into three stages: (1) placement -- the process of placing unlawful proceeds
into financial institutions through deposits, wire transfers, or other means; (2)
layering -- the process of separating the proceeds of criminal activity from
their origin through the use of layers of complex financial transactions; and
(3) integration -- the process of using an apparently legitimate transaction to
disguise illicit proceeds. Through these processes, a criminal tries to
transform the monetary proceeds derived from illicit activities into funds with
an apparently legal source.
Money laundering
has potentially devastating economic, security, and social consequences. It
provides the fuel for drug dealers, terrorists, illegal arms dealers, corrupt
public officials, and others to operate and expand their criminal enterprises.
