Avoid Being Involved in Money Laundering Activities Of Mafia and Terrorism.
Money laundering activities of mafia and terrorism are today a serious problem for all governments. According to the FMI, it accounts for 5% of world GNP. This is a huge amount of money which is used by criminal organizations to keep on financing their illicit activities such as drug trafficking and terrorism. This has led the governments of most of the countries of the world to adopt specific anti money laundering laws and regulations.
Anti money laundering refers to a set of procedures, laws and regulations designed to detect and report suspicious activities and transactions that may lead to terrorism financing, drug trafficking, human beings trafficking, tax evasion, and other criminal activities.
AML regulations require banks and financial institutions allowing customers to open accounts or getting credit cards to complete due-diligence procedures to ensure they are not aiding in money laundering activities. The onus to perform this due diligence is on the institutions. When a new client solicit the opening of a new bank account, the Compliance Officer of the Bank needs to investigate him/her in order to evaluate the risk of being used for money laundering. As well lawyers and accounting firms are requested to perform a due diligence of their clients so as to prevent such crime.
The background checks and due diligence performed by banks, lawyers and accounting firms are, in our opinion, not sufficient to identify money launderers. More than often, controls are formal. Getting a copy of a passport, letters of references from banks and clients, is not enough. All documents provided could be fake and unless a real background investigation is conducted, banks and lawyers will still be used by such criminals to keep on laundering money.
For more information read the article Lavado de dinero, un problema de mafia y terrorismo published in Capital on 12-18 April 2010.
ISOG private investigators and private detectives can help you avoid being involved in money laundering activities of mafia and terrorism.