Money laundering: Hot money — cooled down

Bringing illicit funds into the legal economy? We counter this with efficient law enforcement, technology, and international networking.

What is money laundering?

Money laundering is the process of introducing illegal proceeds into seemingly legal financial systems. Traditionally, this occurs in three stages:

Placement → Layering → Integration

The volume is enormous – according to UNODC, up to 5% of global GDP.

800 billion to 2 trillion USD in circulation annually

Banks, real estate & trade as entry points

Linked to terrorist financing, corruption & drugs

IPO & UNODC: Global measures against money laundering

Regulatory advice

Support in implementing FATF/UN conventions

Training & technical assistance

Training for police, FIUs, judiciary, financial supervision

Networking & cooperation

Exchange with international partners, authorities, NGOs

HOW MONEY LAUNDERING WORKS

Practical case studies

1

Smurfing & Placement

Criminals split large amounts of cash into many small deposits – via straw men, ATMs, travel agencies.

2

Layering via offshore & real estate

Money is laundered through complex foreign corporate structures – e.g., by purchasing real estate via shell companies.

3

Integration into business models

Criminals buy legitimate companies (e.g., restaurants) to disguise dirty money as revenue.

4

Crypto & DeFi

Anonymous wallets & decentralized platforms make tracing more difficult – especially with Monero, Tornado Cash, etc.

TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION: SAFE-FIN

Safe-Fin – Detecting what is meant to remain hidden
In cooperation with Strauss ICG, we use Safe-Fin – an analysis platform by RAKIA – to uncover suspicious financial flows and potential money laundering schemes.

Application areas:

Pattern recognition in transactions
Support for financial investigations
Data aggregation & visualization
Use in training, non-commercial