Trade-Based Money Laundering - (Wiley and SAS Business) by John A Cassara (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Trade-Based Money Laundering is an authoritative examination of this burgeoning phenomenon, now coming under scrutiny in the War on Terror. This book walks you through the signs and patterns of trade-based money laundering (TBML) to help you recognize it when it occurs, and shows you how data and analytics can be used to detect it. You'll learn the common value transfer techniques including invoice fraud, over-and-under invoicing, and misrepresentation, and learn why analytic detection systems have yet to be implemented despite the existence of copious data. Case studies from around the world highlight the real-life implications of the concepts and processes presented in the text, giving you a first-hand view of the mechanisms at work inside this expanding illegal market.

Trade-based money laundering uses trade to convert large quantities of illicit cash into less conspicuous assets or commodities to evade financial transparency laws and regulations. As an ideal funding mechanism for terrorist groups, the practice is getting more attention even as it increases in scale and spread. This book takes you deep inside TBML to better arm you against its occurrence.

• Learn the typical value transfer techniques of TBML
• Examine case studies detailing international examples
• Discover why institutions have failed to implement detection systems
• Explore ways in which analytics can identify TBML

According to the U.S. State Department, TBML has reached staggering proportions in recent years, and is considered by many to be the next frontier of international money laundering enforcement. Trade-Based Money Laundering gives you a battle plan, with expert insight and real-world guidance.

From the Back Cover

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates money laundering comprises up to 5 percent of the world's gross domestic product, which translates to an average of $4 trillion per year. This money goes untaxed, depriving governments of much needed income. Tainted money also fuels criminal and terrorist organizations. Remarkably, much of the illegal financial flows are hidden in global trade and avoid traditional financial transparency countermeasures. Yet the international community is only now beginning to recognize the magnitude of the problem.

Trade-Based Money Laundering is a timely, user-friendly guide that sheds light on shadowy and complex components of international trade fraud and its relationship to criminal and commercial money laundering, underground financial systems, and various forms of value transfer and capital flight. Financial compliance officers and law enforcement professionals will gain from unique insights and turn to the rare advice inside this book again and again to improve their analytic and investigative skills. A wealth of international case studies and illustrative diagrams bring to life the practical ways criminals and their accomplices transfer value through international markets. Written by a former federal agent who had firsthand interactions with players in international black-market financial systems, this accessible tool offers:

• The author's cutting-edge plan to leverage data and analytics to discover TBML
• An eye-opening discussion about the magnitude of the problem
• Go-to checklists, cheat sheets, and bulleted advice for speeding along and improving the effectiveness of investigations
• More than three dozen concrete, red-flag indicators of TBML
• A discussion of how legitimate businesses use forms of TBML to maximize profits and minimize taxes
• A straight-forward explanation of underground financial systems such as the black-market peso exchange, hawala, and Chinese flying money and their link to TBML
• A convenient money-laundering primer to get you up to speed for advanced discussions

Trade-Based Money Laundering will prepare the reader for the coming regulatory and enforcement focus on the misuse of international trade to launder money and transfer value.

About the Author

JOHN A. CASSARA is an expert in anti-money laundering and counter-terror finance, with special expertise in money laundering in the Middle East and the growing threat of alternative remittance systems and forms of trade-based money laundering and value transfer. A 26-year veteran of the federal government intelligence and law enforcement communities, he is an industry advisor for SAS, as well as author and co-author of numerous articles and books.