10 Ways To Move Money Like A Crime Boss
REED BRECKWOLDT
JANUARY 29, 2016
6. Smurfing
Smurfing is a financial structuring method that refers to the divvying up of large sums of cash into lesser amounts, preferably smaller than $10,000 (the reporting threshold for banks and US Customs). These smaller sums can then be deposited in various banks by different peopleor smurfseffectively accomplishing the placement phase of traditional money laundering.
5. Shell Companies
A shell company is a legitimate business in name only. In fact, a shell company provides no actual services, nor does it produce anything. The sole purpose of a shell company is to create the illusion of legitimacy through fake invoices and balance sheets, which allows the company to accept dirty money and mask it as legitimate profits. Often, these funds are used to buy other high-priced assets such as real estate, which can then be sold and cashed out through other shell companies in another country.
4. Black Market Peso Exchange
First discovered by authorities in the 1990s, the Black Market Peso Exchange is truly a one-stop shop for all phases of money laundering. The exchange was first used by Colombian cartels but has since been popularized in Mexico as well. The system was intricate, involving your traditional drug dealer, a peso broker, and a semi-legitimate business. First, cash was distributed by the broker service among various checking accounts (essentially the same as smurfing). The broker then found legitimate businesses in the US and abroad that did cross-border trade and transactions. Businesses in Colombia or Mexico require US dollars to purchase goods inside the US and prefer a discounted exchange rate if they can get it. The broker took advantage of this and offered them dollar-denominated checks with the payee name blank. This check was filled in by the business and used to import US goods, specifically from a US-based business coordinated through the broker. These goods were shipped abroad, sold, and the peso-denominated profits were handed over to the drug dealers. Everyone got a cut along the way.
2. Legitimate Business: Hiding In Plain Sight
Much like Walter Whites notorious car wash in the TV drama Breaking Bad, or Tony Sopranos strip club in The Sopranos, criminals can find safe havens for illegal cash in otherwise legitimate businesses. This method works best when using mostly cash businesses, such as restaurants, bars, casinos, check-cashing stores, or car washes. The only downside is that businesses must pay taxes on the extra income. These businesses, otherwise known as front companies, are effective at hiding money, also known as the placement phase. But how do criminals move money using a front company, say to an associate in another country? Invoice accounting tricks are one answer. In this clever but simple scheme, a business will change the invoice amount for a product or service in order to move additional funds back and forth.
http://listverse.com/2016/01/29/10-ways-to-move-money-like-a-crime-boss/
. The property is later sold for the full $2M which is now all clean money.
