Money Laundering: Is It Now A Corporate Problem?

Money laundering occurs in almost every crime where there is a financial motive. People who commit most crimes have personal enrichment as at least one of their motives. Because of the need to hide the fact that wealth came from a criminal act, the criminals need to disguise the money. This forms the basis of all money‐laundering and tax crimes. To complete the money‐laundering activity generally involves a series of transactions designed to disguise the source of funds, so that these assets may be used without discovery by law enforcement. Through the money‐laundering process the individual tries to transform the appearance of the funds derived from the illegal activity into one having come from a legitimate source. There has been an emerging new system of money laundering where the use of legitimate commercial trade activity is being used by criminals involved in illegal activity to disguise their criminally derived profits as coming from legitimate businesses.