The casino is owned and operated by TechOptions Group B.V., a company working under a Curaçao gaming license, which ensures all the games are fair and random. There are countless ways for money to enter the financial system, but there are some more common ways in which criminals approach the placement stage of money laundering. Money laundering schemes are complex and often have a cross-border element. There are a number of well-known money laundering schemes out there, and while money launderers are always looking for new ways to conduct criminal activities without getting caught, many of the schemes they use have similar features. Financial crime is incredibly harmful to the UK economy, and businesses are required to follow legal processes that seek to stop money laundering in its tracks. Money laundering is the process used by criminals to disguise funds that are generated from, or used to finance, illicit activities. As shown by the above explanation, money laundering is an extremely complex form of financial crime that can make it very difficult to prosecute criminals or to reclaim their illegally sourced assets. The provisions can be found in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA), and the Terrorism Act 2006 (TA 2006) among other pieces of legislation – and require firms to take steps to identify the source of client funds.
In truth, all businesses are at risk of financial crimes since criminals are often inventive and are constantly finding new ways to dodge the provisions of money laundering legislation. Our test account has not yet reached VIP status, but according to customers’ comments across the web, VIP managers are even more attentive. The funds are paid into a client account in expectation of a major transaction, which is subsequently cancelled. These are often small enterprises that frequently take cash payments, and so it becomes very difficult to sort illicit capital from physical money that has been earned by offering a legitimate product or service. Shell companies and even functional businesses can be used to disguise the real origins of laundered cash. By investing in stocks and other securities, it’s possible for criminals to effectively disguise the source of their illegal funds. In simple terms, money laundering is a form of financial crime that enables criminals to disguise the source of their money.
Money laundering also makes it far more difficult for the authorities to successfully prosecute criminals and seize back dirty money under the Proceeds of Crime Act. While many financial institutions and banks that provide investment services are on the lookout for any criminal activity, it’s much harder to trace money back to its source once it has been invested in the markets. Phantom shipping is another well-known form of invoice fraud that involves creating documents for orders that are never actually shipped. Criminal proceeds may be staked at a casino or via another form of gambling, before being used to purchase securities and other assets, and then going on to be used to purchase financial products. They might purchase new assets with ‘clean’ money before using them to integrate and layer further illegal gains throughout the market. This involves extracting the money from the complex transactions of the layering stage, and using it to make large-scale investments. They also make investments in the property market, and may even go as far as to create further fake invoices to overstate the value of the goods they import or export.
By layering money through numerous transactions and bank accounts, criminals can obscure the source of their funds and may even resort to fraudulent accounting practices to do so. In the third stage of integration money laundering, criminals integrate their funds into the economy. Layering is arguably the most complex stage of the money laundering process, as criminals attempt to create a confusing web of transactions and transfers. The scope of the various anti-money laundering rules is broad, and so complying with the law is no mean feat. The involvement of currency exchanges and international banks can further complicate anti-money laundering processes, and so businesses need to carefully scrutinise any payments that have a cross-border element. Since by now the funds appear to come from legitimate sources, it becomes possible for criminals to spend their money without raising the alarm about suspected money laundering. The practice makes it seems as if the money has come from genuine legal activity, and is much harder for banks to spot than huge cash deposits. Smurfing’ is the practice of splitting a large amount of money down into smaller transactions. This practice allows for criminal gangs to transfer money gained from illegal activities to foreign countries.
