News
Human Trafficking, the Second Largest Crime in the World, is Aided By Laundering, Says Anti-Corruption Expert
printHuman trafficking profits are estimated to be between 10 and 40 billion dollars annually, but few people are taking the time to root out related money laundering transactions, according to Dr. Louise Shelley. What's more, the wire transfers and real estate transactions tied to the crime might be detected and blocked with greater attention and knowledge of the regions where human trafficking is most prevalent, said Shelley, director of the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC) at George Mason University, an organization that studies terrorism, transnational crime and corruption issues. But compliance officers mandated to understand the risks of...
TO READ THE FULL STORY
Subscribe
Learn More
Related News
Organized crime groups and blacklisted terrorist organizations have taken advantage of the lack of attention and oversight in recent years to infiltrate the gold sector, according to an expert at Geneva-based Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.
Last month's confirmation hearing for Adam Szubin, who is seeking to become undersecretary for Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Crime, lacked the fireworks that might have been expected given the Republican majority's animosity toward the Obama administration's agreement with Iran.
The identification of suspicious transactions by financial institutions offers an important means of fighting human trafficking, the U.S. State Department said in a report Friday.
Suspicious transaction reports are among the biggest leads for investigators into the money laundering operations of human trafficking and smuggling operations, an intergovernmental group said Wednesday.
More than a dozen governments are working with the Financial Action Task Force to draft guidance on how to identify financial transactions tied to human trafficking, say individuals familiar with the matter.
A new U.S. Justice Department initiative to combat human trafficking has caught the attention of federal bank examiners, who are asking banks about transactions tied to the crime.
Some of the country's largest banks are increasingly monitoring account activity for signs of possible human trafficking, according to individuals familiar with the initiatives.
Arizona investigators are free to seize Western Union money transfers believed to be tied to human smuggling operations, even when the transfers originated from other states, a state court said.
The case points to the difficulties that large money service businesses face in detecting compliance violations at associated stores, compliance consultants say.