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Prosecuting the Money Launderers Who Act for Organised Crime

NCJ Number
201590
Author(s)
R. E. Bell
Date Published
2000
Length
9 pages
Annotation
After providing an overview of globalization and organized crime, this paper discusses the prosecution of global money laundering and proposes a comprehensive strategy for combating the money laundering activities of organized crime.
Abstract
The forces of globalization have had a profound effect on the world's economies and have presented new opportunities for organized crime and associated new challenges for legal systems and law enforcement. The infusion of billions of dollars from organized crime into money laundering schemes poses a significant threat to countries on both a micro- and macro-economic level. The wealth being legitimized through money laundering allows criminal organizations to gain economic power in a country fairly quickly. One of the difficulties in prosecuting global money laundering is that money-laundering legislation in many countries is not adequate to facilitate effective prosecution. Further, the more complex the money laundering operation, the greater the difficulty of the investigation and the problems in explaining the case to a jury. Other issues that must be addressed are the diversification of criminal enterprises, the separation of functions, and the obtaining of evidence. After outlining issues that must be considered when developing money-laundering legislation, the paper proposes a comprehensive strategy to counter organized crime's money laundering. It involves a multidisciplinary approach, clear prosecution policies on money laundering, going beyond improved mutual legal assistance, and adopting civil forfeiture legislation.