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n“Money Laundering” has been around for close to a
century
•(Joseph Kennedy, Al Capone were money launderers).
nFueled by high profitability due to US prohibitionist
policies
•(first alcohol, later imported drugs including heroin, cocaine).
nThe 1980s war on ML via FATF was driven by US political
interests:
•(“If we can follow the money trail we can catch the drug
crooks”)
nIn the 1990s FATF became
interested in evidence-based research into global ML
• (but US interests
rejected it in favour of a narrow drug-focussed study)
nIn September 2001, the
World Changed . . .
•Because the US changed. Its changed domestic politics redirected its
international response.
Fear and vengeance were key political drivers.
nImmediate response - find the culprits and make them
pay
•Enormous effort – no expense spared
•50,000 personnel to find the terrorists
nWho were they; How did they get here; How were they
paid
•Financial transactions the key to investigations
nRealisation that drugs
were not the sole source . . .
A brief
history of money laundering
nI told them so in
1996!