How are businesses used to launder money?

Money laundering is a process that criminals use in an attempt to hide the illegal source of their income. By passing money through complex transfers and transactions, or through a series of businesses, the money is “cleaned” of its illegitimate origin and made to appear as legitimate business profits.

Why do drug dealers need to launder money?

In order to invest the profits of their illicit activities and avoid having their assets seized by the government, drug traffickers must transform the monetary proceeds from their criminal activity into revenue from apparently legal sources. This is known as money laundering.

Is there money laundering in the art market?

“The art market is an ideal playing ground for money laundering,” says Thomas Christ, a board member of the Basel Institute on Governance, a Swiss nonprofit that has proposed anti-money-laundering standards for art market operators. He added, “We have to ask for clear transparency, where you got the money from and where it is going.”

How do racketeers launder money through art?

Works of art have long been identified, and sometimes even romanticized, as ideal ways for racketeers to launder money. There’s a thread of logic here: the art world typically accommodates those that want to anonymously buy high-dollar paintings, and on top of that, the industry allows large cash deals.

Are high-end art and Antiquities a laundering target?

Last year, we blogged in detail about the potential role of high-end art and antiquities in money laundering schemes, and the voluntary AML programs which art dealers might adopt to combat such schemes. The Report identifies the art market as “an ideal playing ground for money laundering.”

Are art sales through auction houses subject to anti-money laundering laws?

The Rotenberg example and many other investigation details highlight the fact that, unlike selling stock or making routine bank transfers, art sales through auction houses are not subject to anti-money laundering provisions in the Bank Secrecy Act.