When criminals want to use money that they have got by theft or other forms of deception, they need to create the pretence of legitimacy. That loosely is the definition of money laundering. Nick Kochan has been investigating and exposing those pretences for some 20 years. While money laundering is an almost eternal art, it gained global prominence after 9/11.
Nick Kochan’s book The Washing Machine, which covers terrorist financing, as well as money laundering by organised crime, was a ground breaker. It pulled in to the money laundering web Russian mafia, a host of terrorist groups, drugs cartel lords from South America, and petty remittance agencies from Britain. It remains consulted by law enforcement agencies, universities, and ironically, by some criminals. In the course of his money laundering research, Nick Kochan travelled far and wide, and this experience and knowledge is reflected in many articles in leading publications. He is also consulted by a number of agencies and companies.
Private bankers need to know as much as possible about the customers that pass through their doors, and the wealth that they carry. So each customer who wants to open an account is subjected to considerable processes of due diligence. If the customer is a businessman who has made his …
An extract from Nick Kochan’s book – The Washing Machine Our security depends on it. Our way of doing trade with trust is based on it. Global economic activity with nations relies on it. Money must be earned and spent fairly and openly. By the same token, money that is …
published in The Wall Street Journal April 11 2005 The creation, movement and spending of illegal money represents a greater challenge for bankers in Latin and South America than possibly anywhere in the world. The three-fold problem of pervasive illegal drugs production and selling, political corruption and poorly resourced regulatory …
