“Money laundering.” We hear that term associated with white collar crime on the news and in crime reports but does the average person actually know what it means?
I used to share an office with a gentleman who moved here from China. It was in the early 1990’s when a famous case in the Atlanta area came to light. Fred Tokars, an attorney in the metro Atlanta area, was convicted of killing his wife through a hired hit because she found out he was laundering money.
My friend came to work one day and asked me…”What is laundry money?” Honestly I had no idea what he was talking about until he uttered the words….”FRED TOKARS”. Then I knew. I also knew I wasn’t really sure how to explain laundering money to him.
In the white collar crime world money laundering is very prevalent because most of the money that is laundered is gained illegally. People want to cover their tracks. Money laundering is defined as the practice of engaging in financial transactions to conceal the identity, source and/or destination of illegally gained money. Tax evasion and false accounting make up many of the white collar crime accusations in the money laundering world.
The most basic money laundering scheme is called “cashing up”. Say a business, such as a gas station, has a long standing relationship with a bank. If they have made consistent deposits for years, then the opportunity may arise to make a “larger” than normal deposit every now and then. This doesn’t look criminal, can be attributed to the business and the money launderer can now pull their money out of the bank all nice and clean.
People can also use shell companies that show income on the books but actually don’t make any money. The income is reported, taxes are paid and the money is laundered. This is white collar crime at its best, cleaning dirty money.
Do you suspect white collar crime in your business? Contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.
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