Trade misinvoicing concerns in south eastern Europe heightened by the Ukraine war
Trade misinvoicing remains the most prominent channel through which illicit financial flows (IFFs) flow in and out of the western Balkan states in south eastern Europe according to a new report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC).
Trade misinvoicing highlighted as UN releases first ever national IFF estimates
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Colombia, Ecuador, Maldives, Mexico, Myanmar, Nepal and Peru have produced the first-ever national estimates of illicit financial flows (IFFs) related to drug trafficking, trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants. The estimates supported by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) complement…
Trade misinvoicing the most pervasive form of Chinese money laundering says GFI
Trade misinvoicing is possibly the most pervasive form of Chinese money laundering according to a new report published by Global Financial Integrity (GFI) which concludes that China plays an extremely impactful role as a source, transit and demand country in many of the most widespread…
Misinvoicing amongst TBML typologies used to launder Colombian gold for outlaw militias
Colombia’s illegally armed groups are using legal gold exports to launder money on an industrial scale and using trade-based money laundering (TBML) techniques such as misinvoicing to export illegally mined gold according to a study of how outlaw militias play a dominant role in the country’s…
Misinvoicing amongst TBML typologies used to cover up environmental crime
Allowing environmental, conservation, and anti-corruption organisations to access export invoices and trade data to identify misinvoicing could help curb environmental crime, including illegal mining, logging, fishing, and wildlife trafficking, according to a virtual convention on environmental crime related illicit financial flows. Transparent beneficial ownership information,…
US government lost US$640 billion in a year through trade-based tax evasion and money laundering
Trade-based tax evasion and money laundering cost the US government more than US$640 billion in taxable income during 2021 according to a new report commissioned by Sēk Strategies, a Washington-based consultancy firm focused on transparency, accountability, human rights and the environment. The report is based…
Freshly sanctioned Russian entities may turn to established TBML platforms and schemes
Sanctions imposed by western countries, Australia and Japan on Russian banks, oligarchs and other wealthy individuals in response to Moscow ordering troops into separatist regions of eastern Ukraine may prompt sanctioned individuals and entities to contemplate using trade-based money laundering (TBML) operations to channel funds….
Illegal gold trade in Ecuador vulnerable to money laundering says new report
The illegal gold trade in Ecuador is growing and increasingly accelerated by illicit cross-border contraband flows and unique vulnerabilities to money laundering activity according to a new report by the Organisation of American States Department against Transnational Organised Crime (OAS/DTOC). The report, On the trail…
Trade a key channel for transferring millions of illegally obtained euros through Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia
Trade is one of the three mechanisms or ‘channels’ – alongside cash movement and the financial system – identified for transferring millions of illegally obtained euros generated from corruption, tax evasion and organised crime through Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia every year according to…
Pakistan first country in the region to join Tradelens to strengthen TBML controls
Pakistan Customs has become the first authority in the region to sign an agreement with TradeLens, a blockchain-underpinned logistics platform supported by five out of six of the world’s largest ocean carriers to digitise import-export documentation of containerised cargo. Jointly developed by Maersk and IBM, the…
