Money laundering can be defined, generally, as the process of concealing the existence, illegal source, or application of income derived from a criminal activity, and the subsequent disguising of the source of that income to make it appear legitimate. Deception is the heart of money laundering. The use of international trade to move money, undetected, from one country to another is one of the oldest techniques used to circumvent government scrutiny. International trade as a means of laundering money is also a technique generally ignored by most government law enforcement agencies. This article details how false international trade invoicing is used to move money across borders, undetected. This research details how the statistical analysis of the U.S. trade database can assist in measuring illegal money flows. It also details some statistical techniques that may be used to detect and monitor these abnormal transactions.

No abstract

Using import-export information to improve financial transaction security.

The objective of this research is to determine the impact of Switzerland's money laundering law on the movement of money through false invoicing in international trade. This study evaluates every reported import and export transaction between the USA and Switzerland during the period 1995-2000. The study indicates that there were significant changes in the degree of abnormal international trade pricing subsequent to the enactment of Switzerland's antimoney laundering law. The study supports the view that individuals and companies will find substitute techniques and channels to launder money when central banking authorities enact legislation that only focuses on financial institutions.

No abstract