Where Does the Beneficial Owner Hide?

Willebois, Emile van der Does de; Halter, Emily M.; Harrison, Robert A.; Park, Ji Won; Sharman, J. C.

doi:10.1596/9780821388945_ch03

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…This makes it more likely they will employ more complex and transational ML schemes (see e.g. van der Does de Willebois et al, 2011 on the transnational laundering of grand corruption). On the contrary, members of organised crime groups, including mafia-type ones, may rely on poorer financial skills, and may want to minimise the involvement of third-party professionals and brokers so as to avoid tipping off (Savona et al, 2016; Transcrime, 2018).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cleaning mafia cash: An empirical analysis of the money laundering behaviour of 2800 Italian criminals

Nazzari,

Riccardi

2024

European Journal of Criminology

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Despite the wide reach of anti-money laundering legislation worldwide and increasing media attention, fostered by journalistic leaks such as Panama Papers, empirical knowledge on how criminals launder their illicit proceeds is still scarce. The few available empirical studies show that money laundering (ML) schemes are often less sophisticated than they are depicted in the political and media debate. To contribute to the empirical knowledge of ML behaviour, and test this hypothesis, the present study analyses the ML activities related to 2818 Italian offenders included in the ML section of the LexisNexis’ WorldCompliance database. Through a quantitative content analysis of textual information related to each offender's profile, it highlights the characteristics of the ML offenders, the methods (or ‘typologies’ in FATF terms) employed, the assets seized, the business sectors involved and the countries in which ML was conducted. The results confirm that criminals tend to employ unsophisticated typologies, as well as prefer Italy or jurisdictions that are close (geographically and culturally) to Italy for laundering their illicit proceeds. Tangible assets (first real estate and registered vehicles) are more frequent than financial assets. Finally, differences exist between the laundering by mafia-related ML offenders and non-mafia ones. The study provides empirical ground to progress in the knowledge of how ML offenders behave, and supports the idea that criminals, when laundering their proceeds, do not act as legitimate entrepreneurs, but may be driven by other constraints and drivers.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cleaning mafia cash: An empirical analysis of the money laundering behaviour of 2800 Italian criminals

Nazzari,

Riccardi

2024

European Journal of Criminology

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“…Those corporations generated some $860 million in duties and taxes, about 25 per cent of public revenue 1 . The World Bank nurses grave concerns that the very high annual number of new legal entities in US, around ten times more than in all 41 tax haven jurisdictions combined, includes a large number of shell companies with hidden owners (Quillen and Hanrahan 1993; Van der Does de Willebois et al 2011, p. 93; Vlcek 2017). 2…”

Section: IImentioning

confidence: 99%

A perfect symbiosis: Curaçao, the Netherlands and financial offshore services, 1951–2013

Beurden¹,

Jonker

2021

Financial History Review

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Analysing Curaçao as an offshore financial centre from its inception to its gradual decline, we find that it originated and evolved in close concert with the demand for such services from Western countries. Dutch banks and multinationals spearheaded the creation of institutions on the island facilitating tax avoidance. In this they were aided and abetted by their government, which firmly supported the Antilles in getting access to bilateral tax treaties, notably the one with the United States. Until the mid 1980s Curaçao flourished, but then found it increasingly difficult to keep a competitive advantage over other offshore centres. Meanwhile the Curaçao connection had enabled the Netherlands to turn itself into a hub for international revenue flows that today still feed both Dutch tax income and specialised financial, legal and accounting services.

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“…Nevertheless, due to the inherent obscure nature of the phenomenon, estimating the amount of corruption proceeds that are generated and laundered worldwide is difficult (Kaufmann, Kraay and Mastruzzi, 2006), and several often-cited corruption statistics have been shown to be problematic or completely unfounded (Wathne and Stephenson, 2021). Whatever data and method we adopt, the amount of corruption proceeds that are traced and confiscated is disturbingly small (World Bank, 2007; Hansen, 2014), as asset recovery is hindered by multiple factors, such as the sophistication of money laundering techniques, the complexity of judicial proceedings, the lack of resources and the lack of political will in the country where these proceeds are generated (Van der Does de Willebois et al , 2011; Tarullo, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global sanctions against corruption and asset recovery: a European approach

Pavlidis

2021

JMLC

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Purpose This paper aims to critically examine whether it is timely and actionable for the European Union (EU) to adopt a global sanctions regime against corruption and how such a regime can be designed to maximise its efficiency. This paper argues that developing such a dedicated framework is necessary, feasible and supportive of the international fight against corruption and the efforts to enhance the recovery of corruption proceeds. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws on reports, legislations, legal scholarships and other open-source data on global sanctions against corruption and the recovery of corruption proceeds. Findings This paper argues in favour of a dedicated global sanctions regime against corruption, which is necessary to mitigate significant risks for the EU internal market. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to examine recent legislative developments, such as the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime and the UK Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions Regulations, and the possible development of an EU-dedicated global sanctions regime against corruption with strong asset recovery components.

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Where Does the Beneficial Owner Hide?

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Cleaning mafia cash: An empirical analysis of the money laundering behaviour of 2800 Italian criminals

Cleaning mafia cash: An empirical analysis of the money laundering behaviour of 2800 Italian criminals

A perfect symbiosis: Curaçao, the Netherlands and financial offshore services, 1951–2013

Global sanctions against corruption and asset recovery: a European approach

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