this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2023
12 points (87.5% liked)

Privacy

96 readers
1 users here now

Privacy is the ability for an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively.

Rules

  1. Don't do unto others what you don't want done unto you.
  2. No Porn, Gore, or NSFW content. Instant Ban.
  3. No Spamming, Trolling or Unsolicited Ads. Instant Ban.
  4. Stay on topic in a community. Please reach out to an admin to create a new community.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
[email protected]
12
How is withdrawing cash a trigger for money laundering? (www.brusselstimes.com)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
11 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

My understanding of money laundering is the baddies have huge truck loads of untaxed dirty cash and they need to somehow legitimize it to get it into the bank. E.g. from Breaking Bad: drug money → car wash with phony sales → bank. Once it’s in the bank, it’s on the radar.

The linked article says that withdrawing cash is a money laundering red flag. Can someone please explain why that is? AFAIK, if the money is in the bank it must already be clean (or appear so), no?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Cash is anonymous and because of it not having a verifiable origin, cash is treated as suspect. The irony of laws to prevent money laundering is that they basically only frustrates normal people, while criminals have access to lawyers and bankers that will help them successfully launder money.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Not sure it’s accurate to say cash is anonymous considering the practical matter of having to be present in person to spend it and collect a receipt if needed. Lack of traceability is certainly a factor, which is both a feature and a bug depending on whether the tracing is warranted.

But indeed I agree that the non-criminal masses are suffering collateral damage in this hunt for relatively few criminals who can be caught in other ways.