South Pacific transnational money laundering typologies

The paper aims to present typologies of transnational money laundering in South Pacific island countries, thereby filling a gap in the extant literature.

This paper is based on seven significant transnational money laundering cases involving South Pacific island nations. It provides analyses of the modus operandi of criminals and classifies those according to typologies from anti-money laundering authorities and bodies.

Typologies of money laundering have arrived through a content analysis of seven cases involving transnational money laundering destined for South Pacific island nations. The typologies which have emerged show the predominant forms of transnational money laundering in this region. This knowledge could be useful to government policy-makers and financial institutions pursuing anti-money laundering initiatives.

There is a dearth of academic research into typologies of transnational money laundering involving the South Pacific. This paper makes a useful contribution to the extant literature by providing the most recent typologies in this respect.