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Toward a new model of money laundering: Is the “placement, layering, integration” model obsolete?

Stefan D. Cassella (Asset Forfeiture Law LLC, Laurel, Maryland, USA)

Journal of Money Laundering Control

ISSN: 1368-5201

Article publication date: 1 October 2018

1857

Abstract

Purpose

The criminal money laundering statutes grew out of the experience drug investigators had in tracking the proceeds of illegal drug transactions. Frequently, the cash was disguised as legitimate proceeds or hidden in a way that concealed the true owner and was then moved into the legitimate stream of commerce or returned to the country where the drugs originated to keep the scheme going. This led to training investigators to believe that money laundering always occurred in three stages: placement, layering and integration. That model, however, has little application to most money laundering scenarios, including those that involve funds already in electronic form when the laundering process begins. This paper aims to take a broader look at money laundering and suggests an accordingly broader approach to identifying money laundering transactions.

Design/methodology/approach

A review of the origins of the current paradigm.

Findings

The current paradigm is obsolete.

Originality/value

A broader approach to training is needed.

Keywords

Citation

Cassella, S.D. (2018), "Toward a new model of money laundering: Is the “placement, layering, integration” model obsolete?", Journal of Money Laundering Control, Vol. 21 No. 4, pp. 494-497. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMLC-09-2017-0045

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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