Money Laundering
Money laundering is used in a wide range of criminal activities, from small scale fraud to international drug rings and terrorist networks. The goal of money laundering is deception, making assets appear to be obtained through legal means or owned by third parties with no relationship to the true owner.
The inherent complexity of money laundering poses a daunting challenge for investigators and analysts seeking to connect assets to illegal activities. When criminal organizations employ sophisticated money laundering techniques, investigators are often left with a maze of seemingly unrelated data.
i2 software assists investigators by enabling them to quickly understand volumes of disparate data, find hidden connections and communicate the results.
Using i2's suite of visual investigative analysis software, investigators can:
- Understand thousands of financial transactions and related data
- Follow transactions through offshore accounts and shell companies
- Link criminal organizations and assets to illegal activities
- Quickly communicate complex money laundering schemes
When examining the money laundering tactics of an organized criminal network, investigators must first organize all the data gathered from numerous sources.
iBase can be used to easily create a database that organizes and manages all the multi-format data gathered during an investigation such as suspect information, financial transactions, accounts owners, directors of companies and property ownership.
Because iBase can be quickly populated and is easily adapted for all types of data, the database grows with the investigation. iBase includes full query and reporting capabilities and allows appropriate access to information by all members of an investigative team.
Once information is captured and organized, investigators need to clearly understand which pieces of information are relevant and how they relate to each other. Analyst's Notebook is used to uncover hidden links in a sea of data and focus the investigation.
Analyst's Notebook techniques such as link and transaction analysis can be used to build a picture of the people, organizations and events involved in money laundering. As the relationships between companies, individuals, accounts and transactions are uncovered, the working charts grow in complexity.
Analytical charts are more than just pictures. Investigators record the details of all source documents either on cards behind each chart element or through a direct link to a database. This ensures that when the legal process begins all documentary evidence is organized and substantiates the charts.
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Chart developed by KPMG Forensic Accounting examines several offshore companies involved in suspicious daily transactions and their relationship to key directors and shareholders. Over 4,000 transactions were examined in this analysis. |  |
Investigators can then focus on key relationships, producing simplified charts that cut to the heart of the case. |
The money laundering activities of a sophisticated criminal network may make perfect sense to the investigators who have worked on the case for months but can be extremely difficult to convey to others.
Analyst's Notebook not only provides powerful analysis, it also generates charts that have proven effective in quickly communicating complex cases to team members, prosecutors and juries. When it is time to obtain an arrest warrant or conviction, a visual representation linked to all the supporting evidence is worth its weight in gold.
Investigative team members who do not have access to Analyst's Notebook can be briefed electronically using i2's free ChartReader.
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