Many of the techniques that drug traffickers and organized crime figures use to launder money are also employed by terrorist groups - as those involved in investigating the attacks of September 11, 2001 soon discovered. These techniques and their perpetrators have grown in number and sophistication, creating an urgent need for investigators to develop strategies that will help keep them one step ahead of the game.

Authoritative and accessible, Money Laundering: A Guide for Criminal Investigators, Second Edition is based on the author's extensive experience in law enforcement. It provides a clear understanding of money laundering practices and explains the investigative and legislative processes that are essential in detecting and circumventing this illegal and ultimately dangerous activity.

In addition to being an informative and straightforward resource for those investigating complex narcotics cases or other cases in which there is a financial component, this new edition addresses techniques used to track down the money trail of terrorists who are highly motivated, well-trained, organized, disciplined - and well-funded.

What's New in the Second Edition:

þ Explains money laundering provisions under the U.S. Patriot Act
þ Explains how the changes in federal forfeiture law affect existing money laundering law
þ Clarifies current legislation and how it affects money laundering investigation
þ Outlines the basics as well as the emerging trends of terrorist financing
þ Includes two new chapters on the investigation of terrorist activities

Average Customer Review: ( 7 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.

It is in its explanations that the book is strongest. These are simply written, without jargon. For example, using the analogy of Al Capone's enterprises, it gives the best and simplest description of a balance sheet and financial statement and what goes into their makeup that I have ever seen. When this began I was suspicious that the Capone analogy was going to have to be stretched beyond any usefulness, but this turned out not to be the case at all. In fact, the analogy gave the explanations life and character.

Its outline of resources, to consider was equally direct and useful, even to a Canadian investigation.

25 of 35 found the following review helpful:

Money Laundering for the Stupid.Apr 07, 2001

Do not waste your time or money on this book. The book assumes that all readers have the financial literacy of a high school student. Of course, the book was purportly written for police investigations so maybe the authors dummed it down so their fellow law enforcement friends would be able to understand it. For example, the book goes into painly silly details about what a balance sheet and income statement are all about and how to read them properly. (ie the section on debit-credit was particularly useless) My personal favorite was the filler section on how to buy real-estate or securities. The book only really gets to the interesting(and the most imporant aspect of a book on money laundering) "how to" structures of money laundering operations in a couple of chapters. One chapter is basically dedicated to simple structures like using smurfs so that is essentially useless. BOTTOM LINE: if you are at all familar with money laundering, financial statements, bank secrecy act, tax rules, yadda yadda, then this book is a waste of your time. If you know nothing about the above, then you may find the book useful.

4 of 5 found the following review helpful:

Excellent ResourceSep 30, 2005
By Sheri Barrette "Graduate Student"
The text provides excellent introduction into the crime of money laundering...very easy to understand and at times comical. Although the book is a bit dated, its concepts remain the same and I would recommend this text for anyone interested in understanding the role of money laundering.

Great book. Good backgroundJun 25, 2009
By Help "AML Guru"
I would recommend this book to anyone wishing to learn more about AML and the background behind the issues we face.

Even I Could Understand ItJul 06, 2008
By fhk
This is more than a text book. It's a excellent primer in money laundering. It gives examples from the most simple to the most complex methods of hiding illegally obtained money from the prying eyes of law enforcement. I could have used this early in my career. I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning the how's of money launderers. A second edition is now out.

See all 7 customer reviews on Amazon.com