Counterfeit Goods: Money Laundering in Plain Sight

The sale of counterfeit goods may be thought of as a relatively harmless crime, when in reality production, sale, and distribution of counterfeit goods represents money laundering, corruption, fraud, human trafficking, sanctions evasion, and terrorist finance. Much like the sale of illegal narcotics, the production, distribution, and sale of counterfeit goods can yield hundreds of billions of dollars every year. As a result, transnational and localized organized crime groups are involved at every step of the operation. This session will highlight the risks involved with the sale of counterfeit goods, as well as the illicit actors involved, and how these goods make their way into the stream of commerce. This session will explain the nexus between organized criminal activity and the sale of counterfeit goods, while drawing sharp correlations to traditional anti-money laundering controls. Attendees will learn the risk indicators of the sale of counterfeit goods, as well as how to use open source databases to enhance due diligence searches for potential vendors linked to the sale of counterfeit goods. The session will provide recommendations on how to leverage analytics and gap analysis to further detect potentially high-risk customers, products, and transactions.

Presented by: Michael Schidlow, Scienter Group