How does money laundering work? - Delena D. Spann

翻译人员: Cherry Zhou 校对人员: Mark Mou

As one of the most notorious gangsters in history,

作为历史上最臭名昭著的恶棍之一，

Al Capone presided over a vast and profitable empire of organized crime.

艾尔·卡彭建造过一个 巨大的组织性犯罪的盈利帝国。

When he was finally put on trial,

他在接受最后的审判时，

the most he could be convicted of was tax evasion.

他最多只能被判偷税罪。

The nearly $100 million a year,

一年接近1亿的金额，

that's 1.4 billion in today's currency,

相当于如今的14亿美元。

that Capone had earned from illegal gambling,

这些钱都是卡彭从非法赌博、

bootlegging,

商业盗版、

brothels,

组织卖淫、

and extortion,

以及敲诈勒索中获取的。

would have served as evidence of his crimes.

这些本可以成为他的犯罪证据，

But the money was nowhere to be found.

但这些钱却消失的无影无踪。

Capone and his associates had hidden it through investments in various businesses

卡彭和他的同伙 已经通过各类商业投资把金钱藏了起来，

whose ultimate ownership couldn't be proven,

而这些商业投资的最终所有权归属却都无法查证，

like cash-only laundromats.

就像是只处理现金的洗钱机。

In fact, those laundromats are part of the reason for the name of this activity,

实际上，洗钱机就是“洗钱”这一活动的

money laundering.

名字来源之一。

Money laundering came to be the term for any process

洗钱是用于形容

that cleans illegally obtained funds of their dirty criminal origins,

清洗干净那些从肮脏的犯罪源头牟取的非法利益，

allowing them to be used within the legal economy.

从而允许它们在合法经济中被使用的行为。

But Capone wasn't the first to launder money.

卡彭并不是第一个尝试洗钱的人。

In fact, this practice is about as old as money itself.

实际上，洗钱的历史和钱的产生一样早。

Merchants hid their riches from tax collecters,

商人不让收税人发现他们的财富，

and pirates sought to sell their bounty without drawing attention

海盗们会变相出售他们的战利品，

to how they got it.

不让别人知道他们从哪里获取的。

With the recent arrival of virtual currencies,

随着近年来虚拟货币，

offshore banking,

境外投资，

the darknet,

暗网，

and global markets,

以及全球市场的振兴，

schemes have become much more complex.

洗钱计划变得愈加复杂。

Although modern money laundering methods vary greatly,

虽然现代洗钱方法各种各样，

most share three basic steps:

大多数都有这三步：

placement,

投放，

layering,

叠加，

and integration.

然后整合。

Placement is where illegally obtained money is converted into assets

投放，就是将非法所得

that seem legitimate.

转化为看似合法的资产。

That's often done by depositing funds into a bank account

通常是把资金存到一个银行账户

registered to an anonymous corporation or a professional middleman.

再把账号登记在一间匿名公司， 或一个中介人名下。

This step is where criminals are often most vulnerable to detection

这一步是最经受不住侦查的，

since they introduce massive wealth into the financial system

因为他们把大量的财产无中生有地

seemingly out of nowhere.

引入了金融系统里。

The second step, layering, involves using multiple transactions

第二步，叠加，这其中运用了多次的交易

to further distance the funds from their origin.

把资金转移到离原始开户地更远的地方。

This can take the form of transfers between multiple accounts,

这可以通过不同银行账户的转账

or the purchase of tradable property,

或者购置可交易资产实现，

like expensive cars,

像是昂贵的车，

artwork,

艺术品，

and real estate.

或是房地产。

Casinos, where large sums of money change hands every second,

赌场是个进行叠加步骤的好地方，

are also popular venues for layering.

在那里每秒都有大量的现金流动。

A money launderer may have their gambling balance made available

洗钱者可以在其他国家的一家连锁赌场中

at a casino chain's locations in other countries,

换取赌资，

or work with employees to rig games.

或者跟雇员一起操纵赌局。

The last step, integration, allows clean money to re-enter the mainstream economy

最后一步是整合， 让这些被洗干净的钱再次进入主流经济

and to benefit the original criminal.

并且让不法者受利。

They might invest it into a legal business

他们可能会把钱投资到合法商业活动中，

claiming payment by producing fake invoices,

通过伪造发票来获得付款，

or even start a bogus charity,

有些甚至会组建虚假的慈善团队

placing themselves on the board of directors

委任自己为董事会，

with an exorbitant salary.

并领取高额的薪水。

Money laundering itself

洗钱活动本身，

wasn't officially recognized as a federal crime in the United States until 1986.

一直到1986年才在美国被官方地列为联邦犯罪。

Before that point, the government needed to prosecute a related crime,

在此之前，政府需要将其起诉为其他相关罪名，

like tax evasion.

比如说逃税。

From 1986 on, they could confiscate wealth simply by demonstrating

从1986年开始，只要可以证明发生过隐匿资产的行为

that concealment had occurred,

政府就有权没收财产。

which had a positive effect on prosecuting major criminal operations,

这对起诉主要的犯罪行动具有积极的作用

like drug traffickers.

像对于贩毒分子。

However, a legal shift has raised concerns

然而，法律条例变更也引起了

involving privacy and government surveillance.

民众对于这其中涉及隐私和政府监管的担忧。

Today, the United Nations,

如今，联合国，

national governments,

国家政府，

and various nonprofits

还有各种非盈利机构。

fight against money laundering,

纷纷打击洗钱。

yet the practice continues to play a major role in global crime.

然而，洗钱在全球犯罪活动中仍占有很大的比重。

And the most high-profile instances of money laundering

而且在绝大部分备受瞩目的洗钱实例中，

have involved not just private individuals,

不仅有个体参与其中，

but major financial institutions and government officials.

而且还牵涉到主要金融机构和政府官员。

No one knows for sure the total amount of money

没有人准确知道，

that's laundered on a yearly basis,

每年进行过洗钱的金额总数。

but some organizations estimate it to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

但一些组织机构估计总额会达到数千亿美元。