Expert: The UAE has developed its plan and initiatives to combat these practices

Awareness ... 8 internationally common methods and stages of money laundering operations

  • There are several negative effects of money laundering operations, the most prominent of which is the negative impact of the economy.

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  • Mohamed Helmy: "The establishment of a money laundering crime court strengthens the UAE's efforts to confront these crimes and prosecute their perpetrators."

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Financial expert and tax agent, Mohamed Helmy, said, "The United Arab Emirates has made great efforts to develop its strategic plan and initiatives in confronting money laundering practices and combating terrorist financing at the global level."

He assured «Emirates Today» that the establishment of the money laundering and tax evasion crimes court, which was announced last November, strengthens the effective efforts of the UAE to confront these crimes and ensure that the perpetrators are prosecuted and brought to justice, which contributes to strengthening the competitive position of the state at the regional and global levels. Moreover, this step reflects the UAE's keenness to support the trend towards specializing in judicial work to raise the level of performance and achieve leadership and excellence.

money laundering

And my dream indicated that money laundering is defined as the process of converting large amounts of money, obtained by illegal means, into clean and tradable money in public activities, and it is also a method used to conceal and cover the sources through which money is earned, through the use of investment means It is illegal, and then its profits are invested in legitimate and legal activities.

Helmy said, "There is a set of tools used by money laundering criminals, which vary between simple and traditional methods, to the use of technological means that help them in the money laundering process."

Among the most popular money laundering tools are the following:

1 Illicit Trade: One of the most popular traditional money laundering tools, which use all commercial channels, in order to facilitate the money laundering process.

2 Seeking help from a group of financial institutions: they are institutions that contribute to facilitating money laundering operations, by providing legal cover within the business and financial activities that they undertake.

3 Real estate leasing: It is the one that depends on the use of illegal capital in a group of real estate investment projects.

4 Loans ... which are one of the most common means used in money laundering, as loans linked to an interest value are approved, and as a result, illegal money is offered as loan amounts.

5 Internet technology .. One of the modern means of money laundering, which depends on the transfer of illegal funds to any other financial investments such as stocks and bonds, through the use of websites that act as a financial intermediary, which facilitates the process of investing unwashed money.

Phase

Helmy explained that there are three stages in which money laundering operations take place, namely:

- Deposit stage: it is known as the employment or replacement stage, and through it large amounts of illegal cash, i.e. dirty money, are disposed of in several ways, such as keeping them in a bank, or a financial institution, or by converting them into foreign currencies, or through buying Cars, yachts, and valuables for easy future sale.

- The stage of camouflage: This stage is called the stage of blackout, or collection, and it begins when the funds enter the channels of the legitimate banking system, so the money launderer separates the money that he wants to launder from its illegal source.

The integration stage: it is the last stage of money laundering, and it is represented in granting these funds a legitimate character, so it is known as the drying stage, and here the laundered money is merged with the banking system and the economic cycle, and it appears as natural returns for commercial deals, such as artificial loans, fake companies and fictitious bills. .

Motives

Helmy indicated that there are several reasons and motives behind money laundering operations, namely:

- Hide illegal wealth from the eyes of the authorities.

Avoid paying taxes on profits.

- Re-investing illegal funds with the aim of increasing profits.

Using illegal funds to do business, and granting it a legal stamp.

Helmy said that there are several negative effects of money laundering operations, the most prominent of which is the negative impact of the economy.

As a result of the absence of competition and profit elements in the market, and their replacement with crimes resulting from money laundering, and the weakness of fair competition.

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