The new Financial Action Task Force (FATF) report on attorney money laundering, titled Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Vulnerabilities of Legal Professionals* contains many excellent examples of how lawyers, both knowingly and unwittingly, facilitate money laundering and terrorist financing.
The report's most valuable section discusses these issues:
(1) Misuse of trust accounts by clients and attorneys.
(2) Real property purchases.
(3) Creation of companies and trusts.
(4) Management of companies and trusts.
(5) Managing client affairs & making introductions.
(6) Use of litigation in furtherance of money laundering and terrorist financing.
(7) Use of specialized legal skills.
I recommend that you review this report if you are a compliance officer. It will explain a number of tactics used by lawyers for criminal organizations that you may not be aware of.
Note that the title includes all legal professionals, not just attorneys. Paralegal assistants, and notaries in civil law jurisdictions, often perform a large portion of routine legal tasks, and one must remember that some of them are instrumental in creating the schemes used to launder client money.
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*The report can be accessed here
Note that the title includes all legal professionals, not just attorneys. Paralegal assistants, and notaries in civil law jurisdictions, often perform a large portion of routine legal tasks, and one must remember that some of them are instrumental in creating the schemes used to launder client money.
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