For assistance with your Anti Money Laundering, Corruption and Fraud investigations; former police and/or a certified fraud analyst private investigator can assist. Phone 1300 966 103, alternately you can email [email protected]  Free Quotes!

Money Laundering is literally about 'cleaning' money.  Unexplained, or unexplainable, income from illegitimate sources is put through a process whereby it becomes money from a legitimate source.
It is generally associated with the concept of criminal gangs or 'organised' crime. Corruption thrives in such an atmosphere of easy money. Silence, and lack of action or oversight, allow corruption to thrive, it may open the door to the business being the subject of employee fraud.

RICO laws are an American concept, RICO is short from Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organisations. Within Australia, New Zealand and Canada there are similar laws. All these countries also have standing bodies at State and Federal level that are charged to act as the 'watchdogs' for corruption.It may be that someone with a lot of cash from illegal activity (ie drug money), starts a 'legitimate' business, so they can filter 'cash' through this business, taking it from illegitimate to legitimate, or 'legally' obtained income... the income become 'legal' when you pay tax on it.

Criminals often seek to balance their illegal and legal income, so they stay in the lowest tax bracket. this is where the description 'unexplained wealth' comes from. The person who works for the council but pays more off their house than they actually earn. The person who works as a Trades Assistant but has the newly renovated house, and no debt. This may be from many forms of corruption, or family money.

ORGANISED CRIME have expectations, when groups choose to utilise their money as finance. This is especially relevant for land developments and construction. Criminal groups do not accept risk, they want THEIR money. Where there is a problem, and an investment fails, such groups will ignore bankruptcy protection or other legal procedures. They will find a way to enforce the repayment of monies by threat or other inducement.

In Australia the BIGGEST facilitator of money laundering was the BIG FOUR BANKS. The Banking Royal Commission exposed this greed based behaviour. The Government promptly failed to attach any criminal sanction to greedy, corrupt, bankers, choosing instead to punish the unknowing shareholder, by fining the banks. The money paid to the Government by the banks was that of the shareholder. The bankers faced no penalty, keeping their salaries, shares, and bonuses, thus entrenching corruption.

This Corruption, and corrupt practices, are a hidden expense to business, a threat to reputations and contracts. To banks they represent profits. Governments also see it as a revenue loss through 'black' money transactions and/or avoidance of royalties and other charges, as well as the corrupt actions of officials impacting on decisions, and kickbacks to gain a commercial advantage. Some of this money appears to flow towards particular political parties, including through Unions.

Corruption includes 'ghosting', that is paying for staff, for material, for overtime that never existed, or was diverted. It can be as simple as a contractor claiming to have poured a 200mm thick slab, when in fact it was only 150mm with them pocketing the difference in concrete costs, quoted. It can be a rort where the lead contractor is invoiced for workers that were never there. Material can be diverted to private jobs, steel, fittings, air-conditioners used elsewhere. Another popular one is the use of company equipment for private jobs, cash jobs.

To protect their interests companies need to watch for, and actively guard against, corrupt practices, money laundering, systemic rorting, internal fraud and any negative impacts such activity may have. It is preferable to be shown as proactively dealing with these issues, than to have a government investigation and the associated publicity forced upon you.

Failure to act may also lead to conclusions that corruption is systemic, or that the business leadership is involved. Area's where corruption has had a major impact, or been a threat to business, include government (Sovereign) level negotiations to gain access to area's, building and construction (in some States it is estimated to add 10%-30% to costs), Contract tendering processes, Business profitability and Service provision (financial advice), Investments, Business Tenders, Union dealings and the Provision of Aid to other countries (tithes are extracted along the way, as most insist on cash, rather than goods, as support).

Within companies area's of impact include tendering, sub-contracting, rorts by employees including fraudulent activity, employment and risks associated with financial support to subsidiaries. Members of the board, and Senior staff, who are in a position to influence decisions, or use company decisions for personal gain, are also subject to corrupting influences.

Businesses have been bought down, or suffered sever public reactions and commercial loss, as the result of corrupt practices such as 'special' arrangements for credit or inflated income claims e.g. the Sub Prime meltdown in the US triggering the GFC.

We do expect to see the big brother of the GFC to appear, at some stage, due to the compromised actions, the cowardice, of politicians, who refused to address the real corruption at that time in banking and associated industries. Fraud of that size, corruption of that size, is beyond the scope of the private investigator.

On a smaller scale corruption in a tendering process can lead to a good business losing out to a bad business, with corrupt leadership, who come to an arrangement with the person controlling the tendering process. This happens in both government and private business. Often it is a simple thing such as a new outboard, or motorbike as a birthday 'gift', or work done on a house and billed to an unrelated job. Corruption is also rife within some Union movements, who influence contractor selection.

The methods utilised to detect and deal with fraud, corruption and money laundering are varied, but all do come back to the skills of the Certified Fraud Examiner, sometimes a forensic accountant (although may accountants fail to identify fraud), the private investigator, and their analysis. Quite often the first step is independent administrative and financial compliance audits by suitably qualified examiners. We have staff available who have dealt with corruption investigations on a local, national and international scale.

It is unfortunate that large scale fraud, corruption, money laundering, including international transfers to support terrorism, have become untouchable, due to the cowardice of politicians. The evidence has been adduced, over and over, with regards banks, Unions, and foreign actors, and politicians have either been complicit, compromised, and simply cowards. No-one is jailed, on some occasions share holders, and minor players, have paid a penalty, but the actual crooks simply walked. That has set the tone for Australian fraud.

A private investigation cannot address large scale corruption, as the corrupt are affording protection by those in positions of power. We can only address small scale corruption, specific cases of Government corruption targeting an individual, corrupt business practices, and the actions of those who are willing to avid their obligations as an employee, or a business.

We conduct fraud Investigations, it is a risk to organisations, that may become organised crime fronts for larger businesses, and forced to conduct money laundering activities. It may be criminal activity and fraud, which can simply cause bankruptcy for smaller business.