The cases of “la línea” in guatemala, farc inances in colombia, and “operation car wash” in brazil illustrate how “following the money trail” can expose fraud, money laundering, political corruption, and terrorist inancing and shape new measures to. What does following the money trail mean? In the financial context, following the money trail refers to the process of monitoring and tracking cash flows in and out of the business. It helps identify the real roots or origin of the entities and parties involved. Following the money trail and surveillance of facilitators, like the bankers and lawyers moving and sheltering money for terrorist and criminal groups, produced critical financial intelligence that has led to the weakening of illicit actors such as al qaeda and the drug cartels. Since the 1970s, we in the u. s. Prosecute the underlying crime, follow the money trail through money laundering investigations, and forfeit the proceeds and instrumentalities of the crime. When the asian economic crisis struck indonesia in 1997 it was generally thought to signal the end of a system of power defined by the corrupt and collusive relationships of kkn (korupsi, kolusi dan nepotisme). Surely the days of the crony were over, and their corporate empires would be taken over by large international investors. As the governments of the european union and united kingdom continue to adopt more stringent rules on anonymous shell companies, there is evidence that the proceeds of criminal activity and money. Following the money trail enables authorities to thwart attacks, and despite the difficulty of permanently disabling terrorist entities, disrupting their financial transactions constrains their ability to function. Terrorism and organized crime, requires money. As secretary of state colin powell explained, “money is the oxygen of terrorism. ” the same is true of all major crimes. The potential profits from collusion provide sufficient incentives for cartels to develop creative ways to limit the temptations that inevitably arise. While scholars and policymakers have often been concerned that business cycle downturns are associated with cartel formation, the evidence we review here does not suggest strong cyclical effects.
