Crime School: Money Laundering: True Crime Meets the World of Business and Finance
What exactly is money laundering? Mathers, a former undercover operative with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and an expert on the topic, explains that the term dates back to the 1930s. Al Capone owned hundreds of commercial laundries, and he declared a fraction of his illegal earnings from the liquor business as legitimate takings from the laundries--washing his money, in other words. The detergent has changed over the years--today's crooks often use real estate to wash their money-- but the process remains the same. The book lays out exactly how criminals turn bad money into good; it also describes, among other things, the pervasiveness of organized crime, how to obtain false identification, and the mechanics of blackmail. Mathers has an easygoing, often humorous prose style: after noting that most criminals look like everybody else, he adds, "When people try to pick out the bad guys, they're usually looking for Don Corleone, when maybe they should be looking for Don Knotts." A revealing look at crime and the criminals who practice it.David PittCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved