The notable reason why individuals and groups engage in illegal activity is to make money. Nowadays, due to significant developments in financial information systems and online communication, money may be instantaneously transferred anywhere in the world with speed, anonymity, and ease. This makes the task of preventing, detecting, and prosecuting money laundering more critical than ever. Money laundering is the method by which criminals disguise the illegal origins of their wealth and protect their asset bases, so as to avoid the suspicion of law enforcement agencies and prevent leaving a trail of incriminating evidence.
For decades, money laundering and tax avoidance have relatively frequently been perceived by the international community as intricate issues “hinging on the minutiae of tax codes and regulatory laws” and yet that perception masks “a destructive, often bloody reality.” Proceeds derived from financial fraud, illegal arms sales, illegal drugs trade, subornment, or human sex trafficking sustain the existence and expand the power of organized crime and terrorist groups on the transnational, national, and local scales. The likely social, economic and political consequences of money laundering, if left unconstrained or tackled inefficiently, are grave and include the derailment of financial institutions, the collapse of emerging economies, and enhanced volatility of the financial markets, all of which can cause and have caused widespread social and political destabilization.
This chaos in turn fuels the formation of a thriving criminal underworld, where the respect for individual human rights and the rule of law is virtually non-existent. Violence, corruption and money laundering are the inevitable accessories to large-scale, organised criminal activities. They threaten the fundamental rights of individuals, the interests of legitimate market operators, and the development and stability of entire countries.
The Gold Coast Scandal
When cases on money laundering and fraud are emanate under consideration, scarcely any country is safe from this behemoth crime. Similar is the case with an American expat living in Australia. The case beholds a substantial value regarding Australia’s well-known builder organisation @realty. James Scott Taylor, age 51, described as a property developer and real estate consultant on the Gold Coast, Australia knowingly executed and attempted to execute a scheme to defraud issuers of residential home loans, and involved in fraud among eight banks. He was extradited and taken to US for which he pleaded guilty to wire fraud. He was committed to 9 months for the guilty plea as he prepared home loan applications in the names of people, which contained materially false and fraudulent representations. Being a significant entity at Urban Construct Australia, he has used illegal connections to influence his party siders and has misused the authority. Despite of the fraud and swindling, he has been the director of a private company 3JL Pty Ltd. for 8.5 years.
Why the authorities are incompetent to strictly eradicate any vestiges of JS Taylor’s? Now where the future awaits for Gold Coast scandal? Still a dilemma!
