Money laundering paradise: How US financial system became criminals' dream spot
US Treasury data shows America became worlds top money-laundering destination despite common beliefs about offshore havens. Political moves threaten to weaken already loose anti-laundering rules
In late-2021 Janet Yellen made a shocking statement: US is the best place to hide dirty money. This truth goes against common beliefs about tiny euro-countries or palm-tree islands being main money-laundering spots
Criminal networks need clean-looking cash to work‚ and Americas system helps them do it perfectly. Chinese groups became top money-washers for crime cartels‚ while terror groups like Hamas moved billions thru various channels (about half-a-billion dollars came from overseas business deals)
States like Delaware Wyoming and Nevada compete to offer the most secret company-making rules; its like a black-box where anyone can hide cash. Real-estate industry doesnt ask many questions about buyers money sources‚ and investment funds dont care much about where cash comes from (which makes rich bad guys very happy)
The best place to hide and launder ill-gotten gains is actually the United States
The Corporate Transparency Act passed in early-21 tried to fix some problems‚ but now Donald Trumpʼs supporters want to kill it. The Heritage Foundations Project 2025 wants to remove rules that make companies show who owns them. Some crypto-friendly people also push to end all digital-money tracking which would make things worse
These changes could hurt US in three ways: first - itʼd make crypto-crime super-easy; second - other countries might copy bad rules; third - tax money would disappear faster than ever. No major country has ever tried to be both a global power and an anything-goes money spot at same time
