Cyberlaundering: Anonymous Digital Cash and Money Laundering :: essays research papers

Cyberlaundering Anonymous digital Cash and Money LaunderingCopyright 1996 R. Mark BortnerThe author herewith grants the right to copy this obligate in its entirety or each portion thereof by any sum possible and to dish out such copies freely and without charge. The author simply requests that when a portion of this article or its entirety is included within another work, that such copied clobber be clearly and correctly cited to.Presented as final paper sine qua non for Law & the Internet (LAW 745).A seminar at the University of Miami School of Law. entrywayThis article leave alone explore the latest technique in notes laundering Cyberlaundering by means of anonymous digital cash. break off I is a brief race through laundering history. donation II discusses how anonymous Ecash may facilitate money laundering on the Intenet. Part III examines the relationship between current money laundering law and cyberlaundering. Part IV addresses the underlying policy debate surro unding anonymous digital currency. Essentially, the balance between individual financial privacy rights and legitimise law enforcement interests. In conclusion, Part V raises a few unreciprocated societal questions and attempts to predict the future.DisclaimerAlthough the author discusses this subject in a casual, rather than rigidly formal tone, money laundering is a right issue which should not be taken lightly. As this article will show, fear of money laundering only serves to increase banking regulations which, in turn, impact everyones ability to conduct convenient, efficient and relatively private financial transactions.Part I Humble BeginningsIn the beginning, laundering money was a somatogenic effort. The art of concealing the existence, the illegal source, or illegal application of income, and past disguising that income to make it appear legitimate 1 postulate that the launderer have the means to physically transport the hard cash.2 The trick was, and still is, to a void attracting discarded attention, thus alerting the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and other disposal agencies 3 involved in searching out ill-gotten gains.4In what could be described as the "lo-tech" world of money laundering, the process of cleanup "dirty money" was limited by the creative ability to ensure the physical world. Other than flying cash out of one verdant and depositing it in a foreign bank with less stringent banking laws,5 bribing a bank teller, or discretely purchasing real or personal property, the simple approach was for a "smurf"6 to deposit cash at a bank. Essentially, platoons of couriers assaulted the lobbies of banks throughout the United States with deposits under the $10,000 reporting limit as required under the Bank Secrecy Act.