Combating Money Laundering

This Web Page has been designed to fulfill a requirement of Organizational Behavior and Policy Making in Criminal Justice, a doctoral level course at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Its contents include United States' policy decisions regarding the crime of Money Laundering.

President Bill Clinton, in his 1995 speech to world leaders at the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations, choose to address the seriousness of laundering the proceeds of criminal activities. He stated, "Criminal enterprises are moving vast sums of ill gotten gains through the international financial system with absolute impunity. We must not allow them to wash the blood off profits from the sale of drugs from terror or organized crime." It is estimated that $300 billion is laundered in the United States annually of which $210 billion is estimated to be generated from drug proceeds. A large portion of the total amount is believed to be "washed" in the New York/New Jersey area. Other areas notorious for their money laundering centers include Miami, Los Angeles, Houston and the Southwest border region. Click on the following links to learn more about this crime, its social costs and the measures that have been taken in an attempt to combat it.