WASHINGTON – Homeland Safety Investigations (HSI) and the Affiliation of Licensed Anti-Cash Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) have fashioned a partnership and printed a report to assist fight organized retail crime, the large-scale theft of retail merchandise with the intent to resell objects for monetary acquire, which has turn out to be an elevated menace to public security and financial system.
The report – Detecting and Reporting the Illicit Monetary Flows Tied to Organized Theft Teams and Organized Retail Crime – highlights pink flags related to organized theft teams, together with structured deposits and withdrawals, massive purchases of stored-value playing cards, high-dollar wire transfers tied to wholesale firms concerned with well being and wonder provides, and huge purchases of lighter fluid or warmth weapons, amongst others.
“Organized retail crime is resulting in extra brazen, extra violent assaults in retail shops all through the nation and lots of the prison rings orchestrating these thefts are additionally concerned in different critical prison exercise,” mentioned HSI’s appearing govt affiliate director Steve Francis. “Tackling this rising menace is necessary to the protection of retailer workers, prospects, and communities throughout the nation.”
The report additionally serves as a information for regulation enforcement investigators and anti-financial crime (AFC) professionals, outlining how organized theft teams steal and resell retail items by way of on-line marketplaces and entrance firms and launder an estimated $69 billion in illicit earnings by way of the U.S. monetary system and trade-based cash laundering (TBML) schemes every year.
“Giant-scale retail theft and the cash laundering that permits it are precisely the type of illicit actions that regulation enforcement, monetary establishments, and different stakeholders can extra successfully struggle collectively by way of public-private partnerships,” mentioned ACAMS chief govt officer Scott Liles. “This information is not only a roadmap for prison investigators and AFC professionals in search of to raised struggle organized retail crime – it is usually a rallying name for larger collaboration on dismantling these harmful prison syndicates.”
In line with the report, regulation enforcement companies, retailers, on-line marketplaces, and monetary establishments have to collaborate in public-private partnerships to facilitate data sharing and coordinate actions that assist investigators higher fight organized retail crime. Banks and different establishments can even contemplate “fairly” enhancing anti-money laundering (AML) and counterterrorist financing (CFT) compliance packages to detect and report exercise linked to organized retail crime.
“Organized retail theft is a low-risk, high-reward crime that generates practically $70 billion in the USA alone, and far of that sum is routed into monetary establishments underneath the guise of legit gross sales made by way of on-line marketplaces,” mentioned co-author of the report Lauren Kohr, ACAMS Senior Director of AML within the Americas. “Because of this, it’s essential that banks and different monetary establishments usually are not solely conscious of the size of the issue but additionally actively work to establish and report associated suspicious exercise.”
In distinction to shoplifters, organized theft teams interact in large-scale thefts which depend on groups of “boosters” who steal items from main retail shops, “cleaners” who disguise the origins of stolen merchandise, “fencers” who resell merchandise by way of brick-and-mortar fronts and main e-commerce web sites, {and professional} cash launderers who funnel illicit earnings to criminals orchestrating schemes. In lots of situations, organized theft teams resort to violence or violent threats in opposition to workers of retail firms.
Whereas organized retail crime will not be particularly highlighted in U.S. monetary rules, organized theft teams are sometimes concerned in different illicit exercise cited within the U.S. Treasury Division’s Nationwide AML/CFT Priorities record, together with cybercrime, fraud, drug trafficking, terrorism financing, weapons trafficking, and transnational organized crime. Latest investigations have additionally recognized organized retail crime schemes exploiting undocumented migrants compelled to steal items to pay again “coyotes” who smuggle them throughout worldwide borders.
Members of the general public can report suspicious exercise, together with organized retail crime, by calling the toll-free tip line at 866-347-2423.
About ACAMS®
ACAMS is the most important worldwide membership group devoted to offering alternatives for anti-financial crime (AFC) training, finest practices, and peer-to-peer networking to AFC professionals globally. With greater than 90,000 members throughout 180 jurisdictions, ACAMS is dedicated to the mission of ending monetary crime by way of the supply of anti-money laundering/counterterrorism-financing and sanctions, knowledge-sharing, management, risk-mitigation providers, ESG initiatives, and platforms for public-private dialogue. The affiliation’s CAMS certification is the gold-standard qualification for AFC professionals, whereas the CGSS certification is its premier specialist qualification for sanctions professionals. ACAMS’ 60 Chapters globally additional amplify the affiliation’s mission by way of coaching and networking initiatives. Go to ACAMS.org to study extra.
About Homeland Safety Investigations
HSI is a directorate of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Division of Homeland Safety (DHS), liable for investigating transnational crime and threats, particularly these prison organizations that exploit the worldwide infrastructure by way of which worldwide commerce, journey, and finance transfer. HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 workers consists of greater than 7,100 particular brokers assigned to 220 cities all through the USA, and 80 abroad areas in 53 international locations. HSI’s worldwide presence represents DHS’s largest investigative regulation enforcement presence overseas and one of many largest worldwide footprints in U.S. regulation enforcement. Go to Homeland Security Investigations for extra data.
The HSI Countering Transnational Organized Crime, Monetary and Fraud Division leads programmatic oversight of HSI’s strategic planning, nationwide coverage implementation, and the event and execution of operational initiatives for numerous programmatic areas focusing on transnational prison organizations concerned in cash laundering, monetary fraud, bulk money smuggling, doc fraud, profit fraud, labor exploitation, and associated crimes enforced by HSI, in addition to investigative sources associated to asset forfeiture, seized property, and equitable sharing.
