Transnational Criminal Organizations, Cybercrime, and Money Laundering: A Handbook for Law Enforcement Officers, Auditors, and Financial Investigators [Hardcover]

James R. Richards (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0849328063 | ISBN-13: 978-0849328060 | Publication Date: October 20, 1998 | Edition: 1

WRITTEN BY A LAW ENFORCEMENT PROFESSIONAL FOR OTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL IN THE TRENCHES

This book examines the workings of organized criminals and criminal groups that transcend national boundaries. Discussions include methods used by criminal groups to internationally launder money; law enforcement efforts to counteract such schemes; and new methods and tactics to counteract transnational money laundering.

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO FACETS OF INTERNATIONAL CRIME AND MEASURES TO COMBAT THEM

Intended for law enforcement personnel, bank compliance officers, financial investigators, criminal defense attorneys, and anyone interested in learning about the basic concepts of international crime and money laundering, this timely text explains:

money laundering terms and phrases

an overview of relevant federal agencies, transnational criminal organizations, and basic investigatory techniques

the intricacies of wire transfers and cyberbanking

the phenomenon of the "World Wide Web"

Product Details

• Hardcover: 344 pages
• Publisher: CRC Press; 1 edition (October 20, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0849328063
• ISBN-13: 978-0849328060
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,149,429 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent, Deatiled and Highly Informative Work!, December 12, 2001

By 

Charles E. Janucik II (Utica, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Transnational Criminal Organizations, Cybercrime, and Money Laundering: A Handbook for Law Enforcement Officers, Auditors, and Financial Investigators (Hardcover)

I became acquainted with James R. Richard's Transnational Criminal Organizations, Cybercrime, and Money Laundering : A Handbook for Law Enforcement Officers, Auditors, and Financial Investigators when it was used as a text in Utica College's Economic Crime Management Master of Science Degree program in the Advanced Economic Crime as well as the Legal Concepts of Criminal Fraud and Corporate Criminal Liability graduate courses. After quickly thumbing through it, I immediately recognized that it truly contains a bounty of useful, pertinent and relevant information.

Extremely well written, it is a well flowing, very easy read that is both highly informative and enlightening. The book provides a very extensive and detailed examination of organized criminal enterprises engaged in international financial crime. The book fully details the specific steps of the placement, layering, and integration stages of money laundering as well as fully itemizing the techniques and uses of non-financial institutions (casinos, securities et al.) in money laundering. The expanded international focus documents a very detailed and thorough examination of the scope of global financial crime. The book fully integrates an expanse of information on banking, money laundering and cybercrime basics, international criminal organizations - in both a national and international context - in a manner that is easily understood by the reader.

As a police officer, I would highly recommend this book as a "must have" for the reference shelf of federal, state, local or corporate based investigators engaged in financial crimes inquiries and analysis. For the non-professional who is interested in organized crime of a more cerebral nature, the book is more than worth the purchase price.

As a college instructor (Introduction to Economic Crime Investigation at Herkimer County Community College; Herkimer, NY), this book in invaluable to the both the instructor and the student engaged in a comprehensive review of money laundering actvities.

As a side note, Mr. Richards also gives an excellent presentation and lecture on the topics and subject matter covered in his book.

14 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars should be a bestseller, December 22, 2001

By 

Eli Lato (Ganey Tikvah, ISRAEL) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Transnational Criminal Organizations, Cybercrime, and Money Laundering: A Handbook for Law Enforcement Officers, Auditors, and Financial Investigators (Hardcover)

This book isn't just for enforcement people. For someone like me who isn't a law officer and just wants to understand how terrorists and drug traffickers work, this book is great.

I always thought of terrorism and drugdealing in simplistic terms of what happens in the street. Now I understand how the system works and why our fight is so unsuccessful.

What I learned:
Our laws change slowly in response to rapid innovation by the traffickers and terrorists.

Horse-and-buggy standards for banks like "know your customer" are pointless in a modern world economy.

The worldwide supply of drugs is variegated and impossible to control. As a result, our approach to fighting drugs by cooperating with drug-producing countries is stupid. My guess is that a bread-and-butter approach of customs inspections and death penalty for dealers and launderers would work better. The mindset of modern law enforcement is dead wrong.

As icing on the cake, it was interesting to learn that the Afghanis, Arabs, and Iranians who attack America for our moral degeneration are number 1 in heroin production and smuggling.

A few disappointments:

Richards barely treated terrorists. If he had, his book would have had more mass appeal.

Some of the explanations would have been clearer with flow diagrams.

I still don't understand why layering is so effective. It sounds as if a simple computer trace would unpeel the layers.

This book is not light reading. But if you really want to know how the world works, it's worth the effort!

20 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very good choice!, July 5, 1999

By 

S Richards ([e-mail]) (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Transnational Criminal Organizations, Cybercrime, and Money Laundering: A Handbook for Law Enforcement Officers, Auditors, and Financial Investigators (Hardcover)

My father wrote this book. Even though I am only eleven years old I already want his job. I love to read and learn and I am very interested in this field. I read his book and I can finally understand what he's talking about at the dinner table! He now tells me about his cases in the car and I love hearing about them. This book helped me learn about things I wouldn't have learned about in college. It really opened my eyes to what was out there. Good work daddy! PS - Your kids books that you wrote for us are just as good! Publish them!