The Washing Machine: How Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Soils Us [Hardcover]

Nick Kochan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 24, 2005

The Washing Machine is an intriguing book that takes the reader deep inside the world of money laundering and shows it to be a highly sophisticated, global business that poses a serious and systemic threat to the world's financial institutions, as well as the global economy. Investigative journalist and financial expert Nick Kochan profiles the perpetrators, the investigators, and explains the methods employed by international criminals and terrorists to turn dirty money into untraceable wealth. The effort to stop this sinister financial pipeline to terrorist activities is one of the highest profile law enforcement activities in the world at present. Will we lose this battle? The Washing Machine reveals that the dual forces of globalization and a lack of true international cooperation are playing directly into the hands of the criminals.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Nick Kochan is an investigative reporter who has written on many complex financial frauds. He worked on the Sunday Times business team where he investigated the Guinness scandal. He pioneered reporting of this complex financial scam, and led coverage of its many ramifications for over a decade. He has written for almost every important British publication, including the Economist, Sunday Times, Financial Times The Banker and The Observer and has many sources in government as well as finance. He is also extensively connected within the law enforcement and police services domestically and internationally. He was educated at the University of Cambridge before embarking on a journalistic career.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Texere; 1 edition (May 24, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587991594
• ISBN-13: 978-1587991592
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #813,314 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very, Very Interesting and Things I Didn't Know, June 26, 2005

By 

Dr. Jonathan Dolhenty (Port Orford, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Washing Machine: How Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Soils Us (Hardcover)

The last time I was involved in money laundering was when I forgot I had left a couple of dollars in the pocket of my pants and put them into the washing machine, only to realize when I transferred the pants to the dryer that I had, in fact, laundered some money. Other than that encounter, I had no knowledge whatsoever about, nor experience with, what is now referred to as "professional" and "criminal" money laundering. Of course, my activity was neither professional nor criminal. But, after reading Nick Kochan's book, "The Washing Machine," I now know a lot about a particular nefarious enterprise which is both professional and criminal. And, unfortunately, a continually growing threat to world peace and security.

Mr. Kochan is just the right person to write this book. An investigative reporter, Kochan has investigated a number of financial frauds and scams for many years and has written for such prestigious publications as "The Economist," "Financial Times," and other well-respected media. He is also a well-known broadcaster who appears regularly on the BBC television and radio networks, and has served as a consultant to a number of British and international corporations on political and economic risk.

Many ordinary readers may not at first see the relevance of the money-laundering problem to their daily life. Kochan will convince you otherwise. The problem is truly serious, non-endemic, and affects us all in a very direct way. Moreover, money laundering is not just a matter of "criminal" activity anymore, committed by those who simply want to hide their ill-gotten gains from the authorities, but money laundering is now used by international terrorists to hide their sources of revenue for the financing of their attacks on civilized societies. This raises the bar and should convince any citizen, whatever his or her position in any society or nation, to acquire some information about the current threat in order to help combat what has become an increasingly threatening situation.

We are at risk. The world is at risk. The author of this book makes that clear. He provides the facts and asks the reader to consider the probabilities. Don't know anything about the Russian Mafia? Read and learn. Don't know anything about the reputable banks (many who advertise their services on American television) who "somehow" have been involved in the money-laundering schemes of criminals and terrorists? Read and learn. Don't know that some so-called "friends" of the United States, such as Ireland, Turkey, and Sri Lanka, are involved in terrorist finance? Read and learn. And on and on. You'll be surprised, and maybe somewhat depressed, with the facts that Kochan presents in his book.

You will go deep into a world you probably don't know much about, the world of international business, the whole globalization thing you read about in the newspapers and magazines and most likely don't pay much attention to. You will learn how financial criminals and international terrorists can turn "dirty" money into "clean" money, often with the help of banks and other financial institutions with whom you are personally acquainted. And, you will learn why the battle against this type of activity is so difficult to win.

The author of "The Washing Machine" has provided a number of resources to aid the reader in coming to grips with the subject. I always like it when the author of a nonfiction work provides us, the readers, with more resources to consult or pursue. In this case, Kochan includes a glossary at the end of the book so even the most inexpert of us can grasp any acronyms or terms currently used in discussing this subject. He also provides the reader with references (by specific source!), plus a bibliography and a topic index.

I would think this book would appeal to anyone with an interest in the world economy, the controversial matter of globalization, the threat of international terrorism, organized criminal activity on a global scale, and/or the techniques of money laundering on a momentous scale, an interesting subject in itself. At the very least, this book made me aware of a problem that appears to be ubiquitous in today's world. Maybe more of us should pay attention to it. Before it is too late.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Important subject but the data overwhelmed the author, May 6, 2006

By 

Siriam (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Washing Machine: How Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Soils Us (Hardcover)

As some one who in their job has to consider the impact of financial crime and anti-money laundering (and not just anti-terrorist financing), I believe the importance of books like this cannot be under-estimated. Allowing the decline of financial banking systems by recycling the proceeds of crime plus inadequate international controls allowing the transfer of the proceeds of kleptocracy governments (the Abacha administration in Nigeria being the main one covered here) and causing the destruction of their domestic eceonomies, has a real domino effect on the robustness of the global economy.

The book covers all the main signposts and cases seen in recent years and so in terms of content is spot on for the historical aspects. The core problem and why this book fails as a good read or a primer for action is the author comes across as totally overwhelmed by the material. Chapter after chapter seems an attempt to brain dump all the data he has read in his research on the specific subject. This is demonstrated by each chapter relying heavily on a few key government papers or Reports of Enquiry. The consequence is a very piecemeal style of writing and the fact that so many chapters have numerous references to content in other chapters shows a lack of order and discipline in compiling and blending the themes and overall story.

As a general background read and primer to the subject it is fine though for people who do not encounter such financial crime and laundering in their work, better use of some simple examples and diagrams to explain the scams would I think have helped considerably, especially on the use of cross border flows and sham structures.

The book by the end is heavy on case data especially Citibank who come out very badly in their actions over the years but light on how effective the many checks and balances put in by regulators since 9/11 especially could be applied to work better. One cannot help but feel the current regimes in many countries will only catch the small fry and the incompetent and a radical rethink is needed. The end story of how the Irish republic government has applied different tactics relying on extracting money and assets off the crooks than putting them in jail initially is one of the few cases I have seen of such a rethink to date.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Clean up your views on terrorist funding, June 19, 2005

By 

M. L Lamendola (Merriam, KS USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Washing Machine: How Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Soils Us (Hardcover)

The Washing Machine takes you inside the extremely convoluted world of shady financial deals and shell games with money--commonly known as money laundering--on an international scale. Kochan provides dozens of case histories, and explains how each of them worked. He also explains, in detail, how particular operations funded particular terrorist groups, who did what, and how they got caught.

Kochan doesn't just make the case that big money laundering operations finance terrorism and let it go at that. He also shows the deleterious effects on national economies. Nor does he simply talk about money per se. He provides the full picture of how terrorists use everything from diamonds to cigarettes to fund their operations. Kochan also explains what law enforcement agencies, banks, and other concerned parties are doing to crack down on the fraud, corruption, and theft that are part and parcel of the money laundering problem.

He even touches on corruption and complicity within government agencies. In the United States, this is an enormous problem (and well-documented)--though Kochan doesn't go there.

He does provide us with a useful glossary and an impressive bibliography. The fact this book is very well researched becomes evident shortly after cracking the cover. You probably have an opinion about September 11, the Bush administration, the Iraqi War, the P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act, and several other of today's issues. If you want an informed opinion--rather than just an opinion--on these issues, you need the information contained in this book. You may not change your viewpoint, but you will at least have a viewpoint built on something other than political ether.

Now, did you notice I did not write "Patriot Act" in the preceding paragraph? Before reading this book, I would have. I didn't know that the name of the act is an acronym (and most people don't know an acronym must, by definition, spell a word--it isn't just a mnemonic or abbreviation) for Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Interrupt and Obstruct Terrorism." If you already knew that, great. You'll find plenty of other things to learn in this book.

Where this book falls down is its writing quality. The mangled syntax and incorrect punctuation render some parts of it incomprehensible and others just hard to read. If Kochan is planning a second printing, he should first have a good copyeditor has correct the huge number of mechanical errors in the text. Standard Written English (SWE) and style guides exist for a reason.

So, it's an effort to read this book because of editorial sloppiness. However, the research is thorough and the information is eye-popping. Sometimes, you have to work a little harder for some things--but the payoff is worthwhile. The understanding you can obtain from this book is one of those things.