20 Money Laundering Books To Add to Your Reading List
Money laundering doesn't just damage global financial systems; it harms real people and society at large. Banking and law enforcement investigators alike need every tool in the belt to take this challenge on.
To that end, the anti-money laundering (AML) experts and enthusiasts at Hawk have compiled a list of 20 of our favorite money laundering books. These books provide fascinating insight into how bad actors launder money to facilitate and conceal their crimes, sending a wave of destruction through the lives of individuals and the public.
The Best Books on Money Laundering
1. Criminal Capital: How the Finance Industry Facilitates Crime
By Stephen Platt
Explore the ways criminals exploit financial systems, such as corruption, terrorism financing, and tax evasion. Platt provides real-world case studies and insights into how these abuses occur through various financial instruments and institutions. Read this book to get a deeper understanding of the various mechanisms that financial criminals use.
2. Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World
By Tom Wright
Wright chronicles the audacious financial fraud orchestrated by Jho Low. Low siphoned billions from a Malaysian investment fund using a variety of enablers. Wright details how Low used the stolen money to finance a lavish lifestyle, including Hollywood productions and extravagant parties, and ultimately became an international fugitive. This book will give you insight into the methods used to circumvent safeguards, as well as the detection of fraud schemes.
3. American Kleptocracy: How the U.S. Created the World's Greatest Money Laundering Scheme in History
By Casey Michel
Discover how the United States became the world's largest illicit offshore finance system, attracting billions in dirty money from corrupt regimes and criminal networks. Michel reveals how states like Delaware and Nevada have facilitated the creation of shell companies, enabling African despots and post-Soviet oligarchs to infiltrate American industries and communities. Read this book to understand how a financial system can get into this situation in the first place.
4. Butler to the World: How Britain Helps the World's Worst People Launder Money, Commit Crimes, and Get Away with Anything
By Oliver Bullough
Bullough tells the story of how Britain positioned itself at the center of the global offshore economy, catering to corrupt individuals and groups. It reveals how Britain found a new role as an enabler of financial crime and illicit behavior, undercutting U.S. regulations and serving the interests of oligarchs and kleptocrats. This book will show you how a major Western power became a facilitator of financial crime.
5. The Despot's Guide to Wealth Management: On the International Campaign against Grand Corruption
By J.C. Sharma
Learn about the global effort to combat corruption and kleptocracy. Sharma assesses the effectiveness of this regime, highlighting achievements and failures, such as vested interests in banks and law enforcement that often hinder progress. Read this book to appreciate the complex challenges of recovering stolen assets and see recommendations for improving the global fight against corruption.
6. Treasure Islands: Uncovering the Damage of Offshore Banking and Tax Havens
By Nicholas Shaxson
Dive into the hidden world of offshore banking and tax havens, showing how they contribute to global economic crises and inequality. Shaxson takes readers on a journey through secretive financial networks from Moscow to Delaware, showing how tax havens enable criminals, corporations, and wealthy individuals to avoid taxes and regulations at the expense of ordinary citizens. This book will help you understand how tax evasion works.
7. The War on Dirty Money
By Nicholas Gilmour and Tristram Hicks
Gilmour and Hicks survey the global fight against financial crime, revealing that despite enormous investments and efforts, the current approach has yielded limited success. Gilmour and Hicks show how billions of dollars go to preventing dirty money from entering a financial system that is already saturated with illicit funds. Read this book to understand the shortcomings of existing approaches and learn about evidence-based solutions for more effectively combating financial crime.
8.Moneyland: Why Thieves and Crooks Now Rule the World and How To Take It Back
By Oliver Bullough
Bullough investigates a global kleptocracy network, discussing the ways in which offshore banking has allowed criminals to amass unprecedented wealth and power. Bullough traces the origins of this system to a 1962 innovation by London bankers, which allowed corrupt individuals to steal and launder money on a massive scale. This book will help you learn about the intricate workings of the offshore financial system and its role in facilitating global corruption.
9. The Con Men: A History of Financial Fraud and The Lessons You Can Learn
By Leo Gough
Delve into major financial scandals of the past 25 years, highlighting the persistent nature of fraud in financial systems. Gough explains the methods and motivations of notorious fraudsters, showing how they executed schemes and evaded detection. Read this book to understand the tactics employed by financial criminals.
10. Dirty Dealing: The Untold Truth about Global Money Laundering, International Crime and Terrorism
By Peter Lilley
Lilley helps his readers appreciate the massive scale of global money laundering, revealing how criminals move $1.5 trillion in illicit funds every year. Lilley scrutinizes how criminal organizations and terrorist groups infiltrate legitimate business structures and financial systems, undermining economies and governments. This book will illuminate the sophisticated methods used by criminals to clean dirty money, including the impact of the internet and "cyber laundering," as well as AML strategies.
11. Trade-Based Money Laundering: The Next Frontier in International Money Laundering Enforcement
By John Cassara
Cassara engages in an authoritative examination of trade-based money laundering (TBML), a growing phenomenon in financial crime. Cassara discusses common TBML techniques, such as invoice fraud and over-and-under invoicing, and explains why detection systems have not been widely implemented despite available data. Read this book to get insight into TBML methods and how to use analytics to detect TBML.
12. The Untold Stories of Financial Crime: First-Hand Accounts From 30 Financial Crime Experts From 30 Countries
By Maureen Mutua
Gain a unique global perspective on AML and financial crime through the eyes of practitioners working in diverse places from New York and London to Lagos and Johannesburg. This book will help you understand diverse, real-world viewpoints on financial crime challenges and solutions from around the globe.
13. Money Laundering and Illicit Financial Flows: Following the Money and Value Trails
By John Cassara
Cassara takes a critical look at AML efforts over the past 30 years, displaying their ineffectiveness in combating global financial crime. Drawing from his extensive experience as a former Treasury Special Agent, Cassara explores both traditional and emerging money laundering methodologies, discussing threats, enablers, and facilitators. Read this book to see the fight against financial crime from a law enforcement perspective and explore innovative solutions to problems inherent to the status quo.
14. Rinsed: From Cartels to Crypto: How the Tech Industry Washes Money for the World’s Deadliest Crooks
By Geoff White
White shows how modern technology has transformed money laundering, creating a sophisticated virtual system that outpaces most law enforcement efforts. White takes readers on a journey from luxury hotels in Dubai to the secret zones of North Korea, highlighting how organized criminals and cybercriminals have joined forces to create an unprecedented money laundering machine. This book will give you a big-picture view of the evolving landscape of financial crime.
15. The Crypto Launderers: Crime and Cryptocurrencies from the Dark Web to DeFi and Beyond
By David Carlisle
Jump into the fast-paced realm of cryptocurrency crime. Carlisle traces the history of crypto crime from the early days of the Dark Web to the present, detailing how sophisticated money laundering ecosystems have developed within the crypto space. Read this book to learn about the technologies and methods used by crypto criminals, including mixers, privacy coins, and decentralized finance applications, as well as the efforts by regulators and law enforcement to combat these activities.
16. The Power of the Dog
By Don Winslow
Winslow’s gripping novel plunges deep into the Mexican drug trade and the U.S. war on drugs. Set in the decades preceding The Cartel, it follows a diverse cast of characters, including DEA agent Art Keller, the drug-trafficking Barrera brothers, and various individuals caught in the crossfire of the narcotics underworld. This book will give you a more nuanced understanding of the intricate relationships between law enforcement, drug cartels, and various facilitators in the narcotics trade.
17. The Lazarus Heist – From Hollywood to High Finance: Inside North Korea’s Global Cyber War
By Geoff White
This engaging exposé of North Korea's sophisticated cyber warfare operations uncovers how the isolated regime has leveraged cutting-edge technology to conduct audacious financial attacks on global targets. It tracks the notorious Lazarus Group, a hacking collective believed to be working for the North Korean state, as they orchestrate a series of high-profile cyber heists. Read this book to learn about critical aspects of state-sponsored cybercrime, including the intricate methods used to launder stolen funds through complex international networks.
18. Money Men: A Hot Startup, A Billion Dollar Fraud, A Fight for the Truth
By Dan McCrum
McCrum tells the true story of the his six-year investigation into Wirecard, a German fintech company that perpetrated a multi-billion-dollar fraud. McCrum gives a firsthand account of his pursuit, detailing the obstacles he faced and the tactics used against him. This book will show you how corporate fraudsters evade detection.
19. The Panama Papers: Breaking the Story of How the Rich and Powerful Hide Their Money
By Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer
Obermaier and Obermayer recount the investigation that exposed a vast network of offshore financial dealings among the global elite. The journalists show how they received an anonymous data leak and worked with an international team to unravel complex webs of shell companies and hidden assets. Read this book to see how high-profile individuals hide assets, as well as how investigators uncover these schemes.
20. Freezing Order: A True Story of Money Laundering, Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin's Wrath
By Bill Browder
Browder weaves the tale of the author’s ongoing battle against Vladimir Putin's corrupt regime. It features Browder's investigation of the $230 million tax fraud scheme that led to the murder of his lawyer in a Moscow jail. This book illustrates how state actors launder illicit funds internationally, and it will help you understand the challenges and dangers faced by the people working to expose high-level financial crimes.
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