Profitability, Power, or Proximity? Organized Crime Offenders Investing Their Money in Legal Economy

Kruisbergen, Edwin W.; Kleemans, E.R.; Kouwenberg, R.F.

doi:10.1007/s10610-014-9263-5

Cited by 35 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Furthermore, our interviews emphasised that profits were usually spent on a consumer lifestyle (buying expensive goods such as cars, and holidays), reinvesting in the cocaine business or laundering money by investing in legitimate businesses or property in the UK. Unfortunately, however, we do not possess detailed data on the issue of money laundering and handling/investment of profits that would allow us to elaborate on this point further (see, for example, Kruisbergen et al, 2015;van Duyne, 2007).…”

Section: Page 11 Of 18mentioning

confidence: 99%

“Coke on Tick”: exploring the cocaine market in the UK through the lens of financial management

Hall

Antonopoulos

2017

JFC

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Purpose This paper aims to offer detailed preliminary data and analysis that focuses specifically on the structures and financial aspects of the UK cocaine market. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on in-depth interviews with – among others – four active criminal entrepreneurs involved in powder cocaine supply in the UK. Furthermore, along with a review of relevant literature and open sources, in-depth interviews were undertaken with a range of experts with knowledge of the cocaine market. These experts include law enforcement agents and independent academics/researchers who have researched the cocaine market in the UK and internationally. Findings The cocaine market is a fragmented business dependent on networks of individual entrepreneurs and groups. At the core of collaborations often lie family, ethnic or kinship relationships and relationships forged within legal businesses and in prison. Capital investment practices in this market are flexible, “messy” and mutating, and money comes from a range of different sources. Credit is an integral feature of the cocaine business in the UK. The financial management of the cocaine trade is a result of (and reflects) a number of factors, such as the fragmented and decentralised nature of the trade. Originality/value Empirical research into financial aspects of organised crime manifestations is important for the assumptions that are part of public debate to be tested. In addition, understanding the broader range of financial aspects of organised crime is an important component of the process of crimes for gain and can contribute to both better investigation and better prevention.

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Section: Page 11 Of 18mentioning

confidence: 99%

“Coke on Tick”: exploring the cocaine market in the UK through the lens of financial management

Hall

Antonopoulos

2017

JFC

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“…On the contrary, control of the territory seems to explain their investment behavior better than economic factors (Savona 2015). Furthermore, offenders in Dutch organized crime cases primarily invest in their countries of origin and economic sectors familiar to them: proximity explains their investment behavior better than power or profit motives (Kruisbergen, Kleemans, and Kouwenberg 2015). Although the "glocal" character of organized crime is straightforward, research often focuses either on the transnational aspects of organized crime (disregarding the concentration of co-offenders and illegal activities in particular places) or on the lower end of local distribution markets of illegal goods and services.…”

Section: Places and The Role Of The (Built) Environmentmentioning

confidence: 95%

Organized Crime and Places

Kleemans¹

2018

Oxford Handbooks Online

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This chapter begins by discussing the three types of organized crime—racketeering, transit crime, and the local provision of illegal goods and services—and the significance of place. It then considers the role of places and the (built) environment for organized crime. The main message is that place has a different meaning for these three types of organized crime and raises several theoretical challenges. As these types of organized crime often require a higher degree of social organization than opportunistic street-level crime, the chapter elaborates on two theoretical concepts that should be included in the study of organized crime and place: social opportunity structure and offender convergence settings.

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“…One of the most important sources for insights into organized crime in the Netherlands is the Dutch Organized Crime Monitor (Kruisbergen et al 2012). Kruisbergen, Kleemans, and Kouwenberg (2015) discuss national and international studies on investments of organized crime offenders and use empirical data on 150 cases from the Dutch Organized Crime Monitor to give empirical insight into the choices organized crime offenders make when they invest their money in the legal economy. This data includes 1196 individual assets of many hundreds of suspects.…”

Section: Money Laundering Threatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…So, instead of profitability and power, proximity seems to be a better description of their investment choices. We use the data of Kruisbergen et al (2015) for our current study. 9 For 113 of the 150 organized crime cases in this dataset, information is available on investments in companies and to which business sectors these companies belong.…”

Section: Money Laundering Threatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating Money Laundering Risks: An Application to Business Sectors in the Netherlands

Ferwerda

Kleemans

2018

Eur J Crim Policy Res

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Current money laundering policies often rely on the same prescribed instruments for many business sectors. For 'risk based' policies, however, it is important to know in which business sectors money laundering risks are relatively higher. This paper builds upon work conducted as part of Identifying and Assessing the Risk of Money Laundering in Europe (IARM) project and focuses on money laundering risk assessment in the Netherlands. In this paper, we discuss theoretically and empirically how these risks can be estimated and we present results based on data regarding business sectors in the Netherlands. The used risk factors include data on organised crime investments, beneficial owners, and confidential information from the Dutch Tax Office on anomalies in tax declarations by companies. Our results indicate that casinos, hotels, and the art and entertainment sector have the highest money laundering risks in the Netherlands.

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Profitability, Power, or Proximity? Organized Crime Offenders Investing Their Money in Legal Economy

Cited by 35 publications

References 27 publications

“Coke on Tick”: exploring the cocaine market in the UK through the lens of financial management

“Coke on Tick”: exploring the cocaine market in the UK through the lens of financial management

Organized Crime and Places

Estimating Money Laundering Risks: An Application to Business Sectors in the Netherlands

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