It is the process of conducting the proceeds of crime and transferring value using commercial transactions in an attempt to legitimize its illicit origin or finance its activities.
There are six forms of trade-based money laundering
Billing at a higher or lower value
Phantom shipments
Improper display of goods or services
Increase or decrease shipping value
Multiple Bills
Cash Merge
The customer desire to conduct transactions that do not show the spirit of the business or a clear investment strategy, or that are inconsistent with the customer’s stated business strategy (for example, a steel company) starting to deal with paper products or an IT company starting to deal in pharmaceutical products).
A bill of loading with descriptions of containerized good, but with container number, serial numbers, or non-standard numbers.
Significant alternation to letters of credit without sufficient justification, or changing the name of the beneficiary or the place of payment.
In addition, there is a potentially dangerous mix of fraud, quality issues, and modern deception methods. Although fraud is not always associated with TBML, some types of fraud, such as storage fraud or “advance fee” fraud can appear to be similar to traditional TBLM. Physical discrepancy between merchandise (fake shipments – misleading descriptions – volume discrepancies.
