Money Laundering; Law And Policy

Money laundering is an offence predicated on the commission of other offences. It is the intent to conceal the source of the proceeds of illegal activities and the techniques and financial methods deployed to recycle such proceeds into the legal economy that constitute the offence of money laundering. Acts of money laundering are driven mostly by microeconomic, structural factors. Weak governance and political instability in different countries also act as factors that give money laundering and other financial crimes the room to blossom. Unbelievable sums of money are laundered annually in the global scene. It is estimated that between two to five percent of global GDP is laundered annually. Money laundering activities like other sophisticated financial crimes transcend the boundaries of nations and this is a great challenge to many countries including Nigeria and other members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). This book identifies that the transnational nature of money laundering is an inhibition to economic and social development and is thus, a cause for concern for States.