Gaming as Money Laundering Platform

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Gaming and other online platforms with many players could be the next money laundering platform. This has been revealed in a public inquiry into money laundering in British Columbia, Canada. Criminology professor Stephen Schneider of St. Mary’s University in Halifax says in games like “Second Life,” the currency can be used to purchase virtual products or advance to the next level, but he warns that it can also be used to launder the proceeds of criminal activity.

At the same time, Schneider says that while there have been a small number of cases of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin being used in the drug trade, cash remains the preferred payment, and smaller denominations of $20 and $50 bills are most common, even in very large transactions such as drug deals.

Criminal entrepreneurs, drug traffickers and organized crime have developed money laundering as a “tactical imperative” to avoid suspicion, he says, according to i-aml.com. “In order to enjoy the fruits of their labor they need to be able to take that cash and try to convert it into more of an asset that’s less suspicious all the while trying to hide the illegal source.”