According to the latest report on illegal fund movements around
the world, Malaysia lost a whopping US$47 billion, or almost RM150
billion of black money overseas in 2009.
Before I comment further on this phenomenon, let us first get two questions right.
1.What is black money?
As the name suggests, black money is the money obtained through
illicit channels. To put things in a simpler manner, it is indecent
money, and siphoning such black money overseas constitutes an act of
money laundering.
2. What is money laundering?
To answer this question, allow me to start with a story on the origins of money laundering.
In the 1920s, a criminal syndicate in Chicago acquired an automatic laundry machine to provide laundry services to customers for a charge, and then lumped the incomes from the syndicate's illegal activities into the legal incomes of the laundry shop and declared the tax returns together, thus rendering its illegal incomes legalised.
Today, such money laundering activities have taken on a much more complicated form, and the venue of money laundering has evolved from within the country to without. A general approach is to transfer black money overseas through the banks or other financial institutions to become legalised funds for oversea investments while evading legal pursuits in the country.
In the past, money laundering was performed mainly by criminals such as drug and human traffickers, firearms smugglers and members of underground gangs. However, modern-day money launderers also include corrupt government officials.
What they normally do is to send their spouses, children or aides overseas and when they have succeeded in obtaining resident status overseas, the "black money" will then be channelled gradually to their foreign bank accounts.
No one knows how much among the black money siphoned out of our country actually belongs to the criminals, and to the corrupt officials. According to the report, the cumulative total of black money channelled out of the country topped RM1.12 trillion as of 2009.
The report also highlighted the fact that this amount had almost tripled over the past eight years, and the 2009 figure was the fourth highest in the world, while the cumulative total was fifth in the world after China, Russia, Mexico and Saudi Arabia.
China and Russia, with their enormous populations, are both experiencing disorderliness as a result of their economic reform policies. Saudi Arabia is an oil-rich kingdom while Mexico is a notorious drug trafficking hub, but what is Malaysia that makes it eligible to be put on the same par as them in money laundering activities?
Behind the astronomical figures are more than just tonnes of shocks and sighs, but also excruciating pains of humiliation and disgrace.
Before I comment further on this phenomenon, let us first get two questions right.
1.What is black money?
As the name suggests, black money is the money obtained through
illicit channels. To put things in a simpler manner, it is indecent
money, and siphoning such black money overseas constitutes an act of
money laundering.2. What is money laundering?
To answer this question, allow me to start with a story on the origins of money laundering.
In the 1920s, a criminal syndicate in Chicago acquired an automatic laundry machine to provide laundry services to customers for a charge, and then lumped the incomes from the syndicate's illegal activities into the legal incomes of the laundry shop and declared the tax returns together, thus rendering its illegal incomes legalised.
Today, such money laundering activities have taken on a much more complicated form, and the venue of money laundering has evolved from within the country to without. A general approach is to transfer black money overseas through the banks or other financial institutions to become legalised funds for oversea investments while evading legal pursuits in the country.
In the past, money laundering was performed mainly by criminals such as drug and human traffickers, firearms smugglers and members of underground gangs. However, modern-day money launderers also include corrupt government officials.
What they normally do is to send their spouses, children or aides overseas and when they have succeeded in obtaining resident status overseas, the "black money" will then be channelled gradually to their foreign bank accounts.
No one knows how much among the black money siphoned out of our country actually belongs to the criminals, and to the corrupt officials. According to the report, the cumulative total of black money channelled out of the country topped RM1.12 trillion as of 2009.
The report also highlighted the fact that this amount had almost tripled over the past eight years, and the 2009 figure was the fourth highest in the world, while the cumulative total was fifth in the world after China, Russia, Mexico and Saudi Arabia.
China and Russia, with their enormous populations, are both experiencing disorderliness as a result of their economic reform policies. Saudi Arabia is an oil-rich kingdom while Mexico is a notorious drug trafficking hub, but what is Malaysia that makes it eligible to be put on the same par as them in money laundering activities?
Behind the astronomical figures are more than just tonnes of shocks and sighs, but also excruciating pains of humiliation and disgrace.
-Sin Chew Daily
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