Money laundering: How does it operate

Money laundering has been from a long time been a tool of corrupt people and still it is in work today. Lets understand this with the example of Al capone nutorious figure in the crime world. Al capone prisided over a vast and profitable empire in organised crime, when he was put on the trial he was only convicted with tax evasion and the wealth of about $100 million a year which is now about $1.4 billion approx. as per source is nowhere to be found that he earned from illegal gambling, bootlegging, brothel and extortion. Capone and his associates have hidden it as a part in different investments whose ownership cant be proven, like cash only laundromats infact those laundromats are part of the reason of those activities money laundering. The name money laundering itself term as any process that converts illegal currency to legal one by application of different tricks. 

Its not the capone who started the system of money laundering, it is as old as money itself. Merchants do it for avoiding tax related conflicts and pirates hava done it for secure selling of their bounties. But recent arrival of virtual currencies, offshore banking, the dark net and global markets schemes have become much more complex, although they very alot all of them share three basic steps-

1. Placement - It is a step in which criminals buy assets with illegal money which seems as legitimate this is done by opening bank accounts under the name of anonymous corporation or a middle man depositing massive wealth this makes a very vernurable position of the depositor.

2. Layering - It is done by transferring money to multiple bank accounts or by purchasing of luxurious items and real estates or by the help of casinos where every second the money owner changes or have fixing with employees to rig it.

3. Integration - it is done by investments done in legal business makes payment legal by fake invoices get the salary of managing Directors or by make a Bogus charity.

Although through all this U.N, international institutions, and national goverment are fighting money laundering but still it is continued by criminals and not only criminals but people like goverment officials, financial institutions are also in it. No one knows how much wealth is hidden due to money laundering, estimates can be in billion of dollars.