Migration crisis gives fraudsters, traffickers opportunities

The ongoing migration of refugees from areas dominated by ISIS into Europe is the largest mass movement of people since World War II, according to a European Union official. United Nations figures show that 50 million people have been driven from their homes by violence in the Middle East and Africa, with Syria the hardest hit. (See Europe 'faces worst refugee crisis since Second World War', by Matthew Holehouse, The Telegraph, August 14.)

With this mass exodus, of course, comes the usual fraud: human trafficking, money laundering and exploitation. Because the crisis is still developing, I haven't been able to find any hard information on money tracing from refugees to smugglers to money launderers and then into economic systems.

However, as CFEs, we should have an interest in how we can lend our talents and skills. For example, we can't just stand by and not encourage law enforcement agencies to investigate and introduce tighter controls on the facilitators of people smuggling.

Also, the refugees have little or no money by the time they reach Europe because they've paid it to traffickers who undoubtedly are laundering it into financial systems. As CFEs, we must actively identify any possible money links to organized crime or people smugglers.