Clean on Paper

The case files

Every case page covers what happened, which techniques were used, how it was found, the outcome, and what changed afterwards.

  1. Al Capone and the Money Laundering Myth

    Al Capone was convicted of tax crimes in 1931, not money laundering, and the laundromat origin story is folklore: the phrase came into use decades later.

    1931–1982

  2. Operation Polar Cap (La Mina)

    A 1989 US operation dismantled a network that laundered about US$1.2 billion for the Medellín cartel by disguising drug cash as gold and jewelry sales, leading to 127 indictments.

    1987–1989 ≈ US$1.2 billion laundered

  3. BCCI

    A bank built on layers of holding companies and nominees laundered drug money, was closed worldwide on July 5, 1991, and reshaped bank supervision.

    1972–1991 Operations in 73 countries

  4. Wachovia

    In 2010 Wachovia admitted it failed to monitor more than US$420 billion in transactions with Mexican exchange houses and paid US$160 million, a record Bank Secrecy Act penalty at the time.

    2004–2008 > US$420 billion unmonitored

  5. HSBC and the Sinaloa cartel

    Weak controls let Mexican and Colombian cartels move at least $881 million in drug money through HSBC, which paid a then-record $1.92 billion in 2012 to defer prosecution.

    2006–2012 US$1.92 billion penalty

  6. The Russian and Troika Laundromats

    Two exposed schemes moved money out of Russia through offshore shell companies and small banks: about US$20 billion via fake loans and Moldovan courts, and US$8.8 billion via Troika Dialog.

    2006–2014 ≈ US$20 billion and US$8.8 billion

  7. 1MDB

    More than US$4.5 billion was diverted from Malaysia's state fund through offshore shell companies into luxury property and Hollywood films, toppling a prime minister and costing Goldman Sachs billions.

    2009–2020 ≈ US$4.5 billion diverted

  8. Panama Papers

    A 2016 leak of 11.5 million files from Mossack Fonseca exposed 214,488 offshore entities and showed how shell companies hide who owns what.

    2016–2024 11.5 million leaked records

  9. Deutsche Bank Mirror Trades

    Deutsche Bank's Moscow and London desks ran matching stock trades that turned rubles into dollars offshore, moving about US$10 billion out of Russia and drawing fines from New York and London in 2017.

    2011–2015 ≈ US$10 billion moved out of Russia

  10. Danske Bank Estonia

    About €200 billion flowed through the Estonian branch of Denmark's biggest bank between 2007 and 2015, much of it suspicious non-resident money hidden behind UK shell companies.

    2007–2015 ≈ €200 billion suspicious flows

  11. The Vancouver Model

    Drug cash lent to Chinese high-roller gamblers through underground banks, washed through BC casinos and real estate, and repaid in China.

    2010s–2022 est. C$7.4 billion in BC (2018)

  12. FinCEN Files

    A 2020 leak of more than 2,100 suspicious activity reports showed large banks moving suspect money, and helped push the US to its biggest AML overhaul in decades.

    1999–2021 ≈ US$2 trillion flagged

  13. The Bitfinex hack laundering

    A married couple spent five years laundering 119,754 bitcoin stolen from the Bitfinex exchange, and the blockchain recorded every move.

    2016–2025 119,754 BTC

  14. Cross-chain bridge hacks

    Bridges that move value between blockchains hold huge pools of funds, and the 2022 thefts from Ronin, Harmony, Wormhole and Nomad show how thieves launder them and how investigators respond.

    2022–2023 ≈ US$2 billion stolen from bridges in 2022 (Chainalysis, by August)

  15. Lazarus Group

    North Korea's state hackers have stolen roughly US$6.75 billion in cryptocurrency and launder it at a speed no other criminal group matches.

    2016–present ≈ US$6.75 billion stolen

  16. Tornado Cash

    The first sanctioned crypto mixer, a court ruling that limited the sanctions, and a developer trial whose outcome will define liability for privacy code.

    2019–present ≈ US$7 billion+ mixed (OFAC, 2022)

  17. Binance

    The world's largest crypto exchange pleaded guilty to AML and sanctions failures and paid about US$4.3 billion, and its founder was later pardoned.

    2017–2023 ≈ US$4.3 billion in penalties

  18. ChipMixer Takedown (2023)

    A darknet bitcoin mixing service that the US said processed over US$3 billion, seized by US and German police in March 2023 while its alleged operator stayed out of reach.

    2017–2023 US$3 billion+ processed (DOJ, 2023)

  19. TD Bank

    The first US bank to plead guilty to money laundering conspiracy paid about US$3.09 billion after three networks moved over US$670 million through its accounts.

    2018–2024 ≈ US$3.09 billion in penalties

  20. Huione and Prince Group

    A Cambodian financial group and a conglomerate tied to forced-labor scam compounds drew the largest sanctions and forfeiture actions ever aimed at Southeast Asian scam networks.

    2021–present ≈ US$4 billion (Huione); 127,271 BTC seized (Prince)