The Finance of Illicit Resource Extraction
10 Oct 2004
Jonathan M. Winer and Trifin J. Roule
The proceeds of illicit resource extraction, defined as the sale of natural resources by means that avoid the payment of taxes to the national government in the country from which the resources were extracted, or which is carried out in violation of resolutions issued by the United Nations, are laundered through the same financial services infrastructure relied on by drug traffickers, terrorists, and corrupt officials. The growing panoply of international initiatives targeting money laundering, terrorist finance, and corruption have yet to focus on money laundering relating to illicit resource extraction.
