CONFLICTED How Money Laundering Took Over the World
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Apr 7, 2026 Oliver Bollough, investigative journalist and author who exposes global financial crime. He unpacks how dirty money infiltrates London property and Western banks. He traces laundering from Prohibition to modern cash flows, stablecoins, hawala networks, and transnational gangs. He also explores sanctions, political conflicts, and how institutions profit from secrecy.
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Global Finance Is The Criminal Laundromat
- Money laundering isn't a separate criminal system but the same global financial architecture used by billionaires, corporations, kleptocrats, and cartels.
- Oliver Bollough found Western banks, lawyers, and offshore shells routinely cloak illicit and legal wealth alike, making enforcement symbolic rather than effective.
Money Moves Faster Than Laws
- Money has global mobility while democratic law enforcement remains national, creating a capability mismatch exploited by elites and autocrats.
- Bollough cites Iranian and Russian elites spending in London and Miami despite hostile rhetoric, showing money flows cross political divides.
Old Stories Behind The Term Money Laundering
- The 'laundromat' metaphor traces to Capone buying laundrettes to claim inflated cash receipts.
- Bollough also recounts Puerto Rican launderers buying lottery tickets in the 1980s as a creative cover story.
