Money laundering

A collection of U.S. dollar banknotes
Money launderingMoving the moneyNetwork studyUnited States

What Happened to the Other Dollars?

A $200 million monthly estimate became one of the most durable numbers in accounts of…

General cargo being handled beside a ship and trucks at the port of Cotonou.
Logistics and shippingMoney launderingNetwork studyPanamaTrade and transport

Seven Hubs, One Blind Spot: Where the Cargo and the Money Part Company

An electronics invoice arrived from Miami. In Colón, Nidal Waked used it to draw on…

A collection of U.S. dollar banknotes
BrokerageMexicoMoney launderingNetwork studyUnited States

The New Competitors: Chinese Money Networks and the Lebanese Brokers

In January 2021, an American operative named Edgar Joel Martinez-Reyes slipped across the southern border…

General cargo being handled beside a ship and trucks at the port of Cotonou.
Case fileCurrency exchangeEuropeInvestigations and enforcementLebanon and SyriaLogistics and shippingMoney launderingMoving the moneyTrade and transportUnited StatesWest Africa

The Bank, the Car Lots and the Money That Came Back

A civil forfeiture action in Manhattan traced at least $329 million in transfers from Lebanese exchange houses to American used-car…

Official 2025 portrait of Derek Maltz.
Investigations and enforcementMoney launderingNetwork studyUnited States

Project Cassandra: The Investigation That Outlived Its Team

Inside the fortified, windowless operations bunker of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Special Operations Division in Chantilly, Virginia, a whiteboard once…

Official portrait of Treasury official Marshall Billingslea.
Investigations and enforcementLebanon and SyriaMoney launderingMoving the moneyNetwork studyProfile

The Accountants Behind the Apparatus

To an outside auditor glancing over the ledger books of a Beirut construction firm, Muhammad Al-Mukhtar Kallas appeared to be…