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Message no. 1
From: shadowrn@*********.com (aaron b chappell)
Subject: Money laundering
Date: Sun Oct 14 08:15:00 2001
Pete,
Would you tell me about that money laundering thing your player did I
have always been interested in the subject (and so have several of my
players) however I know next to nothing about it. Could you also
(privately) email me some of your groups escapades sounds like as a GM
you have your hands full and your players seem similar to mine (when I
get to gm stupid school stupid suspension stupid grounding!!!)


Gwylly
"Know anything that can change there minds about killing us?"
"Sure we kill them first."
"Works for me."

________________________________________________________________
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Message no. 2
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Wallace Blade)
Subject: Money laundering
Date: Tue Oct 16 17:30:01 2001
Gwylly said:
>Pete,
>Would you tell me about that money laundering thing your player did I
>have always been interested in the subject (and so have several of my
>players) however I know next to nothing about it. Could you also
>(privately) email me some of your groups escapades sounds like as a GM
>you have your hands full and your players seem similar to mine (when I
>get to gm stupid school stupid suspension stupid grounding!!!)

I'd be interested in the money laundering thing too. I'm affraid I don't
know much on the subject and it'd be important. :)

Wallace Blade
Sepherim (Dagger in sperethiel)
"The Matrix was made to serve,
but only obeys those of us that love her."
Nodo 666: http://www16.brinkster.com/sepherim


_________________________________________________________________
Descargue GRATUITAMENTE MSN Explorer en http://explorer.msn.es/intl.asp
Message no. 3
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Steve Collins)
Subject: Money laundering
Date: Tue Oct 16 17:45:03 2001
Well it depends on how much you want to launder.

Here is one way relatively simple you can do it with relatively small
values.


Buy a nightclub. It is a huge cash business If your reciepts on a
given night are $20,000 you report them as $26,000 then deposit that
ammount into the bank. Bingo you have $6000 clean. if you want to get
fancy then buy a liquor distributor and have the distributor say it
sold your club more than it really did and clean a bit more that way.
You can do this with just about any cash activity. This is why the mob
is always interested in restraunts, night clubs, video arcades and
similar businesses.


Steve
----- Original Message -----
From: Wallace Blade <decker_seph@*******.com>
To: <shadowrn@*********.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2001 5:30 PM
Subject: Re: Money laundering


> Gwylly said:
> >Pete,
> >Would you tell me about that money laundering thing your player did
I
> >have always been interested in the subject (and so have several of
my
> >players) however I know next to nothing about it. Could you also
> >(privately) email me some of your groups escapades sounds like as
a GM
> >you have your hands full and your players seem similar to mine
(when I
> >get to gm stupid school stupid suspension stupid grounding!!!)
>
> I'd be interested in the money laundering thing too. I'm affraid I
don't
> know much on the subject and it'd be important. :)
>
> Wallace Blade
> Sepherim (Dagger in sperethiel)
> "The Matrix was made to serve,
> but only obeys those of us that love her."
> Nodo 666: http://www16.brinkster.com/sepherim
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Descargue GRATUITAMENTE MSN Explorer en
http://explorer.msn.es/intl.asp
>
>
Message no. 4
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Melina York)
Subject: Fw: Money Laundering
Date: Tue Oct 16 18:35:01 2001
This is the message I sent to Gwylly about how some of our players launder
their earnings. I'd have simply posted it to this list if I'd known more
people were interested.

>OK. first off, this is highly illegal stuff. Al Capone was sent to Alcatraz
>for 11 years for these kinds of shenanigans. Make sure that the PCs who try
>money laundering only use contacts they trust implicitly, know what they're
>doing, and know how to keep their mouths shut.
>
>Step 1.
>Get your pay in as varied a form as you can. This isn't always possible,
but
>try not to get the entirety of your pay in certified credsticks (though a
>portion in this form is always good). Ask for some to be in non-electronic
>forms of exchange like negotiable bearer bonds (my fav), stable hard
>currency (UCAS dollars, UK pounds, Quebecois 'francs'), gold nuggets, gems,
>and other untraceable forms of exchange in addition to credsticks. Make
sure
>you are *not* receiving unlaundered and/or stolen property.
>
>Step 2.
>Visit your nearest online branch of the Malaysian Independent Bank (pp
>70-72,124, 134 Target: Matrix). Ask for an anonymous high security account.
>For a minimum balance (read: fee) of 10 000 nuyen, you can deposit money
>into your account *without* a SIN (read up on the MIB to see how this is
>handled). At this point, the value of deposits becomes legal for purposes
of
>international exchange. You now have to get the money back to your PC
>legally. You can also get virtual safe deposit boxes, and other banking
>services. As a GM, remember to charge appropriately.
>
>Step 3.
>Set up a legitimate SIN. Some PCs have one to start, others buy them.
>Doesn't matter. Just make sure it is safe and reliable. Also set up
SIN-less
>safe deposit areas for quick and untraceable access to resources: a couple
>credsticks in a bag in a secure bus terminal locker in an A or B rated
>neighbourhood, loans and favours to other scoundrels that can be counted
>upon to be collectable later (AKA markers), safe houses in secure areas
>wherein some untraceable currency and gear is stashed, etc.
>
>Step 4.
>Invest the money from the MIB into several businesses owned/ operated by
>your PC. These can be as simple as international finance companies that
>invest in other businesses, to actual real-world firms like contracting
>companies and bars (a favourite of the Mafia).

Steve's post goes into a little more detail about how to use a single
business to launder money. The only caveat with this is you have to be sure
the money you report is covered by receipts (real or otherwise). The IRS can
do an online audit in seconds, and any suspicious discrepancies will only
garner more attention. The last thing a shadowrunner wants is to be brought
down by some wageslave accountant who snooped on his records at an
inopportune moment.

>Vary up your investments and
>businesses opportunities because your laundered revenue will become
>susceptible to "market forces" and may go down the toilet in a bad
>investment. You'll also need to pay taxes on your investments and other
>revenue - there is a down side to laundered money.
>
>Step 5.
>Live off the income generated by the laundered revenue.
>
>Remember to keep your laundered and shadow lives separate. Things bought
>with laundered money should never be used on a run, as the SIN trail will
>lead right back to you. Conversely, nothing you buy with your untraceable
>currency should appear in your "clean" life as it won't appear on your SIN
>and will thus be tagged as "stolen", or at least will appear highly
>suspicious in an audit.
>
>These methods are used by only a few of our players (4 of 8).

There are other methods of course, especially if you aren't as concerned
with keeping SIN and SIN-less separate, or are willing to involve more
people. The method above can be done by just one person with a secure Matrix
connection. Anyone else have any schemes?

Pete
player, GM, and general SR addict
Message no. 5
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Holly Feray)
Subject: Money laundering
Date: Thu Oct 18 00:10:01 2001
I need a copy too please.

Thanks,
Holly
Bandit (Racoon Shaman who has just finished pickin' your pockets
unbeknownst to you)

On Tue, 16 Oct 2001 21:30:29 +0000 "Wallace Blade"
<decker_seph@*******.com> writes:
> Gwylly said:
> >Pete,
> >Would you tell me about that money laundering thing your player did
> I
> >have always been interested in the subject (and so have several of
> my
> >players) however I know next to nothing about it. Could you also
> >(privately) email me some of your groups escapades sounds like as
> a GM
> >you have your hands full and your players seem similar to mine
> (when I
> >get to gm stupid school stupid suspension stupid grounding!!!)
>
> I'd be interested in the money laundering thing too. I'm affraid I
> don't
> know much on the subject and it'd be important. :)
>
>
________________________________________________________________
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Message no. 6
From: mamos@*****.com (Mike Amos)
Subject: Money Laundering
Date: Wed, 4 Dec 2002 14:07:38 -0700
Money Laundering in 2060, is it necessary?
I was just wondering about all this unaccounted for income runners seem to
have. First is there government agencies who care? I assume their are, they
would tend to act very much like the IRS and audit a some runner who doesn't
have a job, but seems to have a nice car, a nice flat, and some heavy chrome
in his body. Then the next thing that crosses my mind is that most runners
are SINless. So would this preclude them from audits?

I've read a grand total of one Shadowrun Novel (Burning Times) and I seem to
recall the team having a bar. This seems like a great front for money
laundering.

I also seem to remember there being something on Shadowrunrpg.com about the
cost of doing business, but don't recall if it covered money laundering, or
anything in the book.

So doe you teams launder money and if so by what game mechanics?

Thoughts, opinions, doesn't matter?
Message no. 7
From: davidb@****.imcprint.com (Graht)
Subject: Money Laundering
Date: Wed, 04 Dec 2002 14:37:35 -0700
At 02:07 PM 12/4/2002 -0700, Mike Amos wrote:
>Money Laundering in 2060, is it necessary?
>I was just wondering about all this unaccounted for income runners seem to
>have. First is there government agencies who care? I assume their are, they
>would tend to act very much like the IRS and audit a some runner who doesn't
>have a job, but seems to have a nice car, a nice flat, and some heavy chrome
>in his body. Then the next thing that crosses my mind is that most runners
>are SINless. So would this preclude them from audits?

Yes. As they are not known to the government, they cannot be audited. If
they become known (arrested and assigned a SIN) then the IRS might suddenly
become interested in them...

>So doe you teams launder money and if so by what game mechanics?

Laundering of money is done by individuals/groups who want to use ill
gotten money for legal purposes. Let's say you rob a bank. Some agency or
bank will notice if you try to deposit that money into your account (hmm...
First Bank was robbed of $127,041 and this guy just deposited $127,041...
where's that panic button again?). Likewise, the IRS will want to know
where a sudden increase of income comes from.

Laundering the money accomplishes this by creating a legal source of
revenue, albeit at a price (the launderer charges at least 50% of the
amount of the money to be laundered).

IMHO, runners would not need to launder money as they tend to spend their
income in the shadows. Because they are SINless, they can't purchase
anything significant (property, vehicle, etc) legally, so they acquire it
in the shadows (living in Redmond, purchasing a car from the friend of a
friend of a "friend", etc). The tools of the trade (weapons, decks,
drones, etc) are definitely purchased in the shadows. The sellers likewise
live in the shadows and don't care where the runners money originated.

--
To Life,
-Graht
ShadowRN Assistant Fearless Leader II
http://www.graht.com
Message no. 8
From: iridios@********.net (Iridios)
Subject: Money Laundering
Date: Wed, 04 Dec 2002 19:35:32 -0500
Graht wrote:

> Laundering the money accomplishes this by creating a legal source of
> revenue, albeit at a price (the launderer charges at least 50% of the
> amount of the money to be laundered).

50%! I've been underchargin... I mean, I don't think it'd be that
high. The biggest "customers" of laundering services would be organized
crime syndicates of all flavors. Somehow I don't think they'd work with
someone who insists on keeping half of everything they made. With it
that high, it sounds more like a divorce settlement than a crime. :)

--
Iridios
--
Good manners do not excuse criminal behavior.
------------------------------------------------------
GCC0.3: y69>?.us[PA] G89 SCP/F/PA:@@[SR] B+>++ f@* RR rm= rr+ l- m=>-
w--->= s=>*:= GM+:+(=):=[PF] h= p!>+ LA= mf+ W+ C--(+) CG- OG+ F= c->= K=(?)
------------------------------------------------------
Selections from the diary of an AOL user.

July 25. That nine year old kid next door hooked me up to
America Online for me. He's so smart. I told the kid he was a
prodigy. But he says that's just another service. What a modest
kid. He's so smart and he does these services for people. Anyway
he's smarter then the jerks who sold me the modem. They didn't
even tell me about communications software. Bet they didn't
know. And why do they put two telephone jack holes in the back
of a modem when you only need one? And why do they have one
labeled phone when you are not suppose to hook it to the phone
jack on the wall? I thought the dial tone sounded funny! Boy,
are modem makers dumb! But the kid figured it out by the sound.
Message no. 9
From: davidb@****.imcprint.com (Graht)
Subject: Money Laundering
Date: Thu, 05 Dec 2002 08:13:52 -0700
At 07:35 PM 12/4/2002 -0500, Iridios wrote:
>Graht wrote:
>
>>Laundering the money accomplishes this by creating a legal source of
>>revenue, albeit at a price (the launderer charges at least 50% of the
>>amount of the money to be laundered).
>
>50%! I've been underchargin... I mean, I don't think it'd be that
>high. The biggest "customers" of laundering services would be organized
>crime syndicates of all flavors. Somehow I don't think they'd work with
>someone who insists on keeping half of everything they made. With it that
>high, it sounds more like a divorce settlement than a crime. :)

Money laundering is a complex process. The launderer needs to charge
something for the upkeep of their service. Also, the characters would
probably want the clean money in short order. Money laundering isn't
instantaneous. And, as there are considerable consequences if the
launderer is caught, there's a hazard factor to consider. 50 cents on the
dollar is actually a pretty good return to have dirty money
laundered. It's also in line with typical retail, which marks up items at
least 100%, and purchases used items for no more than 50% on average (ever
try to sell used CDs, books, or consol games?).

And finally, the launderer has the characters at an advantage. The
characters are the ones that need the money laundered. The launderer
already has income generated by the money they launder on a daily basis
(from drugs, smuggling, etc), and don't need the character's business.

FYI, a great site with very nice summaries of money laundering is at
http://www.laundryman.u-net.com/ :)

--
To Life,
-Graht
ShadowRN Assistant Fearless Leader II
http://www.graht.com
Message no. 10
From: Johnflang@***.com (Johnflang@***.com)
Subject: Money Laundering
Date: Thu, 05 Dec 2002 10:41:48 -0500
>>>Money laundering is a complex process. The launderer needs to charge
something for the upkeep of their service. Also, the characters would
probably want the clean money in short order. Money laundering isn't
instantaneous. And, as there are considerable consequences if the
launderer is caught, there's a hazard factor to consider. 50 cents on the
dollar is actually a pretty good return to have dirty money
laundered. It's also in line with typical retail, which marks up items at
least 100%, and purchases used items for no more than 50% on average (ever
try to sell used CDs, books, or consol games?).

Actually in real life money launderer charges anywhere from 10 percent to 25 percent.

John
Owner of way to much trivial knowledge
Message no. 11
From: mamos@*****.com (Mike Amos)
Subject: Money Laundering
Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 10:05:36 -0700
okay, please don't take this personally, but what's your source on this. I'm
not doubting you, just curious.

-----Original Message-----
From: Johnflang@***.com [mailto:Johnflang@***.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 05, 2002 8:42 AM
To: shadowrn@*****.dumpshock.com
Subject: Re: Money Laundering


>>>Money laundering is a complex process. The launderer needs to charge
something for the upkeep of their service. Also, the characters would
probably want the clean money in short order. Money laundering isn't
instantaneous. And, as there are considerable consequences if the
launderer is caught, there's a hazard factor to consider. 50 cents on the
dollar is actually a pretty good return to have dirty money
laundered. It's also in line with typical retail, which marks up items at
least 100%, and purchases used items for no more than 50% on average (ever
try to sell used CDs, books, or consol games?).

Actually in real life money launderer charges anywhere from 10 percent to 25
percent.

John
Owner of way to much trivial knowledge
Message no. 12
From: jason@******.org (Jason Lantrip)
Subject: Money Laundering
Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 10:26:51 -0700
>>okay, please don't take this personally, but what's your source on this.
I'm
>>not doubting you, just curious.

I can't say what his sources are, but if you do some poking around on web
sites for mystery/crime authors, you can come up with all sorts of useful
tidbits of information.

Here's a link to a file, providing some interesting information on various
types of crime. It's a bit lengthy, but it does cover money laundering in a
few different ways and gives a better idea of what directions to go in for
further research on the process. I think, that in the midst of all this
information, it mentions that the current laundering percentage runs about
25%, having risen from 6% in the 60's-70's.

http://www.suite101.com/files/topics/6514/files/corruption.rtf

Like I said, at the very least, it's somewhere to start looking. Not to
mention the even more interesting sections covering organ-running (and
other things), which is something I've often thought of inflicting on my
runners. "Take these cases to the Aztlan border. Make sure that, at no
time, the power to these units is interrupted. Oh, yes, and we need them
there quickly. You may have to cut through a small section of the Tir to
get there..." ;)

--J
Message no. 13
From: Johnflang@***.com (Johnflang@***.com)
Subject: Money Laundering
Date: Thu, 05 Dec 2002 14:42:13 -0500
>>okay, please don't take this personally, but what's your source on this. I'm
not doubting you, just curious.

My source are TV shows(fictional series, news reports), movies, and Newsweek.

John
Message no. 14
From: iridios@********.net (Iridios)
Subject: Money Laundering
Date: Thu, 05 Dec 2002 19:45:06 -0500
Johnflang@***.com wrote:
>>>>Money laundering is a complex process. The launderer needs to charge
>>>
>> something for the upkeep of their service. Also, the characters would
>> probably want the clean money in short order. Money laundering isn't
>> instantaneous. And, as there are considerable consequences if the
>> launderer is caught, there's a hazard factor to consider. 50 cents on the
>> dollar is actually a pretty good return to have dirty money
>> laundered. It's also in line with typical retail, which marks up items at
>> least 100%, and purchases used items for no more than 50% on average (ever
>> try to sell used CDs, books, or consol games?).
>
> Actually in real life money launderer charges anywhere from 10 percent to 25 percent.

This is along the lines of what I was thinking. Of course that is the
rate they charge to large organizations, call it a bulk rate discount.
I could see a launderer charging small groups and individuals 50% or more.



--
Iridios
--
Good manners do not excuse criminal behavior.
------------------------------------------------------
GCC0.3: y69>?.us[PA] G89 SCP/F/PA:@@[SR] B+>++ f@* RR rm= rr+ l- m=>-
w--->= s=>*:= GM+:+(=):=[PF] h= p!>+ LA= mf+ W+ C--(+) CG- OG+ F= c->= K=(?)
------------------------------------------------------
Selections from the diary of an AOL user.

August 13 I sent another post to every usenet group on the
Internet asking where the ftp.netcom.com is. I had forgot
yesterday to include my new signature file which is only 8 pages
long. I know everyone will want to read my favorite poem so I
included it. I'm also going to add that short story I like.
Message no. 15
From: datwinkdaddy@*******.com (Da Twink Daddy)
Subject: Money Laundering
Date: Thu, 05 Dec 2002 19:53:32 -0600
----- Original Message -----
From: "Iridios" <iridios@********.net>


> Graht wrote:
>
> > Laundering the money accomplishes this by creating a legal source
of
> > revenue, albeit at a price (the launderer charges at least 50% of
the
> > amount of the money to be laundered).
>
> 50%! I've been underchargin... I mean, I don't think it'd be that
> high.

I don't think it's really that high. I think in the few movies that
involved money laundering I've seen, the person that took the most
risk got a 10% cut of anything passing through them. Of course, if
there are multiple steps to the laundering it could easily be 25% -
30% cut total for and organization that does it all the time, like the
Mafia or Yaks, and 50% for a bank robber that just happens to have a
good Seolpa Ring contact...

Da Twink Daddy
datwinkdaddy@*******.com
ICQ# 514984
Message no. 16
From: arclight@*********.de (Arclight)
Subject: Money Laundering
Date: Sun, 08 Dec 2002 20:58:11 +0100
At 10:41 05.12.2002 -0500, Johnflang@***.com wrote:

<snip>

>Actually in real life money launderer charges anywhere from 10 percent to
>25 percent.

One time, I had to drive the accounting sergeant of my unit to the lokal
bank to get money to pay new conscripts (they get their first salary in
cash). He withdraw about $75.000 (in Deutsche Mark, of course ;) and while
driving back to the barracks, told me that he only needed an unarmed driver
because stealing this money (taken directly from the bank) would laundering
this kind of stolen money would net the thief about 10% of it's original
value. And $7500 is not that much ;)


--
Arclight

Tell me what you need, and I'll tell you how to get along without it.
Message no. 17
From: arclight@*********.de (Arclight)
Subject: Money Laundering
Date: Sun, 08 Dec 2002 21:00:47 +0100
At 20:58 08.12.2002 +0100, I wrote:

>One time, I had to drive the accounting sergeant of my unit to the lokal
>bank to get money to pay new conscripts (they get their first salary in
>cash). He withdraw about $75.000 (in Deutsche Mark, of course ;) and while
>driving back to the barracks, told me that he only needed an unarmed
>driver because stealing this money (taken directly from the bank) would
>laundering this kind of stolen money would net the thief about 10% of it's
>original value. And $7500 is not that much ;)

D'uh. Don't type after driving =)

lokal = local

"...because stealing this money and laundering it would net the thief..."

Arclight
Message no. 18
From: arclight@*********.de (Arclight)
Subject: Money Laundering
Date: Sun, 08 Dec 2002 22:53:19 +0100
At 04:25 09.12.2002 -0800, Valeu John EMFA wrote:

<snip>

>10 cents to the Mark (Dollar)? That's not very good.

Sure - but it's money from a state bank, every number recorded, never used.
Kind of hard to get rid of it without heavy loss.
It's a completely different thing with money transports from stores
(supermarkets for example) to the bank. That's used, not recorded money.
That should net a lot more, especially if you have a lot of time to launder
it. But that's only a guesstimation by myself *g*


--
Arclight

Tell me what you need, and I'll tell you how to get along without it.
Message no. 19
From: ValeuJ@*************.navy.mil (Valeu John EMFA)
Subject: Money Laundering
Date: Mon, 9 Dec 2002 04:25:20 -0800
>One time, I had to drive the accounting sergeant of my unit to the lokal
>bank to get money to pay new conscripts (they get their first salary in
>cash). He withdraw about $75.000 (in Deutsche Mark, of course ;) and while
>driving back to the barracks, told me that he only needed an unarmed
>driver because stealing this money (taken directly from the bank) would
>laundering this kind of stolen money would net the thief about 10% of it's
>original value. And $7500 is not that much ;)

10 cents to the Mark (Dollar)? That's not very good.
No wonder the theives were happy in "3000 Miles to Graceland."
(50 cent return for every dollar)

Doesn't anyone remember that scene from Lethal Weapon 2 where Leo explains
the whole money laundering process? Figured someone would have used that as
a basis by now.

EM3 John Valeu
-AKA- TimeKeeper, Nocren
"Forget the Gold. He who has the nickel-plated .45 makes the Rules."
Message no. 20
From: jzealey@***.edu.au (James Zealey)
Subject: Money Laundering
Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2002 09:01:13 +1100
> From:
> Arclight <arclight@*********.de>
> Date:
> Sun, 08 Dec 2002 20:58:11 +0100
>
> At 10:41 05.12.2002 -0500, Johnflang@***.com wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
>> Actually in real life money launderer charges anywhere from 10 percent
>> to 25 percent.
>
>
> One time, I had to drive the accounting sergeant of my unit to the lokal
> bank to get money to pay new conscripts (they get their first salary in
> cash). He withdraw about $75.000 (in Deutsche Mark, of course ;) and
> while driving back to the barracks, told me that he only needed an
> unarmed driver because stealing this money (taken directly from the
> bank) would laundering this kind of stolen money would net the thief
> about 10% of it's original value. And $7500 is not that much ;)
>
>

I think your Sergeant seriously overestimated the intelligence of your
average criminal there. Sure they might not get away with it, but that
doesn't appear to stop a lot of them. Take a look at some of the 'stupid
crime' databases out there one day.

Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about Money Laundering, you may also be interested in:

Disclaimer

These messages were posted a long time ago on a mailing list far, far away. The copyright to their contents probably lies with the original authors of the individual messages, but since they were published in an electronic forum that anyone could subscribe to, and the logs were available to subscribers and most likely non-subscribers as well, it's felt that re-publishing them here is a kind of public service.

Thwap!