Isis can now ad white collar crime to its growing list of illicit sources of income. This combined with other elaborate schemes including oil smuggling, extortion, and ransom money, is used to play the currency market.
It was revealed earlier this month that Isis is allegedly making millions of dollars a month by playing foreign currency markets. According to sources from the independent.
Learn more about MCO's Know Your Customer application here
Isis is earning up to $20m a month by funnelling dollars looted from banks in cities taken over, such as the Iraqi city of Mosul, and then routing this cash back into the system via Baghdad. It is estimated that Isis stole somewhere in the region of $429m from Mosul’s central bank. However Tobias Ellwood, a junior Foreign Office minister, admitted that the $20m figure quoted by a number of sources was ‘excessive’.
These revelations were brought to light following a committee of British MP’s meeting to establish Isis’ different forms of income.
One must question the validity of the AML and other anti-laundering schemes in place within the region surrounding Isis. Although in December the central bank of Iraq identified 142 currency-exchange houses that the US suspected of moving funds for Islamic State.
It has been reported that sanctions and penalties have since been placed on these currency-exchange houses to curtail any future transactions with Isis. The same cut down is now allegedly taking place in Jordan, another popular destination for Isis money laundering.
Learn more about MCO's Know Your Customer application here
This news highlights the importance of having a strong compliance program in place for any financial institution. Knowing who your customer is, where they source their income and when to spot money laundering. These preventative measures can ensure that terrorist groups like Isis can’t easily funnel illicit funds back into the system to spend on their war machine.