Colombia finds $20 billion tied to money laundering

Colombia’s financial crimes unit found around $20 billion in financial operations that could be tied to money laundering, as the agency intensifies efforts to catch fraud. 

The funds were discovered through over 20,000 suspicious activity reports that were flagged over the past 3 years by the Financial Information and Analysis Unit (UIAF). 

"In the last few years we've hit the accelerator and the learning curve in terms of interception of illicit funds," UIAF director Javier Gutierrez told Reuters.

The $20 billion found equals more than 6% of Colombia’s annual gross domestic product, according to Reuters. 

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that 2% to 5% of the World’s GDP, equivalent to $800 billion to $2 trillion, is money earned from illegal activities such as drug trafficking and invested in front businesses to integrate the funds into the financial system. 

According to Reuters, laundering can lead to inflation and create unfair competition because front businesses offer services and products at artificially low prices. 

The UIAF has found almost 570 different ways in which money can be laundered, including writing fake of inflated invoices, currency trading, and cryptocurrencies. 

"In importance drug trafficking is the one that generates the most resources and corruption is second for the harm it does to public investment and social programs," said Gutierrez.

Colombia’s penal code names 66 crimes that are tied to money laundering, including drug trafficking, customs fraud, and people smuggling. 

"Being detected matters very little to criminals, it matters much more to be captured, but what hurts them most is the chance resources will be taken away," said Gutierrez. "If you bankrupt them economically it is much harder for them to be resilient."