OPINION
Throughout the history of law enforcement, officers have relied on developments in investigative tools, from fingerprints to DNA.
Today, criminals have become more sophisticated in using technology to their advantage.
Tech-savvy perpetrators now falsify their identities and do business under bogus names.
It would give law enforcement an important advantage to have access to the true identities of criminal suspects, especially before a crime is committed.
The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), was passed by Congress, it did so with strong bipartisan support. The Trump administration backed the legislation.
The CTA requires some businesses to confidentially report their true, or "beneficial," owners with the United States Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The information they report is relatively minimal, and only authorized users such as law enforcement and national security personnel may access it.
Unfortunately, a very small handful of members of Congress are now trying to delay the implementation of the CTA.
Doing so would seriously undermine the ability of U.S. law enforcement to crack down on drug trafficking, human trafficking, terrorism, and other crimes facilitated by money laundering.
Just as car owners must register their vehicles with the state, allowing law enforcement to "run the tags" of suspicious vehicles and their drivers, law enforcement would be able to verify the beneficial owner(s) of a business.
Criminals have become adept at hiding their assets in the U.S. financial system, and law enforcement needs the CTA to accurately identify these criminals as quickly as possible.
Our concern over illegal border crossings should also extend to the difficult to detect financial crimes of money laundering, fraud, and the financing of drug trafficking.[SG3]
Recently, FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki spoke at an event in Chicago.
She gave examples of how money laundering hurts American business and threatens national security:
"As another example, last year, after a two-year investigation, the FBI and DEA took down a transnational criminal organization that allegedly laundered at least $16.5 million for the Sinaloa cartel.
"According to the indictment, the scheme involved picking up bulk cash, including here in Chicago, belonging to narcotics traffickers. The cash was then laundered through a network of shell companies into bank accounts in Mexico.
"According to the indictment, funds laundered by the organization were used to purchase a Volvo tractor-trailer that FBI agents seized near Las Vegas, as well as aircraft and aircraft engines for export to Mexico, among other things."
A lawyer in Dallas was found guilty of laundering the proceeds of what he believed to be opioid trafficking through shell companies and non-traceable cash businesses.
The lawyer agreed to use his law firm’s bank accounts, as well as charitable bank accounts established to provide legal services to indigent persons, to launder around $500,000 a month as part of a large-scale opioid distribution ring.
These manipulators are also responsible for defrauding America’s elderly in billions of dollars each year.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported that Americans were defrauded outs of $10 billion in 2023, with $4.6 billion being lost in investment scams.
Congress needs to equip law enforcement to battle this ongoing threat.
When we hear the term "money laundering," we imagine it happening on paper. But as Director Gacki’s example shows, there are dangerous consequences to allowing money laundering through anonymous shell companies to go undetected.
Popular opinion supports the reasons for the CTA.
A recent poll by McLaughlin and Associates asked people to respond to the following statement: "My member of Congress should support laws that can stop the financing of deadly fentanyl, even if those laws mean modest additional costs for some businesses."
Of those surveyed, 82% agreed with that statement.
Only 9% disagreed.
The solution to this problem is attainable.
It requires vigilance on the part of government and cooperation on the part of businesses.
These crimes not only upset the integrity of our financial system they put people at risk through drug dealing, human trafficking, terrorism, and more.
The time is now to meet this threat.
Law enforcement must have the Corporate Transparency Act as a tool for thwarting violence and corruption.
Debra LaPrevotte is a former Supervisory Special Agent on the International Corruption Unit at the FBI.
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