# الدحيح | غسيل الأموال.. سرطان يفتك باقتصاد العالم

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4jG8FiPfVc
Translation: pt-BR

[00:01] That's what they call the score of a lifetime.
  É isso que eles chamam de o golpe da vida.

[00:04] I swear, you're an artist.
  Eu juro, você é um artista.

[00:06] Art failed you, but crime sure didn't.
  A arte falhou com você, mas o crime certamente não.

[00:08] I told you, if we stick to the plan, we'll be legendary.
  Eu te disse, se seguirmos o plano, seremos lendários.

[00:12] What are we going to do with all this money, boss?
  O que vamos fazer com todo esse dinheiro, chefe?

[00:14] I want a motorcycle.
  Eu quero uma motocicleta.

[00:16] Easy there.
  Calma aí.

[00:17] And what are you going to tell people when they ask where it came from?
  E o que você vai dizer às pessoas quando elas perguntarem de onde veio?

[00:20] -The dealership.
  -Da concessionária.

[00:20] -That's not what I mean, idiot.
  -Não é isso que eu quero dizer, idiota.

[00:23] You're broke and living off your parents,
  Você está sem dinheiro e vivendo às custas dos seus pais,

[00:27] how exactly did you buy a motorcycle?
  como exatamente você comprou uma motocicleta?

[00:31] Right… they'd know I'm a criminal.
  Certo... eles saberiam que sou um criminoso.

[00:32] We need to launder this money.
  Precisamos lavar esse dinheiro.

[00:36] Leave it to me.
  Deixe comigo.

[00:36] Give me half an hour, and I'll scrub every bill spotless.
  Me dê meia hora, e eu limparei cada nota impecavelmente.

[00:41] I'm going to ignore that and explain.
  Vou ignorar isso e explicar.

[00:43] We need to open a business.
  Precisamos abrir um negócio.

[00:45] And go straight?
  E seguir a vida reta?

[00:48] I have always loved and respected you.
  Eu sempre te amei e respeitei.

[00:51] My mom always prayed for both of us, that God would guide us.
  Minha mãe sempre rezou por nós dois, para que Deus nos guiasse.

[00:56] You told your mom we're criminals?
  Você disse para sua mãe que somos criminosos?

[00:57] Should I keep secrets from Mom?
  Devo guardar segredos da Mamãe?

[00:59] Yes! Keep everything we do from everyone.
  Sim! Guarde tudo o que fazemos de todos.

[01:03] Let me explain this slowly.
  Deixe-me explicar isso devagar.

[01:06] We're not going straight.
  Não estamos indo direto.

[01:06] We're opening a business and running it at a loss.
  Estamos abrindo um negócio e o administrando com prejuízo.

[01:10] What do we gain from losing money?
  O que ganhamos em perder dinheiro?

[01:13] Because once we lose some money, whatever's left will look legitimate, like it came from the struggling business.
  Porque uma vez que perdemos algum dinheiro, o que sobrar parecerá legítimo, como se viesse do negócio em dificuldades.

[01:20] I swear, that's genius.
  Eu juro, isso é genial.

[01:21] Why didn't you tell me that before the heist?
  Por que você não me disse isso antes do assalto?

[01:23] Because we didn't have any…
  Porque nós não tínhamos nenhum...

[01:26] You know what? No more stupid questions.
  Sabe de uma coisa? Chega de perguntas estúpidas.

[01:27] Got any business ideas?
  Tem alguma ideia de negócio?

[01:29] I've always wanted to start a YouTube show.
  Eu sempre quis começar um programa no YouTube.

[01:33] Share facts, teach young people things.
  Compartilhar fatos, ensinar coisas aos jovens.

[01:35] I dream of making meaningful content.
  Eu sonho em fazer conteúdo significativo.

[01:37] You don't look like someone who'd have that kind of business in mind.
  Você não parece alguém que teria esse tipo de negócio em mente.

[01:41] What makes you think it'll lose money?
  O que te faz pensar que vai perder dinheiro?

[01:43] Let's give it a shot, my dear friend.
  Vamos tentar, meu querido amigo.

[01:43] What do we have to lose?
  O que temos a perder?

[01:47] I like that.
  Gostei disso.

[01:47] "My dear friend."
  "Meu querido amigo."

[01:48] Let's use it as a catchphrase.
  Vamos usá-lo como um bordão.

[01:53] Reckless.
  Imprudente.

[02:00] Hello my dear viewers and welcome to a new episode of El Daheeh.
  Olá, meus queridos espectadores, e bem-vindos a um novo episódio de El Daheeh.

[02:04] Ever tried washing with the power of blue granules?
  Você já tentou lavar com o poder dos grânulos azuis?

[02:04] Get ready.
  Prepare-se.

[02:08] You don't know a thing about either kind of washing.
  Você não sabe nada sobre nenhum dos tipos de lavagem.

[02:10] This episode will teach you what money laundering is,
  Este episódio lhe ensinará o que é lavagem de dinheiro,

[02:13] and if you ever wanted to launder money, how it's done.
  e se você já quis lavar dinheiro, como isso é feito.

[02:16] How a fortune from illegal sources can become legitimate.
  Como uma fortuna de fontes ilegais pode se tornar legítima.

[02:19] "I know where you're taking me."
  "Eu sei para onde você está me levando."

[02:19] Where?
  Onde?

[02:21] "June 18, 1982."
  "18 de junho de 1982."

[02:23] Let's go back to that exact date
  Vamos voltar a essa data exata

[02:25] and watch Londoners discover a man hanging beneath Blackfriars Bridge.
  e ver os londrinos descobrirem um homem pendurado sob a Ponte Blackfriars.

[02:30] Authorities were baffled.
  As autoridades ficaram perplexas.

[02:32] At first, it looked like suicide,
  A princípio, parecia suicídio,

[02:35] but plenty of evidence pointed to murder.
  mas muitas evidências apontavam para assassinato.

[02:38] Because the victim and his story were stranger than fiction.
  Porque a vítima e sua história eram mais estranhas que a ficção.

[02:41] Authorities identified the victim as Italian banker Roberto Calvi,
  As autoridades identificaram a vítima como o banqueiro italiano Roberto Calvi,

[02:45] chairman of Italy's largest private bank, Banco Ambrosiano.
  presidente do maior banco privado da Itália, o Banco Ambrosiano.

[02:51] "That's suspiciously good. Got an account there?"
  "Isso é suspeitosamente bom. Tem uma conta lá?"

[02:57] The bank's chairman secretly fled Italy,
  O presidente do banco fugiu secretamente da Itália,

[03:01] shaved off his mustache, changed his appearance,
  raspou o bigode, mudou sua aparência,

[03:03] and moved from country to country until he settled in London.
  e mudou-se de país em país até se estabelecer em Londres.

[03:06] Why would he run? He was a banker.
  Por que ele fugiria? Ele era um banqueiro.

[03:08] He practically had money coming out of his ears.
  Ele praticamente tinha dinheiro saindo pelos ouvidos.

[03:11] His name was all over the Italian papers.
  Seu nome estava em todos os jornais italianos.

[03:15] Reports surfaced about massive corruption scandals inside his bank.
  Relatos surgiram sobre escândalos de corrupção massiva dentro de seu banco.

[03:21] Italian authorities found a list of influential figures inside his safe:
  Autoridades italianas encontraram uma lista de figuras influentes dentro de seu cofre:

[03:25] Mafia members, politicians,
  Membros da Máfia, políticos,

[03:29] military officers, and senior Vatican officials.
  Oficiais militares e altos funcionários do Vaticano.

[03:35] Even clergy?
  Até mesmo o clero?

[03:36] The scandal was so severe, the Italian government resigned.
  O escândalo foi tão grave que o governo italiano renunciou.

[03:41] The documents found in the safe revealed a vast money-laundering network
  Os documentos encontrados no cofre revelaram uma vasta rede de lavagem de dinheiro

[03:45] involving Calvi's bank, the Vatican Bank, and the Mafia.
  envolvendo o banco de Calvi, o Banco do Vaticano e a Máfia.

[03:50] Corruption reached the Mafia too?
  A corrupção chegou à Máfia também?

[03:52] But the most important piece of the puzzle was a secret Italian group
  Mas a peça mais importante do quebra-cabeça era um grupo secreto italiano

[03:56] called Propaganda Due P2.
  chamado Propaganda Due P2.

[03:58] It controlled the bank decisions
  Ele controlava as decisões do banco

[04:00] and created a sophisticated route for moving money.
  e criou uma rota sofisticada para movimentar dinheiro.

[04:03] Funds were transferred from shell accounts at Calvi's bank to the Vatican Bank,
  Fundos foram transferidos de contas de fachada no banco de Calvi para o Banco do Vaticano,

[04:07] which at the time was beyond the reach of Italian regulators.
  que na época estava fora do alcance dos reguladores italianos.

[04:14] If you've watched the Vatican episode, you'll know why.
  Se você assistiu ao episódio do Vaticano, saberá o porquê.

[04:18] The Vatican is sovereign territory, guarded by the Swiss Guard,
  O Vaticano é território soberano, guardado pela Guarda Suíça,

[04:23] with no ties to the Italian army or police.
  sem laços com o exército ou a polícia italiana.

[04:27] The money was then routed to more shell accounts across different countries
  O dinheiro foi então desviado para mais contas de fachada em diferentes países

[04:33] to fund criminal operations.
  para financiar operações criminosas.

[04:35] Funding murderers, serial killers, blackmailers, and organ traffickers.
  Financiando assassinos, serial killers, chantagistas e traficantes de órgãos.

[04:41] According to investigators, the suspicious transfers in this case
  De acordo com os investigadores, as transferências suspeitas neste caso

[04:45] totaled roughly $1.4 billion.
  totalizaram cerca de US$ 1,4 bilhão.

[04:47] And that's in the 1980s.
  E isso nos anos 1980.

[04:47] Today, that would equal around $4 to $5 billion.
  Hoje, isso equivaleria a cerca de US$ 4 a US$ 5 bilhões.

[04:52] It was one of the largest money-laundering operations in history.
  Foi uma das maiores operações de lavagem de dinheiro da história.

[04:56] A crime remarkable for its complexity, its methods, and its consequences.
  Um crime notável por sua complexidade, seus métodos e suas consequências.

[05:00] A crime that can make its perpetrators billions
  Um crime que pode render bilhões aos seus perpetradores

[05:02] or bring down institutions and governments,
  ou derrubar instituições e governos,

[05:06] like in Calvi’s case.
  como no caso de Calvi.

[05:07] Excited? Buckle up…
  Animado? Aperte os cintos…

[05:09] And let's dive into the world of money laundering.
  E vamos mergulhar no mundo da lavagem de dinheiro.

[05:15] Lots of people throw around the term "money laundering," but nobody really knows what it means.
  Muitas pessoas usam o termo "lavagem de dinheiro", mas ninguém realmente sabe o que significa.

[05:21] Someone opens a business and it's doing great? "Money laundering."
  Alguém abre um negócio e está indo bem? "Lavagem de dinheiro."

[05:25] Someone opens a business and it's doing terribly? "Money laundering."
  Alguém abre um negócio e está indo terrivelmente mal? "Lavagem de dinheiro."

[05:29] To the Egyptians, everything is money laundering.
  Para os egípcios, tudo é lavagem de dinheiro.

[05:31] But simply put, let's say I run some shady operation, drugs, prostitution, weapons, whatever, and it brings me a million dollars.
  Mas, simplesmente, digamos que eu administre alguma operação duvidosa, drogas, prostituição, armas, o que for, e isso me rende um milhão de dólares.

[05:38] Then I realize crime pays.
  Então eu percebo que o crime compensa.

[05:40] Don't listen to your teachers.
  Não ouça seus professores.

[05:42] Now I've got the money, but everyone knows I'm dirt poor.
  Agora eu tenho o dinheiro, mas todo mundo sabe que sou muito pobre.

[05:47] My job could never earn me that kind of cash, and my bank knows I make a modest salary.
  Meu trabalho nunca poderia me render esse tipo de dinheiro, e meu banco sabe que ganho um salário modesto.

[05:54] So how do I turn that illegal million into legitimate money that can enter the global economy without raising suspicion?
  Então, como transformo esse milhão ilegal em dinheiro legítimo que pode entrar na economia global sem levantar suspeitas?

[06:03] "We're talking millions now."
  "Estamos falando de milhões agora."

[06:07] It’s about money laundering, not you getting washed away.
  É sobre lavagem de dinheiro, não sobre você ser levado pela correnteza.

[06:10] So, we've got a million dollars.
  Então, temos um milhão de dólares.

[06:12] What we're going to do is funnel that money into a legal business and get legitimate money out of it.
  O que vamos fazer é canalizar esse dinheiro para um negócio legal e tirar dinheiro legítimo dele.

[06:20] Money that shows up in our accounts as profits.
  Dinheiro que aparece em nossas contas como lucros.

[06:24] If you've seen Breaking Bad, you remember Walter White's problem when manufacturing meth started making him millions.
  Se você já viu Breaking Bad, lembra do problema de Walter White quando a fabricação de metanfetamina começou a render milhões a ele.

[06:30] How could he explain those profits to the government when he was a chemistry teacher?
  Como ele poderia explicar esses lucros ao governo quando era professor de química?

[06:35] And he was paying for his son's treatment, so his situation didn't exactly allow for that kind of income.
  E ele estava pagando o tratamento do filho, então sua situação não permitia exatamente esse tipo de renda.

[06:43] So he bought a car wash.
  Então ele comprou uma lava-rápido.

[06:46] A place where nobody keeps track of every customer coming and going.
  Um lugar onde ninguém controla cada cliente que entra e sai.

[06:49] Nobody's asking, "How many cars did you wash today?"
  Ninguém pergunta: "Quantos carros você lavou hoje?"

[06:52] It became the perfect cover for generating invoices and revenue records he could present to any regulator.
  Tornou-se a cobertura perfeita para gerar faturas e registros de receita que ele poderia apresentar a qualquer regulador.

[06:59] He literally laundered money.
  Ele literalmente lavou dinheiro.

[07:04] What's happening here is that he's putting the money into a business and claiming it came from that business.
  O que está acontecendo aqui é que ele está colocando o dinheiro em um negócio e alegando que veio desse negócio.

[07:09] By the way, money launderers sometimes literally put cash…
  A propósito, lavadores de dinheiro às vezes literalmente colocam dinheiro...

[07:14] Through a washing machine so it comes out wrinkled and looks used.
  Através de uma máquina de lavar para que saia amassada e pareça usada.

[07:21] That way they can claim it's part of their normal business activity.
  Dessa forma, eles podem alegar que faz parte de suas atividades comerciais normais.

[07:24] After all, a car wash isn't supposed to bring in crisp, brand-new bills.
  Afinal, um lava-rápido não deveria trazer notas novas e impecáveis.

[07:30] The truth is, money laundering wasn't invented by Walter White.
  A verdade é que a lavagem de dinheiro não foi inventada por Walter White.

[07:34] The idea is far older than most people imagine.
  A ideia é muito mais antiga do que a maioria das pessoas imagina.

[07:38] I think the last place you'd expect a money laundering episode to take us is China in the late 8th century.
  Acho que o último lugar onde você esperaria que um episódio de lavagem de dinheiro nos levasse é a China no final do século VIII.

[07:46] During the Tang Dynasty, merchants grew tired of government taxes and came up with a system called Fei Qian, or "flying money."
  Durante a Dinastia Tang, os comerciantes se cansaram dos impostos do governo e criaram um sistema chamado Fei Qian, ou "dinheiro voador."

[07:55] A method that allowed merchants to move profits across long distances without the government noticing.
  Um método que permitia aos comerciantes mover lucros por longas distâncias sem que o governo percebesse.

[08:01] A merchant would hand over his money to another merchant in his city and receive a document for the same value.
  Um comerciante entregaria seu dinheiro a outro comerciante em sua cidade e receberia um documento pelo mesmo valor.

[08:09] He could then use that document to collect the money in a distant province.
  Ele poderia então usar esse documento para coletar o dinheiro em uma província distante.

[08:14] A clever scheme, but the government caught on.
  Um esquema inteligente, mas o governo descobriu.

[08:16] So merchants changed tactics.
  Então os comerciantes mudaram de tática.

[08:18] Instead of cash, they received ownership of assets in other cities, such as shops or houses.
  Em vez de dinheiro, eles receberam a propriedade de bens em outras cidades, como lojas ou casas.

[08:22] "I'm a merchant, not a tax evader. I'm buying and selling."
  "Eu sou um comerciante, não um sonegador de impostos. Estou comprando e vendendo."

[08:24] The system created something that resembled a parallel financial network.
  O sistema criou algo que se assemelhava a uma rede financeira paralela.

[08:28] Historians consider it the first real seed of money laundering in China.
  Historiadores consideram-no a primeira semente real de lavagem de dinheiro na China.

[08:35] Suspicious profits, or money kept from the state, need ideas like this.
  Lucros suspeitos, ou dinheiro retido do estado, precisam de ideias como esta.

[08:39] That's why money laundering evolved further when a group appeared that fit the profile perfectly.
  É por isso que a lavagem de dinheiro evoluiu ainda mais quando surgiu um grupo que se encaixava perfeitamente no perfil.

[08:44] During the Golden Age of Piracy, from the 17th century to around 1730, pirates faced obstacles like the British Act of 1721, which prohibited anyone… from purchasing goods stolen by pirates from ships.
  Durante a Era de Ouro da Pirataria, do século XVII até cerca de 1730, os piratas enfrentaram obstáculos como o Ato Britânico de 1721, que proibia qualquer um... de comprar bens roubados por piratas de navios.

[09:01] So if a pirate showed up and said, "I've got a bargain for you," you'd have to say no, or face prosecution.
  Então, se um pirata aparecesse e dissesse: "Tenho uma pechincha para você", você teria que dizer não, ou enfrentar processo.

[09:09] "I stole it for you, and you're turning me down?"
  "Eu roubei para você, e você está me recusando?"

[09:11] "Thanks, but I'd rather not end up in a British prison."
  "Obrigado, mas prefiro não acabar em uma prisão britânica."

[09:13] "I borrowed it from a relative."
  "Eu peguei emprestado de um parente."

[09:14] "Still no."
  "Ainda não."

[09:16] Even so, their trade continued to thrive.
  Mesmo assim, o comércio deles continuou a prosperar.

[09:19] They turned to merchants in distant colonies like Jamaica and Madagascar, selling stolen goods to them in secret and at discounted prices.
  Eles recorreram a comerciantes em colônias distantes como Jamaica e Madagascar, vendendo-lhes bens roubados em segredo e a preços com desconto.

[09:25] The merchants would then blend them into their regular inventory.
  Os comerciantes então os misturavam em seu estoque regular.

[09:30] After that, the original trademarks were removed, and the goods were exported as legitimate new products that could enter British markets despite the ban.
  Depois disso, as marcas originais foram removidas, e os bens foram exportados como novos produtos legítimos que poderiam entrar nos mercados britânicos, apesar da proibição.

[09:42] That's where an early version of money laundering was born.
  Foi aí que nasceu uma versão inicial de lavagem de dinheiro.

[09:45] As a pirate, I'd convince a merchant to buy from me, then sell the goods to the British.
  Como pirata, eu convenceria um comerciante a comprar de mim, e então venderia os bens para os britânicos.

[09:52] Suspicious profits became part of legitimate market activity, creating gains for everyone involved.
  Lucros suspeitos tornaram-se parte da atividade de mercado legítima, criando ganhos para todos os envolvidos.

[09:58] Pirate offloaded his goods, and merchant sold them for profit.
  O pirata descarregava seus bens, e o comerciante os vendia com lucro.

[10:02] Let's jump to the early 20th century and our old friend, Al Capone.
  Vamos pular para o início do século XX e nosso velho amigo, Al Capone.

[10:07] We did an episode on him too that you should watch.
  Nós fizemos um episódio sobre ele também que você deveria assistir.

[10:09] See those hyperlinks popping up in El Daheeh now?
  Você vê aqueles hiperlinks aparecendo em El Daheeh agora?

[10:12] I'll mention something, then you'll find it in another episode until the circle closes.
  Eu mencionarei algo, então você o encontrará em outro episódio até que o círculo se feche.

[10:15] The puzzle of human knowledge El Daheeh keeps piecing together.
  O quebra-cabeça do conhecimento humano que El Daheeh continua montando.

[10:19] Soon there won't be any episodes left.
  Em breve não haverá mais episódios.

[10:20] El Daheeh will have finished all human knowledge.
  El Daheeh terá terminado todo o conhecimento humano.

[10:23] "You're a respectable creator, but you're rambling.
  "Você é um criador respeitável, mas está divagando.

[10:27] Can we get back to Al Capone?"
  Podemos voltar para Al Capone?"

[10:29] Capone ran a criminal empire in Chicago,
  Capone administrou um império criminoso em Chicago,

[10:33] and its success left him desperate for a way to launder money.
  e seu sucesso o deixou desesperado por uma maneira de lavar dinheiro.

[10:39] "How do I explain to the government where all this money came from?"
  "Como explico ao governo de onde veio todo esse dinheiro?"

[10:42] Capone took over tobacco shops
  Capone assumiu lojas de tabaco

[10:43] and turned them into illegal gambling dens,
  e as transformou em casas de jogos ilegais,

[10:45] generating annual profits of $300k.
  gerando lucros anuais de US$ 300 mil.

[10:48] Gambling wasn't his only success.
  O jogo não foi seu único sucesso.

[10:50] He also thrived in prostitution,
  Ele também prosperou na prostituição,

[10:52] a business he kept expanding until it brought in $10 million a year.
  um negócio que ele continuou expandindo até que rendesse US$ 10 milhões por ano.

[10:57] The U.S. government estimated his organization earned…
  O governo dos EUA estimou que sua organização ganhou…

[11:00] $105 million annually in the 1920s
  US$ 105 milhões anualmente na década de 1920

[11:04] this alone came from bootlegging!
  só isso veio do contrabando de bebidas!

[11:07] Another $25 million came from gambling,
  Mais US$ 25 milhões vieram do jogo,

[11:09] and $10 million from drugs and prostitution.
  e US$ 10 milhões de drogas e prostituição.

[11:12] Economists believe that if Capone were alive today,
  Economistas acreditam que se Capone estivesse vivo hoje,

[11:16] he'd be richer than Elon Musk with ease.
  ele seria mais rico que Elon Musk com facilidade.

[11:20] That kind of money needs a legitimate source.
  Esse tipo de dinheiro precisa de uma fonte legítima.

[11:24] This guy was getting asked, "Where did this come from?
  Esse cara estava sendo perguntado: "De onde veio isso?

[11:26] And this? And that? And all of those?
  E isso? E aquilo? E todos aqueles?

[11:30] So Capone decided to create different businesses to launder his millions.
  Então Capone decidiu criar diferentes negócios para lavar seus milhões.

[11:33] He bought many laundromats…
  Ele comprou muitas lavanderias...

[11:37] across every street in Chicago.
  em todas as ruas de Chicago.

[11:42] And back then, they were a new invention.
  E naquela época, elas eram uma nova invenção.

[11:44] In the 1920s, many people left rural areas for the cities and found themselves living in apartments that didn't allow their old rural habits.
  Na década de 1920, muitas pessoas deixaram áreas rurais para as cidades e se viram morando em apartamentos que não permitiam seus antigos hábitos rurais.

[11:54] Laundromats spread quickly because they filled a real market need.
  As lavanderias se espalharam rapidamente porque atendiam a uma necessidade real do mercado.

[11:57] From the outside, It looked like the perfect legitimate business.
  Do lado de fora, parecia o negócio legítimo perfeito.

[11:59] "Special thanks to everyone who moved from the countryside and generated all this revenue.
  "Agradecimentos especiais a todos que se mudaram do campo e geraram toda essa receita.

[12:03] Tell them the bill is $2, and they leave a quarter-million in tips.
  Diga a eles que a conta é $2, e eles deixam duzentos e cinquenta mil em gorjetas.

[12:07] Country folks are really that generous."
  O pessoal do campo é realmente tão generoso."

[12:12] The business was perfect for Capone because it had no detailed records and very little paper trail.
  O negócio era perfeito para Capone porque não tinha registros detalhados e muito pouca rastreabilidade.

[12:17] I mean, are you really going to inspect a laundromat and ask, "How many items did you wash today, and how much did you make from each one?"
  Quer dizer, você realmente vai inspecionar uma lavanderia e perguntar: "Quantos itens você lavou hoje e quanto ganhou de cada um?"

[12:27] It's a laundromat.
  É uma lavanderia.

[12:28] Just like Walter White, Capone literally laundered money.
  Assim como Walter White, Capone literalmente lavou dinheiro.

[12:34] The term comes from Capone's story.
  O termo vem da história de Capone.

[12:38] Back then, there was no such thing as "money laundering."
  Naquela época, não existia "lavagem de dinheiro".

[12:40] People were doing it without having a name for it.
  As pessoas faziam isso sem ter um nome para isso.

[12:43] They'd just call it outsmarting the government, or dodging taxes.
  Eles simplesmente chamavam de enganar o governo ou sonegar impostos.

[12:47] Money laundering wasn't classified as a crime until 1986, decades after Capone.
  A lavagem de dinheiro não era classificada como crime até 1986, décadas depois de Capone.

[12:57] The laundromat business was substantial, but it failed as cover for that enormous fortune.
  O negócio da lavanderia era substancial, mas falhou como disfarce para aquela enorme fortuna.

[13:03] Even if you did laundry for every American, you couldn't make that kind of money.
  Mesmo que você lavasse roupa para todos os americanos, você não conseguiria ganhar esse tipo de dinheiro.

[13:07] They're talking about a fortune that could've rivaled Elon Musk's.
  Eles estão falando de uma fortuna que poderia rivalizar com a de Elon Musk.

[13:11] Imagine Elon Musk trying to launder a trillion dollars.
  Imagine Elon Musk tentando lavar um trilhão de dólares.

[13:14] That's not a country's economy.
  Isso não é a economia de um país.

[13:17] That's multiple countries.
  Isso são múltiplos países.

[13:18] Capone fell, and when he was tried, it wasn't for the Mafia, prostitution, or bootlegging.
  Capone caiu, e quando ele foi julgado, não foi pela Máfia, prostituição ou contrabando.

[13:30] It was for tax evasion.
  Era para evasão fiscal.

[13:32] You're a good man, but your value-added tax has issues.
  Você é um bom homem, mas seu imposto sobre valor agregado tem problemas.

[13:36] What matters is Capone didn’t know what he was doing.
  O que importa é que Capone não sabia o que estava fazendo.

[13:42] his need to expand his laundering operations
  sua necessidade de expandir suas operações de lavagem

[13:45] made him, according to economic historians, the first person to establish the classic money laundering model.
  o tornou, segundo historiadores econômicos, a primeira pessoa a estabelecer o modelo clássico de lavagem de dinheiro.

[13:50] A three-stage model.
  Um modelo de três estágios.

[13:52] First: Placement.
  Primeiro: Colocação.

[13:54] The cash proceeds from criminal activity,
  Os recursos em dinheiro de atividades criminosas,

[13:56] whose sheer volume makes them easy to detect and monitor.
  cujo volume puro os torna fáceis de detectar e monitorar.

[13:59] Second: Layering.
  Segundo: Camuflagem.

[14:01] A complex process that can take months.
  Um processo complexo que pode levar meses.

[14:05] We start moving the money into activities that are hard to trace,
  Começamos a mover o dinheiro para atividades difíceis de rastrear,

[14:08] such as buying houses, land,
  como comprar casas, terrenos,

[14:10] or opening businesses like restaurants and laundromats.
  ou abrir negócios como restaurantes e lavanderias.

[14:13] Then we make slow bank transfers.
  Então fazemos transferências bancárias lentas.

[14:16] So the bank manager doesn’t call you asking, "What are these huge transfers?"
  Assim, o gerente do banco não te liga perguntando: "O que são essas transferências enormes?"

[14:22] Transfers must be split across different people and locations.
  As transferências devem ser divididas entre diferentes pessoas e locais.

[14:27] The more transactions, the slower they are,
  Quanto mais transações, mais lentas elas são,

[14:31] And the more natural they appear.
  E quanto mais naturais eles parecem.

[14:32] The bank won’t care about $10 transfers.
  O banco não se importará com transferências de $10.

[14:37] The thicker the layer hiding the money's movement,
  Quanto mais espessa a camada que esconde o movimento do dinheiro,

[14:40] the more we’ve achieved layering and are ready for the final stage.
  mais alcançamos a estratificação e estamos prontos para a fase final.

[14:46] Third: Integration.
  Terceiro: Integração.

[14:48] Here, we take the money as profits from the businesses we created
  Aqui, pegamos o dinheiro como lucro das empresas que criamos

[14:53] and deposit it into official bank accounts
  e o depositamos em contas bancárias oficiais

[14:56] as legitimate revenue recorded in their books.
  como receita legítima registrada em seus livros.

[15:00] And yes, you pay taxes on it.
  E sim, você paga impostos sobre isso.

[15:03] You have to pay taxes so nobody gets suspicious.
  Você tem que pagar impostos para que ninguém desconfie.

[15:05] Simply, you took dirty money out of one pocket and put it in the other.
  Simplesmente, você tirou dinheiro sujo de um bolso e o colocou no outro.

[15:09] You lost a little money, but that's better than losing years of your life in prison.
  Você perdeu um pouco de dinheiro, mas isso é melhor do que perder anos de sua vida na prisão.

[15:14] Of course, you're busy taking notes on layering and integration,
  Claro, você está ocupado anotando sobre estratificação e integração,

[15:16] while overlooking the first step, placement.
  enquanto ignora o primeiro passo, a colocação.

[15:18] Capone pioneered this model, but as I said, it's a classic model.
  Capone foi pioneiro neste modelo, mas como eu disse, é um modelo clássico.

[15:22] And its failure was proven by Capone's downfall.
  E seu fracasso foi provado pela queda de Capone.

[15:24] Those stages died long ago.
  Essas fases morreram há muito tempo.

[15:26] Public funds are wide awake now.
  Os fundos públicos estão bem acordados agora.

[15:28] The age of laundering is over.
  A era da lavagem acabou.

[15:30] We're in the age of the half-automatic.
  Estamos na era do semi-automático.

[15:32] With Capone’s fall, a new generation emerged that studied his mistakes and made completely new ones.
  Com a queda de Capone, surgiu uma nova geração que estudou seus erros e cometeu erros completamente novos.

[15:41] Meet the second generation of American gangs in the 1920s, led by Meyer Lansky.
  Conheça a segunda geração das gangues americanas nos anos 1920, liderada por Meyer Lansky.

[15:47] Lansky was a Russian-Jewish immigrant who arrived in the U.S. in 1911, and thanks to the rise of organized crime during Prohibition, he climbed the American Mafia ranks.
  Lansky era um imigrante judeu russo que chegou aos EUA em 1911 e, graças à ascensão do crime organizado durante a Lei Seca, ele subiu na hierarquia da Máfia americana.

[15:56] After Prohibition ended, he moved into gambling and expanded it, and the profits grew, so he decided to change Capone’s approach.
  Após o fim da Lei Seca, ele migrou para os jogos de azar e os expandiu, e os lucros cresceram, então ele decidiu mudar a abordagem de Capone.

[16:01] Capone wasn’t like your sly relatives, the kind you say "nice car" to, and they go, "I borrowed it, I’m driving Uber, and honestly I’ve got every disease known to man."
  Capone não era como seus parentes astutos, o tipo para quem você diz "carro legal" e eles respondem "Eu peguei emprestado, estou dirigindo Uber e, honestamente, tenho todas as doenças conhecidas pelo homem."

[16:14] Capone didn’t have that kind of sly.
  Capone não tinha esse tipo de astúcia.

[16:17] He presented himself as a celebrity, with extreme wealth and silk shirts.
  Ele se apresentava como uma celebridade, com riqueza extrema e camisas de seda.

[16:24] In contrast, Lansky completely gave up the luxury lifestyle despite his wealth and chose to live modestly with a very ordinary lifestyle.
  Em contraste, Lansky abandonou completamente o estilo de vida luxuoso, apesar de sua riqueza, e escolheu viver modestamente com um estilo de vida muito comum.

[16:35] He began engineering the modern money laundering system we know today.
  Ele começou a projetar o moderno sistema de lavagem de dinheiro que conhecemos hoje.

[16:40] If Capone was the theorist, Lansky was the accountant
  Se Capone era o teórico, Lansky era o contador

[16:44] who turned it into a transnational criminal system.
  que o transformou em um sistema criminoso transnacional.

[16:47] Lansky said the problem isn’t hiding the money, it’s how you hide it.
  Lansky disse que o problema não é esconder o dinheiro, é como você o esconde.

[16:51] So in the 1930s, he took advantage…
  Então, na década de 1930, ele aproveitou...

[16:55] of Swiss banking secrecy laws.
  das leis de sigilo bancário suíço.

[17:00] That’s when Swiss banks started shining.
  Foi quando os bancos suíços começaram a brilhar.

[17:02] He was one of the first to move money into Switzerland.
  Ele foi um dos primeiros a mover dinheiro para a Suíça.

[17:05] The secrecy law applied to all Swiss banks
  A lei de sigilo se aplicava a todos os bancos suíços

[17:08] and allowed them to hide funds and account holder identities,
  e permitia que eles escondessem fundos e identidades dos titulares de contas,

[17:12] turning Switzerland into a haven for suspicious money transfers.
  transformando a Suíça em um paraíso para transferências de dinheiro suspeitas.

[17:19] Lansky transferred massive amounts into Swiss accounts secretly,
  Lansky transferiu secretamente grandes quantias para contas suíças,

[17:22] after linking them to a network of
  após vinculá-las a uma rede de

[17:27] Shell Companies with no real activity.
  Empresas de fachada sem atividade real.

[17:33] Then he would request loans from Swiss banks
  Então ele solicitava empréstimos de bancos suíços

[17:37] Using those transfers as collateral, and the money would return to him in the U.S. as a legal loan exempt from taxation, since loans aren’t considered income.
  Usando essas transferências como garantia, e o dinheiro retornaria para ele nos EUA como um empréstimo legal isento de impostos, já que empréstimos não são considerados renda.

[17:50] "How can you tax a loan I owe? I’m borrowing from Swiss banks that guarantee me. I’m just using loans to operate."
  "Como você pode tributar um empréstimo que eu devo? Estou pegando emprestado de bancos suíços que me garantem. Estou apenas usando empréstimos para operar."

[18:00] Lansky then expanded his operations and opened more branches.
  Lansky então expandiu suas operações e abriu mais filiais.

[18:03] As a sharp accountant, he engineered the system brilliantly.
  Como um contador astuto, ele projetou o sistema brilhantemente.

[18:06] For example, gambling casino profits would be skimmed at the start and distributed to Mafia members as off-the-books cash, untraceable by authorities.
  Por exemplo, os lucros dos cassinos de jogos de azar seriam desviados no início e distribuídos aos membros da Máfia como dinheiro não registrado, impossível de rastrear pelas autoridades.

[18:15] He would split casinos into branches and inflate fake losses, so those losses appeared in tax records and reduced his declared wealth.
  Ele dividia os cassinos em filiais e inflava perdas falsas, para que essas perdas aparecessem nos registros fiscais e reduzissem sua riqueza declarada.

[18:31] Other branches were recorded as profitable.
  Outras filiais foram registradas como lucrativas.

[18:36] "I’ve got casinos that win, and casinos that lose."
  "Eu tenho cassinos que ganham e cassinos que perdem."

[18:38] So when the tax officer saw the numbers, he just made him pay.
  Então, quando o fiscal viu os números, ele simplesmente o fez pagar.

[18:41] He was basically doing all of this just to pay the taxman.
  Ele estava basicamente fazendo tudo isso apenas para pagar o cobrador de impostos.

[18:44] He created a balance that made him appear to be…
  Ele criou um balanço que o fez parecer…

[18:50] a simple businessman who wins and loses money,
  um simples empresário que ganha e perde dinheiro,

[18:53] while in reality he was massively multiplying his wealth.
  enquanto, na realidade, ele estava multiplicando massivamente sua riqueza.

[18:57] He even built a transnational criminal network
  Ele até construiu uma rede criminal transnacional

[19:00] that moved huge sums into Swiss banks to avoid Capone’s fate.
  que moveu enormes somas para bancos suíços para evitar o destino de Capone.

[19:05] Even more dangerous, Lansky engineered the Mafia itself,
  Ainda mais perigoso, Lansky projetou a própria Máfia,

[19:09] convincing gangs to abandon internal conflicts
  convencendo gangues a abandonar conflitos internos

[19:12] that attracted government attention.
  que atraíam a atenção do governo.

[19:14] "We become one front against the government,
  "Nos tornamos uma frente unida contra o governo,

[19:18] hand in hand for maximum corruption."
  lado a lado para a máxima corrupção."

[19:24] He told them the only way to safely scale their wealth
  Ele lhes disse que a única maneira de aumentar sua riqueza com segurança

[19:27] was to behave like a corporation with a unified financial system,
  era se comportar como uma corporação com um sistema financeiro unificado,

[19:31] organized transfers, and structured profit distribution
  transferências organizadas e distribuição de lucros estruturada

[19:34] that would make even the best regulators unable to find a single charge.
  que tornaria até mesmo os melhores reguladores incapazes de encontrar uma única acusação.

[19:39] Maybe we’ll even turn it into an app someday.
  Talvez um dia até a transformemos em um aplicativo.

[19:45] Lansky’s expansion went so far
  A expansão de Lansky foi tão longe

[19:49] that he bought an entire Swiss bank.
  que ele comprou um banco suíço inteiro.

[19:52] He transferred profits to himself, sent transfer receipts to himself,
  Ele transferiu lucros para si mesmo, enviou recibos de transferência para si mesmo,

[19:56] and even charged himself interest,
  e até cobrou juros de si mesmo,

[19:58] collecting a number and then waiting for his own turn to meet himself.
  coletando um número e depois esperando sua própria vez de se encontrar.

[20:02] He was exploiting Swiss banking secrecy laws.
  Ele estava explorando as leis de sigilo bancário suíço.

[20:08] That was the most important step in his career,
  Esse foi o passo mais importante em sua carreira,

[20:10] because it opened the door to full banking control.
  porque abriu a porta para o controle bancário total.

[20:14] He owned the very bank that was supposed to catch him.
  Ele era dono do próprio banco que deveria pegá-lo.

[20:17] Lansky’s success went beyond America.
  O sucesso de Lansky foi além da América.

[20:21] This is a man who must be studied.
  Este é um homem que deve ser estudado.

[20:24] No one heared about what he did.
  Ninguém ouviu falar do que ele fez.

[20:27] In 1946, he partnered with Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista,
  Em 1946, ele se associou ao ditador cubano Fulgencio Batista,

[20:32] agreeing to expand Mafia gambling operations in Cuba.
  concordando em expandir as operações de jogo da Máfia em Cuba.

[20:38] He would build his casinos there, and what happens there stays there,
  Ele construiria seus cassinos lá, e o que acontece lá, fica lá,

[20:40] in exchange for bribes for him and his government.

[20:43] Lansky renovated old casinos and built new ones,

[20:47] and began injecting huge liquidity into Cuba,

[20:50] which had no legal agreements with the U.S.

[20:55] requiring it to share data or report corruption.

[20:59] He started treating Cuba like his own.

[21:02] As always, money loves more money.

[21:05] The more money you make, the more money you want.

[21:08] Businessmen left their jobs and started making content.

[21:10] He was never satisfied, so he didn’t just turn it into a gambling hub,

[21:14] but also a base for heroin smuggling into the local market.

[21:20] Turning Cuban teens into heroin addicts.

[21:23] That boosted his profits enormously.

[21:26] Everything was calculated until 1959,

[21:32] when the Cuban Revolution erupted and Fidel Castro took power.

[21:37] "Capitalism, profits, all of that doesn’t concern us.

[21:42] If I don’t benefit from it, no one will."

[21:44] So Cuba decided to nationalize all of

[21:51] Lansky’s assets into a state-owned company.

[21:55] That was the final blow to Lansky’s empire.

[21:59] I’ve never seen a criminal with this level of intelligence.

[22:03] He played the game of capitalism, scored big,

[22:09] and still got nationalized in the end.

[22:11] "No investigators, no corruption probe. This is state property now."

[22:17] Lansky lost most of his fortune,

[22:19] and as his financial power weakened, his influence inside the Mafia also declined,

[22:23] until he became a marginal figure.

[22:25] That led the FBI to drop surveillance on him in 1971,

[22:29] assuming he was no longer a threat.

[22:33] Despite his losses, Lansky remained a master in the eyes of the authorities.

[22:36] Until his death in 1983,

[22:38] the U.S. government never managed to charge him with anything

[22:42] despite believing he still held millions in banks.

[22:46] You could say Lansky built the financial underworld we live in today.

[22:51] Every money laundering story in the world is a product of his ideas

[22:56] We don’t know much about him,

[22:58] except that his methods became a nightmare for governments.

[23:01] Thanks to him, the classic mobster disappeared.

[23:04] No longer a gangster surrounded by armed bodyguards.

[23:09] He was no longer a criminal surrounded by guns,

[23:11] but a businessman surrounded by armies of international lawyers

[23:16] and accountants specialized in evading laws.

[23:20] Remember, a gun can rob a bank,

[23:23] but a good accountant can rob a thousand banks.

[23:28] "Enough."

[23:29] "Stop."

[23:31] "If the money gets stuck, cancel it."

[23:35] I couldn't find some cash. What do I do?

[23:38] Crime experts describe the 1980s as the peak of the war on money laundering.

[23:44] But despite government regulations,

[23:46] the stage was changing faster than their slow ability to respond.

[23:53] This showed up in major cases, like the one we started the episode with,

[23:56] which brought down the Italian government.

[23:58] And things got harder with the rise of digital transfers.

[24:02] Money movement shifted from slow, complex operations

[24:07] to near-instant transactions via advanced computer systems.

[24:11] This created a real crisis for states and banking systems.

[24:14] The system meant to simplify financial life

[24:19] became a criminal tool.

[24:25] Financial operations multiplied into layers upon layers,

[24:27] making it extremely difficult to track money flows.

[24:30] Figures like Pablo Escobar emerged,

[24:32] and his influence expanded even inside U.S.

[24:35] We even did an episode on him.

[24:36] I wish we could show his face in front of the White House.

[24:40] There isn’t a criminal empire in the world we haven’t covered in an episode.

[24:43] Capone, Pablo Escobar, and even John Gotti.

[24:48] Escobar became one of America’s heavyweights

[24:51] until something happened inside a specific hotel in Miami that changed the story.

[24:56] Late 1970s and throughout the 1980s,

[24:58] Miami became a playground for drug cartels and cocaine traffickers.

[25:03] At the heart of the city, one hotel became the center of an entire drug-trafficking

[25:08] and money-laundering organization.

[25:10] Back in the 1960s, the Mutiny Hotel was built in Miami's upscale Coconut Grove.

[25:16] It was meant to be an exclusive club for the city's political and financial elite.

[25:22] But in 1979, businessman Burton Cohen bought it

[25:26] and turned it into a secret club.

[25:28] Cohen wasn't a crime boss, but he was a savvy businessman

[25:31] who capitalized on the city's booming drug trade

[25:33] and became the hub that brought traffickers together.

[25:37] He turned the hotel into a fortress where journalists weren't welcome,

[25:42] with security and secrecy that rivaled government buildings.

[25:45] The place soon attracted major Mafia figures

[25:47] like Willy Falcon, one of Miami's drug kings.

[25:52] Gradually, the hotel became the stage for smuggling deals

[25:56] between American and Colombian traffickers,

[25:58] and for preparing huge cash shipments bound for secret accounts

[26:02] in Panama and Switzerland.

[26:03] But the traffickers faced a problem.

[26:07] Most of their cash came in five- and ten-dollar bills,

[26:11] making the bags of money from distributors heavier than the heroin itself.

[26:15] Cartel members decided to funnel that cash through a vast network

[26:18] of legitimate businesses to conceal its true source.

[26:20] They needed businesses that could absorb cash

[26:22] and get rid of all those fives and tens.

[26:24] Everyone wants change, except drug traffickers.

[26:27] I suggest a joint venture between politicians and beggars.

[26:34] They'd have no trouble consolidating their cash.

[26:40] They started by financing massive construction projects

[26:45] until Miami became a city of skyscrapers.

[26:49] The strategy was simple: construction workers were paid in cash

[26:55] to get rid of the enormous amounts of currency.

[26:58] Then once the units were sold,

[27:01] the proceeds were deposited into official bank accounts bank accounts

[27:06] as legitimate profits.

[27:08] What happened next was that Miami's banks started receiving massive cash inflows.

[27:13] Boxes packed with money arrived at banks every morning

[27:19] at a rate of one million dollars a day.

[27:24] The deposits kept growing

[27:25] until they exceeded two billion dollars in a single year.

[27:28] At the time, that cash surplus exceeded the emergency reserves

[27:31] held by Federal Reserve banks across several states combined.

[27:36] That caught the attention of the U.S. government.

[27:40] With the war on cocaine trafficking already underway,

[27:44] it was only natural to connect the two.

[27:47] So the government launched Operation Greenback,

[27:50] a financial investigation aimed not at tracking cocaine,

[27:54] but at tracking the money itself.

[27:56] It brought together investigators from Customs, U.S. Attorneys' Offices,

[28:00] and financial oversight agencies.

[28:03] They began comparing the depositors' declared wealth

[28:08] with the volume of deposits flowing into Miami's banks,

[28:10] and with the massive increase in those banks cash reserves.

[28:15] The investigation concluded that deposits and manipulation on that scale

[28:18] couldn't have happened without help from inside the banks.

[28:22] With deposits this large, it's hard to assume bank staff were innocent.

[28:26] Especially since the government had already required banks

[28:29] to file identification records for anyone depositing more than $10,000.

[28:34] Investigators then confronted bank officials directly,

[28:37] they were about to say everthing,

[28:39] and offered them deals.

[28:43] "Give us documented information on the drug networks,

[28:48] and we'll make you witnesses.

[28:54] We're after cocaine traffickers, not some bank clerk."

[28:57] And they did.

[28:59] As a result, mass arrests followed, millions were seized,

[29:02] and the cocaine network centered around that hotel was dismantled.

[29:06] When the story broke, journalists were reminded of Al Capone

[29:11] and permanently nicknamed the hotel after Capone's most famous title:

[29:15] Hotel Scarface.

[29:16] "Turns out the world is a lot messier than I imagined."

[29:19] So what do you say we take money laundering…

[29:22] to a much tougher international level?

[29:29] In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed,

[29:34] which was great news for the United States.

[29:37] Mr. Gorbachev traveled to America.

[29:41] You'd think he was there to film a TV commercial.

[29:43] The collapse of the Soviet Union created a crisis.

[29:46] Anyone could trade weapons, military stockpiles, and all sorts of things.

[29:52] A lot of shady business could thrive in a country that had lost its iron grip.

[29:57] In 1993, two of Russia's wealthiest men bought luxury apartments

[30:02] in London's Kingston district for as much as £320,000.

[30:08] A month later, a Russian tycoon bought a luxury home

[30:11] in one of London's oldest districts for £1.1 million.

[30:15] That sparked a debate in England.

[30:19] Londoners wondered, "Why are wealthy Russians buying real estate

[30:24] in London at these prices?"

[30:27] Just two years earlier, the Soviet Union had fallen apart,

[30:31] and conditions at home were miserable.

[30:33] For example, oil and gas facilities and state-owned companies

[30:37] were struggling and needed rescuing.

[30:40] If you've seen the Putin episode,

[30:42] and he's not one of the villains we've covered,

[30:46] you'll know the government launched something called Voucher Privatization.

[30:52] Those vouchers were distributed to everyone.

[30:54] They allowed people to own shares in Russia's national companies.

[30:59] A voucher gave every Russian citizen the right to buy a stake in the economy

[31:02] and become a shareholder in public assets.

[31:05] The idea was to raise as much money from citizens as possible

[31:09] so outsiders couldn't take over state-owned property.

[31:12] It was meant to help solve the economic crisis

[31:15] and promote public ownership of national wealth.

[31:18] Unlike the Soviet era, when the state was the only producer, farmer, and merchant.

[31:23] The Russian people were extremely poor.

[31:25] The only thing socialism left them was a good reputation.

[31:29] What happened was that Russia's wealthy elite exploited the scheme,

[31:32] taking advantage of people's lack of understanding and faith in those vouchers.

[31:37] They sent agents to buy huge quantities of vouchers from ordinary people.

[31:44] Some citizens didn't understand their value,

[31:47] so they sold them. "Why would I pay for this? Just take it."

[31:51] Some people even sold their shares in public assets for a bottle of vodka.

[31:56] One Russian grandfather…

[31:58] sold his stake in a Russian gas company for vodka!

[32:04] With those vouchers, the wealthy took over the Russian economy.

[32:08] They became owners of factories and major economic assets.

[32:11] On paper, the acquisitions looked legal, but in reality, they were criminal.

[32:14] That group of wealthy elites later became known as the oligarchs.

[32:19] Oligarchy is a Greek term for a state ruled by a powerful minority,

[32:25] such as the wealthy and the influential.

[32:27] After their plan worked, the oligarchs triggered a banking boom.

[32:30] Every rich man started opening a bank,

[32:32] and the government allowed it.

[32:34] Nobody was making deposits anymore.

[32:37] Some estimates suggest the number of banks eventually exceeded 2,000.

[32:40] Imagine every bank with one ATM, what would the country sound like?

[32:44] Most of those banks were shell companies.

[32:48] Their sole purpose was to move money out of Russia and into foreign banks.

[32:55] At the time, Moldova and Latvia emerged

[32:59] as the first destinations for those transfers.

[33:02] From there, the money flowed steadily into banks in London.

[33:06] In the 1990s, New York and London became hubs for Russia’s wealthy elite.

[33:10] To the point that, people started calling it Londongrad.

[33:15] Back then, many voices in Britain opposed accepting Russian money.

[33:20] But on the other hand, money was flowing into the country.

[33:24] Were they really going to say no?

[33:27] "The Soviet Union is gone, and so is the corruption.

[33:30] These are capitalist businessmen now!"

[33:33] The money flowing out of Russia at the time was staggering.

[33:36] Tens of billions were used in market manipulation

[33:40] nd shady deals in Russia,

[33:41] then moved through banks with ease and little oversight,

[33:45] in one of the strangest and largest money laundering operations in history.

[33:49] Nobody ever asked the bank owners,

[33:51] "What exactly is it that you do?"

[33:53] Some of those banks were nothing more than a name.

[33:56] By 1995, the government of Russian President Boris Yeltsin,

[34:01] whom I previously described on this show as a lightweight,

[34:04] had a massive liquidity problem.

[34:06] They needed money to fund the elections, and the treasury was broke.

[34:10] So they said, "Let's make a deal with these large private banks."

[34:14] The banks would lend the government money, using oil stakes as collateral.

[34:18] And if the government couldn't repay the loans,

[34:21] the banks would take ownership of the oil companies instead.

[34:27] As you'd expect, someone like Boris didn't repay.

[34:30] He was too busy going to America, drinking, and taking his clothes off.

[34:34] The government defaulted, and the banks seized huge stakes in major companies

[34:39] for less than 1% of their actual value.

[34:46] Oh, Russia. Your own people did this to you.

[34:48] After that, capital flight from Russia increased,

[34:54] and the laundering machine shifted into high gear.

[34:57] Until 1998, when the Russian government decided to borrow

[35:01] $4.8 billion from the International Monetary Fund

[35:06] to support the currency and stabilize the market.

[35:08] Then a suspended Russian prosecutor named Yuri Skuratov appeared

[35:13] and said $3.9 billion had been transferred abroad by the Russian Central Bank,

[35:20] sent to 18 private banks, and then vanished.

[35:24] The IMF money had been stolen!

[35:28] The ruble lost 34% of its value!

[35:30] "You're stealing IMF money?!"

[35:33] Naturally, it was a disaster for both economics and journalism.

[35:38] "Where did the $4 billion that was supposed to fix the country's budget go?"

[35:45] Then the money trail began.

[35:48] And guess where they found it.

[35:51] It was like suddenly discovering that Messi had left Barcelona

[35:54] and was playing for Real Madrid.

[35:57] Investigations began to trace the money.

[36:01] They eventually found that the money

[36:04] was sitting in the Bank of New York.

[36:09] That case opened the door to investigations

[36:11] that revealed the volume of Russian money laundered through the Bank of New York

[36:14] exceeded $7–15 billion between 1996 and 1999.

[36:21] Which means this wasn't the first incident.

[36:24] It was just another chapter.

[36:27] The investigation involved legal teams from several countries,

[36:30] and the case file exceeded 3,500 documents.

[36:33] British investigators were involved too,

[36:35] not only because Britain was a hub for Russian money laundering,

[36:38] but also because of what became known as the Enablers.

[36:42] A group of British consultants and bankers.

[36:45] Their main job was arranging the paperwork

[36:47] and financial routes through which money could move without attracting scrutiny.

[36:51] If money laundering began with the chaos of Al Capone

[36:56] and became more organized with Lansky,

[36:58] then Russia took it beyond organized crime

[37:01] and into the era of banks and states.

[37:06] In 2015, German journalist Bastian Obermayer received a message

[37:11] from someone calling himself John Doe.

[37:13] He said, "I've files exposing the largest money laundering network in history,

[37:17] linked to a major law firm called Mossack Fonseca in Panama."

[37:21] Bastian agreed and received 2.6 terabytes of data,

[37:28] more than 11.5 million documents.

[37:31] There was no way he could review all those documents on his own,

[37:36] so he shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

[37:41] "I've got 12 million documents. I'll be dead before I finish them.

[37:46] Take a look and see what rich people do with their money."

[37:49] Around 400 journalists from 80 countries worked

[37:52] in secret for nearly a year analyzing the files.

[37:54] To uncover one of the biggest economic and political earthquakes in history,

[37:59] involving heads of government, political figures, famous businessmen,

[38:04] football stars, and the list goes on.

[38:08] The documents revealed that Mossack Fonseca was responsible for setting up

[38:12] what are known as offshore companies.

[38:16] A company set up to operate outside a country’s jurisdiction.

[38:23] You probably don't get it yet, but be patient.

[38:25] The devil is in the details.

[38:27] Let's say you own a company and don't want to pay taxes.

[38:30] These companies are legal

[38:32] and are supposed to facilitate business operations,

[38:34] but money launderers found them highly attractive.

[38:39] They used them as vehicles for moving money out of countries.

[38:42] So far, that's perfectly normal.

[38:44] The problem is that the concept was criminally abused.

[38:49] The global market became flooded with offshore shell companies.

[38:52] Companies whose entire purpose was moving money across borders.

[38:55] And many of them were based in what we call "Tax Havens".

[39:00] Places that charge little to no tax in exchange for parking your money there.

[39:05] Under the umbrella of a company that technically exists.

[39:09] In return, these countries get huge inflows of cash,

[39:12] bigger financial sectors,

[39:14] and plenty of business for lawyers, accountants,

[39:17] and everyone else sending invoices by the hour.

[39:19] Mossack Fonseca alone created more than 214,000 shell companies.

[39:24] That's less a law firm and more a company factory.

[39:27] These companies belonged to wealthy clients from all over the world.

[39:32] Some used them to launder money and make it look legitimate.

[39:36] Others just parked their money in a tax haven.

[39:42] So how does that actually work?

[39:45] By acting as the middleman.

[39:47] Let's say you own three companies, one in China.

[39:49] It makes Ramadan lanterns for $100.

[39:54] Then sells them to the offshore company for $100.

[40:00] So, no profit and no profit means no taxes.

[40:05] The offshore company then turns around and sells the same lanterns

[40:08] to the U.S. company for $300.

[40:13] Now the American company bought and sold it for $300.

[40:17] Again no profit means no taxes.

[40:19] Meanwhile, the offshore company made $200.

[40:23] And because it sits in a tax haven, it gets to keep every dollar of it.

[40:27] Maybe in Panama or on an island you'd never hear about without a tax lawyer.

[40:31] The documents also revealed that major international banks

[40:34] worked with Mossack Fonseca to create roughly 15,000 shell companies.

[40:38] All to move client money around, clean it up, and make it look legitimate.

[40:43] Even today, more than ten years later,

[40:45] investigators still don't know the full amount of money involved.

[40:50] But estimates place it at least…

[40:54] in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

[40:57] Enough money to prop up countries or wreck them.

[41:02] The fallout triggered tax-evasion cases and massive fines across the globe.

[41:07] Its effects are still being felt today.

[41:10] So are many of the financial regulations created because of it.

[41:15] But the real turning point

[41:17] was that the old laundering tricks were no longer going to cut it.

[41:20] Time to move on to the next wash cycle.

[41:23] In 2016, after the Panama Papers shook the world,

[41:26] a new player entered the game called Crypto.

[41:30] Governments found their kryptonite.

[41:32] Bitcoin was taking off.

[41:34] Alongside it came a new tool: Crypto Mixers.

[41:39] Bitcoin and most cryptocurrencies

[41:41] operate on something called the "Blockchain".

[41:46] Think of it as a massive decentralized ledger.

[41:49] The whole thing operates without a central authority.

[41:51] There are no banks, no SWIFT network,

[41:57] and no central authority sitting in the middle of the transaction.

[42:01] Money goes directly from one wallet to another.

[42:05] Just straight from here to there.

[42:08] Which makes transactions more open, more flexible,

[42:13] and more private than traditional banking systems.

[42:18] Governments looked at this and immediately got nervous.

[42:21] After getting burned a few times, they decided not to allow it without oversight.

[42:26] At the very least, they wanted to know who owned the wallets,

[42:29] who was sending money, who was receiving it,

[42:31] and all those mysterious accounts hiding behind usernames.

[42:37] Governments wanted actual names attached to them.

[42:42] Let me simplify something quickly.

[42:43] Blockchain systems rely on something called "Hash".

[42:46] It's a digital fingerprint that every block of data gets.

[42:50] This hash is very important when it comes to the transaction.

[42:53] When someone sends money, the network records the request.

[42:58] Then special computers called nodes verify the transaction.

[43:01] It verifies everything is valid and that the wallet has enough funds.

[43:04] Once it's approved, the transaction gets recorded.

[43:09] The transaction gets added to a new block of data.

[43:12] It becomes part of the chain that can't be deleted.

[43:14] And copies of it exist on computers all over the world.

[43:17] That's the point of decentralization.

[43:18] The technology was designed with one goal in min, which is security.

[43:22] But software developers built something else.

[43:26] It's completely legal and widely used

[43:28] but unfortunately, a brand-new headache.

[43:32] They built "Crypto Mixers".

[43:34] A mixer works a bit like a giant bowl.

[43:36] Money from lots of different people gets thrown into the same pot.

[43:39] The mixer blends all those funds together to hide where they originally came from.

[43:45] Then it sends the funds back out as new transactions.

[43:48] On paper, the trail is now legal and much harder to follow.

[43:50] Plenty of legitimate users relied on mixers for privacy.

[43:54] Here's the simplified version.

[43:56] Every wallet has a public address.

[43:59] It doesn't have a name attached to it.

[44:01] But authorities can sometimes figure out who owns it.

[44:05] And once they do, they can follow the money.

[44:09] A mixer scrambles that trail.

[44:11] Imagine two people each sending a dollar to two different recipients.

[44:17] The mixer swaps things around.

[44:20] One person's dollar reaches the other person's recipient,

[44:26] and vice versa.

[44:28] Everyone still gets their dollar but the trail becomes harder to follow.

[44:31] That's a huge oversimplification, but that's the basic idea.

[44:35] Unfortunately, it also became a safe haven for people escaping the old system.

[44:38] After Panama, a lot of the usual suspects moved their money into crypto mixers.

[44:45] Automated money laundering.

[44:46] In 2023, U.S. authorities, Europol, and German police

[44:50] shut down a major mixer called ChipMixer.

[44:55] Investigators linked it to roughly $3 billion in laundered cryptocurrency.

[44:58] At least $700 million came from stolen money.

[45:03] Another $17 million was tied to ransomware attacks.

[45:07] And more than $200 million was linked to drug trafficking and arms deals.

[45:11] And that's just the money they could identify.

[45:14] The rest, of unknown origin, is over $2 billion.

[45:17] Unfortunately, despite all the efforts to crack down on crypto money laundering,

[45:22] I'm about to surprise you again, that's my job on this show.

[45:26] The estimates are staggering.

[45:29] In 2025 alone, the figure exceeded $82 billion.

[45:33] Back in 2020, it was closer to $10 billion.

[45:38] That's an eightfold increase in just five years.

[45:41] And that made a lot of governments very nervous.

[45:46] Because for all the benefits cryptocurrencies bring,

[45:50] many governments still see them as a major security risk.

[45:53] In the end, money laundering isn't just another crime.

[45:56] It's a global economic problem.

[46:00] Official estimates suggest that money laundering accounts for

[46:04] between 2% and 5% of global economic output.

[46:08] That's more than $2 trillion.

[46:11] And authorities manage to intercept only about 1% of it.

[46:16] Only one percent out of more than $2 trillion.

[46:19] The problem is that criminal networks keep evolving.

[46:22] And the same technology that makes life easier for everyone else

[46:25] also makes life easier for criminals to commit crimes and launder the profits.

[46:31] Modern studies have linked large-scale money laundering directly to

[46:35] many economic disasters that drive poverty rates higher.

[46:39] One reason is tax evasion, another is draining public resources.

[46:42] Laundered money flowing into real estate

[46:45] has also been linked to massive increases in housing prices.

[46:48] Leaving millions of people around the world

[46:51] watching the dream of owning a home slip away.

[46:53] And all of it traces back to tiny decisions made long ago.

[46:55] It all started with a secret contract in China

[46:59] and continued with an illegal bottle of liquor sold during Prohibition.

[47:04] And eventually, those threads became tangled up with global banks,

[47:06] giant economies, and financial systems connected across the planet.

[47:09] When disaster strikes, it doesn’t stay in one place or time.

[47:14] The consequences can echo for decades.

[47:17] All because of money laundering.

[47:19] Don't forget to watch the new episodes and the old ones.

[47:22] Check the sources below and subscribe if you're on YouTube.

[47:24] Let me confess the first money-laundering operation I ever ran.

[47:28] I left 50 pounds in my jeans and they got washed.

[47:30] -"Pretty sure that's not illegal." -Tell that to my father.

[47:33] He enforced the law immediately. I won't go into details.

[47:35] Did you know a writer can launder all his money and the police would never notice?

[47:39] "Wait, let me guess."

[47:40] -"Because he hides it between the pages?" -No.

[47:43] "Because he buried it in a manuscript?"

[47:46] Also no.

[47:47] "Then why?"

[47:48] Because nobody expects a writer to have money in the first place.