Member Article

Spotlight on crime money

The impact and potential threat of money laundering will come under the spotlight at a seminar at Northumbria University later this month.

The event, entitled The Search for Crime-Money - Debunking the Myth: Facts versus Imagery, will be staged at Newcastle Business School on Monday 21 July.

Dr Jackie Harvey, Principal Lecturer in Finance, has organised the seminar with the aim of bringing together academics and people working directly in the fight against money laundering.

Dr Harvey said: “The main thrust of my recent research has been to question the validity of the Government’s estimates that suggest that money laundering is a massive problem. This simply can’t be verified given the absence of data in this area.

“The UK Government quotes that 2.5% GDP is laundered but where do they get these numbers from? My research indicates that in order to justify expansion of legislation and the associated costs spent on anti-money laundering systems and procedures, the Government is using ‘threat’ rhetoric to imply a problem of significant magnitude that it endangers the entire financial system.”

She added: “This event is about bringing together people with different socio-economic perspectives on crime to give them an opportunity to challenge the status quo and allow a realistic assessment of the overall impact and threat.”

Speakers at the seminar include people from law enforcement and the finance sector as well as academics from throughout the UK and Europe.

For more about the conference contact Carol Miller at carol.miller@northumbria.ac.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .