The vanishing laundry

Somewhere in the middle of unpleasant diversion the world's determined stance against money-laundering has faltered. Banks have been fined, off-shore havens have been busted but few details have been revealed about the actors. It ranges from Asia's best rated Islami Bank Bangladesh to HSBC and dark hints at the roguish activity of Turkey in buying oil from the so-called Islamic State. Honourable resignations quietened critics of the banks, shut-down of Panama's tax haven seems to have appeased horrified politicians and the allegations against Turkey seem to have evaporated. Widely criticised by all and sundry for alleged terrorist funding, Islami Bank was almost forcibly taken over. Nowadays no one, not ministers, journalists, 'experts' and academics have any time to enlighten us as to how such funding occurred and who were the masterminds and indeed, the beneficiaries and processes. It's almost as if these don't matter any more.

Until the recent nerve-agent attack on double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, the source and process of Russian oligarchs investing in and laundering money through the UK wasn't asked. It is a triumph for democracy that Phillip Hammond had to declare more than £ 800,000 having come in to Tory coffers as donations from Russian individuals. That by itself raises questions about funding of political parties and where the line should be drawn. The amount is not significant in the context of the big picture but that nearly £ 90 billion is processed (read laundered) through the UK financial system raises pertinent questions. If it comes through traditional banking and investment channels there are obviously, loopholes in the system. If it goes the black money route, it gets from bad to worse with another rude question as to why there isn't the hurry to take action similar to banks and firms that are violating sanctions? Facebook and the United States are red faced with the information that Russian money was used to pay for indirect, almost surreptitious advertising that targeted sections of the population in the last presidential elections.

Perhaps the three most dubious forms of money laundering comes through arms sales, drug trade and people trafficking. The three forms survive and grow because there is demand. Conflict occurs because two sides have arms and ammunition, the major producers thinking nothing of their produce being so widely available. Missiles and tanks aren't manufactured in backyards, they're too big not to be noticed during transportation and yet the same sophisticated satellites that turned up with 'compelling' arguments leading to the destruction of Iraq, cannot trace any such movements or indeed North Korea's nuclear weapon installations.

Every time a consumer product defect is uncovered, there is a total recall. Unfortunately, when it comes to arms and the like, there is no recall not even knuckle rapping. It's about money, jobs and the need to 'test' weapons designed to kill and maim. Syria is one victim of a proxy war between the US and Russia. The difference is only that they don't shoot at each other. Any accidents are brushed underneath the carpet and the supportive international media continue a one-sided tirade as to the sufferings of the general population. Western media gleefully report transgression by the Russians; the less favoured Russian media takes an opposing view.

Weapon brandishing individuals well documented by our media hardly ever have action taken against them and when some of these are people's representatives it quietly dawns; stated measures against gun-runners and drug peddlers are just show-piece activity. There are limited ways of converting black-money in to white. But when huge amounts are liberally distributed, the best of intentions can only fail.

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