Financial Crime

Money mules are how criminal proceeds re-enter the financial system disguised as ordinary retail activity. This guide covers the three types of mules (witting, unwitting, complicit), how they are recruited, the account behaviour red flags that distinguish mule activity from legitimate retail banking, and the detection approach that actually works at scale.

Designated parties do not put their own names on transactions. Sanctions evasion happens through front companies, transhipment, payment routing, and ownership obfuscation — patterns that name-matching screening cannot catch on its own. This guide covers 12 red flags that mature sanctions programmes monitor, drawn from FinCEN, OFAC, OFSI and FATF guidance.