Q&A: non-target, 3.0 GPA to Money Laundering
Background: I come from a middle-lower class family in the South. Went to college, didn't take it too seriously, and ended up with a job that I didn't really liked. Then lateraled to Money Laundering.
I restrain myself of working for top BB (think el Chapo), I rather work with white-collar crimes (think tax reimbursement fraud, scams related to international trade...). Better risk reward IMO.
Comp is good (not as good as some of you), but COVID hit me hard. However, as I don't like luxurious lifestyles I had more than enough to fall on. Was planning to leave this life before covid but it will take a bit longer (and it's not as easy as saying I quit with 2 weeks notice).
One of the best perks that no one thinks of is that I end up owning a bunch of local businesses that provide passive income. Another perk is travelling, grateful that many of the best countries for creating shell companies are really nice vacation spots.
Never seen this one before
Have you ever visited an island located in U.S. Virgin Islands?
yes
Thanks for doing this! You mention that you didn't take college very seriously so what did the transition into money laundering look like? I assume networking would have played a key role?
This is depending on your course, but most of what you study at college is useless (like the "Efficient Market Hypothesis"), so I decided to improve my social skills (skills that I still need to improve, as you can tell by me posting this) which are much more useful. That said, I have always been interested in this niche sector and learnt, through the internet and police investigation reports (you'd be surprised how much info is available), basic concepts regarding Trade Based Money Laundering (invoice fraud, the Black Market Peso Exchange, transfer pricing...) and other simpler methods (Hawala, smurfing...). I decided to cover the first type (better deal flow) and tested my abilities, acquired thanks to PanamaStreetPrep's courses.
I managed to lateral thanks to my uncle (my mom's brother), who is a true entrepeneur himself, and refered me to a boutique MD. Important to notice that networking in this industry is not a numbers game (like in IB), but a good connection it's still as important.
Honestly, it's difficult (relative to most other not government supported activities) to catch those of us who are in the industry. Those who are, are almost always caught because someone in the organisation they work for (mostly those involved in the drug trade) refer them to the government.
Thanks for the detailed response, if real estate doesn't work out I know what I'll do after.
You can always do both! Me and my mates have been driving house prices up for a couple years in cities like Toronto and London (especially luxury purchases). This sector is also attractive becuase of the abundancy of potential partners who would like to purchase a home but may find themselves in financial distress if such decision was undertaken. This reduces the cost of business for us exponentially, as mortgages are reasonably low.
However, middle easter counterparts tend to outbid us :(, disclosure: this user ("Intern in Consulting") does not support the reasons for the competition brought by the previously mentioned parties nor does it intend to judge them by their oirgins, the user just tries to depict a truthful idea of reality.
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