Clean on Paper

The case files

Every case page covers what happened, which techniques were used, how it was found, the outcome, and what changed afterwards.

  1. HSBC and the Sinaloa cartel

    Weak controls let Mexican and Colombian cartels move at least $881 million in drug money through HSBC, which paid a then-record $1.92 billion in 2012 to defer prosecution.

    2006–2012 US$1.92 billion penalty

  2. 1MDB

    More than US$4.5 billion was diverted from Malaysia's state fund through offshore shell companies into luxury property and Hollywood films, toppling a prime minister and costing Goldman Sachs billions.

    2009–2020 ≈ US$4.5 billion diverted

  3. Danske Bank Estonia

    About €200 billion flowed through the Estonian branch of Denmark's biggest bank between 2007 and 2015, much of it suspicious non-resident money hidden behind UK shell companies.

    2007–2015 ≈ €200 billion suspicious flows

  4. The Vancouver Model

    Drug cash lent to Chinese high-roller gamblers through underground banks, washed through BC casinos and real estate, and repaid in China.

    2010s–2022 est. C$7.4 billion in BC (2018)

  5. The Bitfinex hack laundering

    A married couple spent five years laundering 119,754 bitcoin stolen from the Bitfinex exchange, and the blockchain recorded every move.

    2016–2025 119,754 BTC

  6. Lazarus Group

    North Korea's state hackers have stolen roughly US$6.75 billion in cryptocurrency and launder it at a speed no other criminal group matches.

    2016–present ≈ US$6.75 billion stolen