International Centre at UBC & the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law Money Laundering and Corruption Conference (UBC Media Centre) October 28th, 2016 “The Enemy is Us: Understanding Corruption, Money Laundering and Organized Crime” By Margaret E. Beare
[email protected] 1 THE TITLE… “THE ENEMY IS US”: …the title of William Chambliss’s final chapter in On the Take (1978), • “the ubiquitous system of payoffs and favors, back- scratching, stealing, illegal campaign contributions, and personal aggrandizement” that characterized the linkages between organized crime, politicians, law enforcement, and business people –all intimately involved in corruption. Chambliss is quoting Pogo –daily cartoon strip drawn by Walt Kelly “We have met the enemy and they is us”. Note: On The Take: Crime, Corruption And Greed In The Mulroney Years is also the title of Stevie Cameron’s 1995 book. 2 The Vancouver Housing “Perfect Storm” Construction Concern of the Middle Class Corruption “fear of missing out” Fraudulent real Taxation/Revenue lost estate actions opportunity (shadow flips) Immigration/ roll-over investment scams Political expediency Money Laundering foreign (with international local dirty $ pressure over ‘corruption dollars’) Racism Class jealousy 3 MAIN THEMES OF THIS CONFERENCE… Corruption & Money Laundering the bad news....................................... 4 MOST PEOPLE DO NOT CARE ABOUT EITHER! 5 WE SHOULD CARE… —and you will hear much more throughout the day about why we should care, what changes must be made, and how we might go about making these necessary changes. **We are often dealing with crimes of the powerful – financially or in terms of political influence—and in those situations the rules of the game are often very different.