Financial crime and illicit networks

How dirty money moves, who moves it and why the system lets them.

How dirty money moves, who moves it and why the system lets them. Start with the one marked first; it is the shortest route into the subject.

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• Global Shell Games: Experiments in Transnational Relations, Crime, and Terrorism
  Findley, Michael G., Daniel L. Nielson, and J. C. Sharman. 2014. Global Shell Games: Experiments in Transnational Relations, Crime, and Terrorism. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107638839. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107337848.
  Why read it: An experimental study of how easy it is to set up an anonymous shell company. The authors posed as consultants and approached nearly 4,000 corporate service providers in more than 180 countries, then recorded who asked for identity documents and who did not. The results still frame how we think about the gaps that let terrorist financing, corruption and arms trading through. Who it is for: analysts new to beneficial ownership and shell companies.
• Dark Commerce: How a New Illicit Economy Is Threatening Our Future
  Shelley, Louise I. (2018) 2020. Dark Commerce: How a New Illicit Economy Is Threatening Our Future. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691209760. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691184296.
  Why read it: An account of how technology changed illicit trade, from drugs and people to wildlife and cybercrime. Shelley shows how these markets connect to each other and how digital anonymity and globalisation let them scale, which is the background every illicit trade analyst needs. Who it is for: anyone who needs the big picture of illicit trade in one book.
• Understanding Terrorist Finance
  Wittig, Timothy. 2011. Understanding Terrorist Finance. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781349332120. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230316935.
  Why read it: A framework for analysing terrorist finance that dispels the popular myths about how groups get and use money. Wittig shows that terrorists work through everyday economic systems rather than a separate shadow finance world, which changes where an analyst should look. Priced for libraries, so borrow it or read it through a university subscription. Who it is for: counter-terrorism finance analysts.

Last checked 2026-10-13.