Mafia target

Drug wars in Mexico have claimed thousands of lives, Afghanistan's drug trade is expanding, Italian police are conducting spectacular raids against the mafia, and blurred lines exist between politicians and organized crime in Russia: all these things are far removed from Greece. That country has a completely different set of problems.

But it's precisely these problems, according to Professor Edgardo Buscaglia, that make Greece interesting for international organized crime organizations.

Buscaglia, who works as an advisor to the US government, the United Nations and the World Bank, argues that Greece's economic crisis has simultaneously led to a social and political crisis as well.

"If real estate prices fall and the demand for capital rises under these instable conditions, then organized criminals begin coming up with a plan," Buscaglia said at at a conference of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Berlin . "All of a sudden, there is capital available. It's dirty money that will be invested in real estate, in shopping centers, and in the banking system."

Buscaglia warns that Greece needs to be aware of these risks.

Mafia already investing in Greece

Jürgen Roth has written two dozen books about organized crime in Europe, and he wonders why Greek law enforcement authorities aren't taking a greater interest in this threat. The wealthy Chinese triads have been investing in Greece for a long time, as has the Italian mafia - especially the Sicilian Cosa Nostra and the 'Ndrangheta in Calabria.

But the crime syndicates don't invest their illegally-obtained money directly in Greece, and the times of mafia gangs armed with machine guns driving across the border with suitcases full of money are over.

Today, says Jürgen Roth, it all happens via financial transactions, such as hedge funds, or through companies in Romania or Bulgaria that actually belong to the mafia. In these and other former socialist countries like Montenegro, Macedonia or Poland, investments from international criminal organizations came on the heels of the privatization of state property.

This money was laundered through the sale of real assets, often with the help of corrupt local politicians. After that, 'clean money' could be reinvested anywhere. Shares in a company could be sold and resold, and other shares purchased in return - over and over again.

Hiding dirty money online

Today, there is a better way to conceal the source of capital: one simply tosses it in with the stream of hundreds of billions of dollars that are transferred all over the globe every single day. Regine Schönenberger, a political scientist in Berlin, says this works best when illegal money comes into normal circulation via Internet banking.

According to Schönenberger, all that is needed for this is a credit card number. That can be obtained anonymously without any further questions in Russia, for example.

Using this credit card number, one or more online accounts can be set up, which can be used as transfer points for money on its way to another destination. A few hours later, the temporary accounts can simply be closed.

The fight against organized crime

Schönenberger says that even though it is difficult in cases like that to track the money, it is possible for highly motivated police officers, secret services, and state prosecutors.

"But this motivation is often lacking," she said.

Politicians don't want to get involved, because investments - regardless of where they come from - create jobs. Banks and companies, especially in crisis-stricken countries, are simply glad to have new capital coming in.

If a society allows that to happen, organized crime syndicates can become an influential factor.

Mexico is an example of a country where the intertwined relationship between organized crime, the government and politicians has taken hold. In Europe, according to Jürgen Roth, the clearest example is Montenegro, where a former president and later prime minister was considered the head of cigarette smuggling in the European Union.

The consequences for countries that make it easy for illicit money to flow are dramatic: corruption expands, the importance of the justice system and parliament sinks, and the quality of life worsens for ordinary people.

Experts generally agree that a situation like this is best combated by civil society and not the police. The main problem is overcoming fear. But powerful demonstrations in Italian mafia strongholds and citizens' initiatives against the drug cartels in Mexico show that it can be done.

Author: Panagiotis Kouparanis (mz)
Editor: Susan Houlton