How do rich criminals (let's say one who has most of their earnings in crypto) flee to another country to avoid getting arrested?
I feel like I've seen countless cases of criminals (let's say American ones) fleeing to another country before LE got to them and end up never getting caught. I'm wondering just how do-able this is.
What would it take for a wealthy criminal to permanently "move" to another country?
I'm guessing you would need it to be a country that doesn't have an extradition treaty with the US, but further than that I don't know.
Would you have to enter the country illegally and stay there as an illegal (and therefore have to lay low)? If so, how do criminals do that while also living large?
Are there some countries that have some kind of implicit "we'll let you in if you're rich" clause?
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[HELP] How do wealthy criminals flee their home country to avoid prosecution?
Started by plumbussy3 · Mar 8, 2025
Generally, you do money laundering by shifting the title of eg, your mansion, to a trust structure (a type of legal entity) thats controlled by people you know. So if you have 10 mil in XMR or BTC from drug dealing, you first launder that money (simplest is BTC -> XMR -> any other currency), then you go to a lawyer who sets up a trust structure and appoints board members, then you (or your lawyer or any other individual) buys a mansion with the cleaned cash and transfers the deed of that mansion to that trust. It's optimal to have clean people with no criminal record controlling that trust, for obvious reasons (attracts less attention and you can get to them easier if they decide to rip you off). The same principle can be extended to bank accounts and businesses - those are set up in other people's names but you de facto control them through an intermediary.
The issue is that the better hidden your money is, the more difficult it is to access it. So you could technically flee to a non-extradition country and set up bank accounts etc there under a fake name, have your people wire money there, and then live life like that. But you'll always face the risk of getting fleeced (good luck finding people who want to be complicit in money laundering *and* are reliable, trustworthy, good citizens).... or eg, the lawyer who set up those trusts could vanish or die etc., which could imperil your control over the trust.
So to sum up, it just takes a lot of money and some good money laundering skills, and moving to a non-extradition country, but even clean money isn't the same as the regular cash your average joe earns in the factory. Plus people can still get to you. If you pissed off the US government or the Sinaloa cartel, they'll probably still be able to find you in Cambodia or Burma, especially if you're driving around in fancy cars and have private security etc.
The issue is that the better hidden your money is, the more difficult it is to access it. So you could technically flee to a non-extradition country and set up bank accounts etc there under a fake name, have your people wire money there, and then live life like that. But you'll always face the risk of getting fleeced (good luck finding people who want to be complicit in money laundering *and* are reliable, trustworthy, good citizens).... or eg, the lawyer who set up those trusts could vanish or die etc., which could imperil your control over the trust.
So to sum up, it just takes a lot of money and some good money laundering skills, and moving to a non-extradition country, but even clean money isn't the same as the regular cash your average joe earns in the factory. Plus people can still get to you. If you pissed off the US government or the Sinaloa cartel, they'll probably still be able to find you in Cambodia or Burma, especially if you're driving around in fancy cars and have private security etc.
I see you have some experience.
What if i make a company somewhere offshore on my name, than create another company in my country (EU) where the offshore company is the owner. The EU company buys the nice things and rent it to me... Did you already worked with offshore companies?
What if i make a company somewhere offshore on my name, than create another company in my country (EU) where the offshore company is the owner. The EU company buys the nice things and rent it to me... Did you already worked with offshore companies?
Depends on a lot of variables, including whether you're being watched. Can DM for more