Anthony Ruggiero, of the Foundation For Defense of Democracies, said America needs to put more pressure on China to investigate cartel money laundering. His comments, made on the Federal Newswire’s China Desk podcast, address links between China and the Mexican cartels.
"I think we have a circumstance where potentially tens of millions of dollars are flowing through the Chinese financial system, and they have no incentive to look at it because the government is not going to ask them to do that," Ruggiero said in the podcast. "If we're really serious about it – I don't think we are currently – we should be doing more to get them to start looking at those activities."
He explained cartels are able to launder money through Chinese banks, rather than bringing it back across the border, and cites the Agricultural Bank of China, the Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China as big players in these "shady operations," according to the podcast.
This option gives cartels a big advantage, Ruggerio noted, because, in terms of stopping cross border money transportation, American border “restrictions are working,” meaning the issue of illicit finance, to which China is strongly linked, becomes a greater threat, Ruggiero said in the podcast.
Ruggiero reported that, although some people see this money laundering issue as essentially unstoppable, evidence from the past disagrees, the podcast said. He cited the 2016-18 time period in which North Korea was developing nuclear technology, as a time when the U.S intervened to stop “illicit financial activities.”
He noted various strategies were employed, including subpoenas from the Justice Department, as well as direct confrontation of involved companies and personnel, according to the podcast.
When asked about what actions America should take to approach the issue, Ruggiero said we need to put more effort into developing strategies aimed at protecting our national interests. He said sanctions, as a tool for financial protections, is “only one” out of “many others," the podcast reported.
Ruggiero works at the Foundation For Defense of Democracies, according to its website, as the senior director of the Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program, and is also a senior fellow. He has extensive experience working in areas of defense and security for the U.S., and has been cited in many media outlets for his research.
