It has been reported that four Brazilian criminal gangs have combined to launder $1.5 billion into Paraguay using currency exchanges. The government of Paraguay has not made much efforts to fight against money laundering and nor does it seem to change anytime soon.
This shows how Paraguay has become some what of a hotspot location for money launderers. An investigation done recently by Brazilian police in the city of Foz do Iguaçu revealed the $1.5 billion money laundering scheme. Between 2010 and 2018 the funds were used to pay for a wide range of contraband goods in Paraguay, such as drugs and cigarettes.
Bank accounts were opened by the gangs using fake identities and shell companies, which were then used to deposit large sums of money into the accounts in reias via different currency exchanges in Paraguay. Once deposited, the suppliers received payments in US dollar currency which legitimized the “dirty” money.
As mentioned earlier, the government of Paraguay does not seem to show interest in trying to fix this money laundering issue, despite facing serious accusations in recent years, like helping Hezbollah launder funds.
If individual countries are not taking the appropriate measures then a united global body should interfere, to avoid this illegal activity becoming rampant.