White Collar Crime in Australia: Case Studies and Framework Analysis

This report delves into the multifaceted realm of white-collar crime in Australia, with a specific focus on money laundering. It examines the legislative framework of Australia, juxtaposing it with that of the United States to highlight similarities and differences. The report critically assesses the regulatory bodies operating within Australia and compares them with those in other jurisdictions, providing a comprehensive overview of their effectiveness. Furthermore, it discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the current Australian framework, offering insights into its strengths and weaknesses. A significant portion of the report is dedicated to analyzing the Westpac money laundering case, exploring the specific breaches of anti-money laundering laws and their implications. The report also explores the theories of criminal conduct and punishment to ascertain the effectiveness of the current legislative framework. The report concludes with recommendations for improving anti-money laundering regulations within the Australian legal system and summarizing the key points discussed throughout the analysis.

Running head: WHITE COLLAR CRIME IN AUSTRALIA
WHITE COLLAR CRIME IN AUSTRALIA
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1WHITE COLLAR CRIME IN AUSTRALIA
Introduction
The term white-collar crime is considered to refer to the financially motivated and along
with such non-violent crime, which would help in covering a broad range of the criminal
conduct. These would also occur through the course of the offender’s business or any profession.
The crime that is considered to typically involve stealing of money from a certain organization
and through the individuals who are considered to hold important or significant positions in that
organization. In the typical sense, white-collar crimes are considered to be committed by the
citizens who have a higher social class and the blue-collar crimes are considered to be committed
by the individuals who are from a lower social class1. Therefore, it can be understood that the
crime which are considered to be committed by the salaried professionals or the workers in any
business. These crimes are committed in order to gain certain financial benefit from the theft or
through fraud which are through security dealings. Money Laundering is considered to be a
critical risk as it is the common denominator for almost all kinds of serious and organized
criminal activity. This involves the processing of various illicit or illegal profits in certain ways
which would help in masking the ownership and try to assist in making the funds appear from
some kind of legitimate sources. It is the process or the procedure through which large amounts
of money are considered to be generated through criminal activities, which are inclusive of drug
trafficking or funding of terrorist groups, and process them in some way which would help them
appear to come from a certain kind of legitimate source. Therefore, the money is considered to
be dirty and the process would launder the money in order to make it look clean2.
This particular paper discusses crimes regarding money laundering as a white-collar
crime. It would also compare the legislative framework of Australia regarding money laundering
with the legislative framework of the United States. In addition to such it would discuss and
critically assess the regulatory bodies in Australia with other jurisdiction. Furthermore, it would
also discuss the drawbacks as well as the benefits of the current Australian framework. It would
further discuss the theories of the criminal conduct as well as the theories of punishment, which
would help in ascertaining the effectiveness of the current legislative framework. In conclusion,
it would provide with recommendations that can be adopted by the Australian legal system in
order to improve the anti-money laundering regulations and in addition to such it would
summarize the points that have been dealt with in the paper.
1 Savage, David, et al. "Detection of Money Laundering Groups: Supervised Learning on Small
Networks." Workshops at the Thirty-First AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence. 2017.
2 Chaikin, David. "A Critical Analysis of the Effectiveness of Anti-Money Laundering Measures with Reference to
Australia." The Palgrave Handbook of Criminal and Terrorism Financing Law. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2018.
293-316.

2WHITE COLLAR CRIME IN AUSTRALIA
Discussion
Money-laundering as a white-collar crime
Money laundering is considered to be the illegal or illicit process which conceals the
origins of the money that has been acquired or obtained illegally by passing such through a
certain complex sequence regarding banking transfers for some kind of commercial transactions.
The laws or the regulations were considered to be created against organized crime during the
period of the Prohibition in the United States, which was during the year of 1930s. These
organized crimes received a certain kind of major boost from that of the Prohibition to the large
source of law, which was relating to new funds that had been acquired or obtained from the illicit
and illegal sales of liquor. There was a successful prosecution on tax evasion of Al Capone and
such had brought a new emphasis by the law enforcement agencies as well as the states in order
to confiscate the money. However, the laws that were prevailing during that time could not hold
the gangsters liable or responsible as they had begun to pay taxes. In the year of 1980 the war on
the drugs were considered to lead the government again and again to convert the money into
various laundering rules which would help in attempting to track and along with such seize the
proceeds for the drug crimes so as to catch the organizers along with the individuals for running
the drug empires. It was considered to have a certain kind of benefit for the law enforcement
perspective as such were for turning the rules of evidence. The law enforcers were considered to
prove a certain individual to be guilty and try to seize the property of such individual.
Nevertheless, with all the money laundering regulations the money could not be confiscated and
therefore such was up to the individual in order to prove that the source regarding the funds for
the money was considered to be legitimate and legal in order to get such money back. Therefore,
this would make it easier for the law enforcement to provide with much lower standards for the
onus of proof. However, it can be understood that such a process was considered to have been
abused by various law enforcement agencies in order to keep the money without any kind of
strong evidence which had related to such criminal activity and such were considered to be used
in order to supplement their own budgets3.
Comparisons of the legislative framework of United States and Australia for
Money-laundering
Money laundering is considered to be a major challenge as well as a difficulty in the
United States. The principle source of the various laundered funds are considered to come from
the receptiveness or accessibility of the financial system. In addition to such there are trade-
based money laundering which is also considered to be another process or method through which
the criminals are considered to launder the funds in the country. There are huge amounts of
money that are laundered each year and these are generated through the international banks as
well as the financial institutions. The USA Patriot Act4, which had been enforced in the year
3 Pol, Ronald F. "Anti-money laundering effectiveness: assessing outcomes or ticking boxes?." Journal of Money
Laundering Control (2018).
4 USA Patriot Act, 2001.

3WHITE COLLAR CRIME IN AUSTRALIA
2001, is considered to amend the Bank Secrecy Act5 BSA which would help in requiring all the
financial institutions in order to establish the Anti-Money Laundering programs. The Act is also
considered to be intended in order to strengthen the measures that are used by the country to
prevent or to detect and along with such prosecute the money-laundering and along with such the
financing relating to terrorism6.
The United States also requires the reports of any suspicious activities through the SARs
in order to be filed at any point of time for any suspicious transaction to that of the Financial
Crimes Enforcement Network. The financial institutions of the USA are considered to require or
follow certain strict customer identification programs that would help in verifying the true and
real identity of every customer in order to prevent them from money laundering. The economy of
USA according to the recent trends are considered to be suffering which is causing the Congress
to issue a certain kind of an issue which would be considered to be an economic stimulus plan
that would help in preventing the whole nation to fall into recession. In spite of all these
difficulties, they are considered to consist of one of the world’s largest as well as dominant
technologically economy. The Federal Reserve is considered to be the Central Bank of the USA
and it maintains the monetary policy as well as ensures the safety of the banking and the
financial systems7.
The Anti-money laundering regulations as well as the laws are considered to target
various criminal activities which are inclusive of all the market manipulation as well as trade in
several illicit goods and commodities. It also tries to target corruption which are prevailing in the
public funds and along with such the tax evasion as these are considered to be the methods in
which the crimes are tried to be concealed due to the money that are derived from them. The
Anti-money laundering policies are considered to be required typically by various entities in
order to complete the financial transactions in order to keep through the records of the clients
who are involved in such activities so that the government can commence further investigations
for any suspicious illicit activities. There are three stages through which the money is laundered
and such involves placement, layering and along with such the integration. Therefore, it is
considered to be a movement of the cash from the source so that the source can be
misrepresented or disguised in a manner which would be easy. The Anti-money Laundering and
Counter-terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth)8 is considered to be the primary piece of legislation
that would help in respect with the prevention of money laundering. In addition to such, it would
also detect money laundering as well as terrorism financing. These are the sanctioned regulations
and the laws that are considered to work with the AML legislative framework of Australia9.
These are considered to comprise of certain laws and regulations along with certain procedures
5 Bank Secrecy Act 1970.
6 Harvey, Anne Imobersteg. "Australian aml/ctf Legislation in the International Context." Anti-money Laundering
and Counter-terrorism Financing Law and Policy. Brill Nijhoff, 2019. 14-57.
7 Unger, Brigitte, Joras Ferwerda, and B. Unger. "Money Laundering and Tax Fraud." (2018).
8 Anti-money Laundering and Counter-terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth).
9 Unger, Brigitte, Joras Ferwerda, and B. Unger. "Money Laundering and Tax Fraud." (2018).

4WHITE COLLAR CRIME IN AUSTRALIA
that are intended to prohibit and deter the criminals from acquiring any money or funds illegally
which are disguised as a legitimate income. Although the anti-money laundering laws are
considered to cover limited range of the transactions along with the criminal behaviors the
implications for such are considered to be far-reaching. The primary objective of the AML CTF
Act10 is considered to prevent money laundering and along with such prevent the financing of
terrorism by imposing certain number of rules and obligations in the private sector and the
gambling sector along with remittance. The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis
Centre11 (AUSTRAC) is considered to be a governmental financial intelligence agency which
sets up to monitor certain financial transactions in order to identify the money laundering along
with certain other organized crimes in Australia. Its existence was considered to continue under
the AML CTF Act12 and the monitoring regime regarding the Centre increased and extended to
cover terrorism financing along with other terrorism organizations that were listed. Therefore,
these are considered to look after the anti-money laundering regime and their primary objective
is to deter the individuals from committing such crimes13.
The Westpac Money Laundering Case
Westpac is considered to be the second largest Australian bank and it had faced the issue
of breaching the laws and for such it had been directed to pay huge fines. Westpac had been
accused of breaching the laws which were considered to be aimed at hindering the criminal
money laundering along with financing of terrorism. It had been accused of breaches relating to
twenty three million. Westpac had failed to carry out proper due diligence on several customers
whose accounts were considered to show repeated number of small payments to Southeast Asia
in spite of knowing that such transactions were considered to be dangerous. The fallout regarding
Westpac’s alleged breaches had violated the anti-money laundering laws and such had plunged
the bank into an enormous crisis. These allegations were considered to be outlined in a statement
of claim and due to such the financial intelligence agency along with AUSTRAC had filed or
lodged a complaint in the Federal Court. It was stated by the law that the banks had to have
record-keeping and reports of customer identification and the banks are obligated to perform
such duties. In addition to such, the banks are also considered to keep organized automatic
systems which are considered to be crucial in order to be done in an effective manner. The
breaches relating to Westpac showed or depicted the importance and the magnitude of the
reporting obligation. During this particular time, AUSTRAC had an assistance role with the
banks as they provided education and awareness along with support to help the banks comply
with the regulations. The Anti-money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Act14 had come into
force, which provided with broader obligations and these obligations were considered to
progressively increase over time. The criminals are considered to develop various new tactics
10 Anti-money Laundering and Counter-terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth).
11 Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre.
12 Anti-money Laundering and Counter-terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth).
13 Franklin, Jimmie. "Money laundering scandals create opportunities for fintech." International Financial Law
Review (2019).
14 Anti-money Laundering and Counter-terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth).

5WHITE COLLAR CRIME IN AUSTRALIA
and in order to handle or tackle the crime needs to be detected or identified15. In case of the
Westpac scandal happening in the United States the laws and the regulations that had been
established would be applied. Firstly, a formal anti-money laundering policy would have to be
established and this would be used as a strategy. The policy would be including certain
instructions that could have helped in avoiding the crime. This particular framework would assist
in direct decision-making and along with such also assist the individuals understand the various
money-laundering schemes. As it can be observed from the case of Pasquantino V. United States
(03-725) 544 U.S. 349 (2005)16. The response regarding the application would be a bit
complicated as the statutory provisions of the BSA would not be considered to be self-executing
and therefore, it would only be implemented through regulation. The scope along with the
regulatory requirements would be for each of the financial institutions along with their financial
businesses that were subjected to BSA. All the financial institutions along with other financial
businesses are considered to be subjected to the BSA regulations and would have to maintain
risk based AML programs17.
Critical Evaluation of the regulatory bodies in Australia and United States
There have been considerable development in order to fight money laundering along with
terrorism financing all around the globe subsequently after the introduction of stronger and
stringent anti-money laundering regimes. It increased the levels of the inter-agency co-operation
and support. However, money laundering along with terrorism financing in the virtual
environments are considered to be under research18. According to the author, it can be
understood that the term money-laundering is considered to describe the various range of
practices which would disguise the source of illegal profits and assimilate them into the
economy in a legitimate manner. It means washing of dirty money in order to make it appear as
clean through placement which would be through the illegal funds which would be bought or
purchased in the economy which is legitimate. Following such there would a process through
which repeated transactions would be made where the source of the money or the funds would be
concealed and such process would be known as layering. In addition to such, the integration
process would make the funds fully untraceable through the integration in the economy. It can be
observed from the case of United States v. Green 617 F.3d 233 (2010)19. However, money
laundering has been considered to be a crime in the US since 1986 and therefore they were the
first to criminalise money laundering through 18 United States Code through sections 1956 and
195720. It is considered to be a crime which engages virtually any kind of financial transaction if
such person conducted any transaction with the knowledge that the funds were the proceeds of
15 Savage, David, et al. "Detection of Money Laundering Groups: Supervised Learning on Small
Networks." Workshops at the Thirty-First AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence. 2017.
16 Pasquantino V. United States (03-725) 544 U.S. 349 (2005).
17 McIlroy, Jim. "Westpac scandal underlines coalition's hypocrisy on banks, unions." Green Left Weekly 1247
(2019): 7.
18 Savage, David, et al. "Detection of Money Laundering Groups: Supervised Learning on Small
Networks." Workshops at the Thirty-First AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence. 2017.
19 United States v. Green 617 F.3d 233 (2010).
20 18 U.S. Code Title 18— Crimes and Criminal Procedure. U.S. Code.

6WHITE COLLAR CRIME IN AUSTRALIA
certain illegal or illicit activities and if the government is able to prove that such funds had been
derived from specified unlawful activities. It would be considered to be a violation of the
criminal as well as the state law. It can be understood through section 1956 that the transaction
would be through the intent of promoting as well as carrying on with certain specified unlawful
duty or with the intention of engaging in tax evasion or to raise any kind of false tax return or
through the knowing that the transaction is considered to be in whole or in part which would help
in disguising the nature or the location or source and ownership or through control of any
specified unlawful activity. It would also with the intention to avoid any transaction which would
reporting the requirement under any federal or state law. It can be understood from the case of
United States v. Cunningham, 883 F.3d 690 (2006).21 The regulatory bodies are considered to
provide with certain regulations and such needs to be fulfilled in order to establish money
laundering. Therefore, there are have been various stringent rules and regulations adopted by the
government in order to prevent the crime22.
In comparison with the legislation and the regulatory bodies of the United States the
Australian anti-money laundering measures are similar to an extent. Money laundering is
considered to be a criminal offence under Part 10.2 of the Criminal Code Act of 199523. The
Commonwealth Director of the Public Prosecutions is considered to be the principle authority
which is responsible for prosecuting the offences regarding money laundering. According to the
author, it has been stated that a number of government bodies may be able to investigate the
offences regarding money laundering including the CDPP, the Australian Federal Police and the
AUSTRAC. They can penalize the offenders for offences relating to money laundering and these
depend on the value of money or value of property that has been laundered. However, it has been
stated that the maximum penalty that can be imposed on the offenders would be twenty five
years of imprisonment and a fine of 315,000 Australian dollars or 1500 penalty units for those
offences which are dealing with the proceeds of the crime which is considered to have the value
of 1,000,000 Australian dollars or more. For the body corporates the penalty amount imposed for
such offence would be a fine of 1,575,000 Australian dollars. The Financial Transaction Reports
Act 198824 is considered to operate alongside the AML/CTF Act25. The FTR Act26 is considered
to impose certain obligations on the cash dealers as well as the solicitors to report various
significant cash transactions to the AUSTRAC and such requires the cash dealers to verify the
identity of the account signatories. The laws that have been sanctioned are considered to
comprise of the AML legislative framework. It implements the United Nations Security Council
sanctions regime and the Australian autonomous sanctions regime along with the Autonomous
Sanctions Act 2011 (Cth)27 and along with such the other associated regulations28.
21 United States v. Cunningham, 883 F.3d 690 (2006).
22 June, S. "Money Laundering through Gambling Devices–Big Business in Australia and the USA?." (2016).
23 Criminal Code Act of 1995.
24 Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988.
25 Anti-money Laundering and Counter-terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth).
26 Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988.
27 Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011 (Cth).

7WHITE COLLAR CRIME IN AUSTRALIA
The benefits and the drawbacks of the current Australian framework
Money laundering is considered to be the processing of the proceeds in order to disguise
the origins of a crime by making the funds appear clean or being obtained legitimately. It is the
key enabler of serious organized crimes which are considered to undermine the financial system
in order to distort the economy. The efforts regarding anti-money laundering are considered to be
guided by any international legal obligations of the International Standards on Combating Money
Laundering and Financing of the Terrorism and Proliferation (FATF Recommendations) which
have been developed by the Financial Action Task Force and Australia is considered to be a
founding member. The AML/CTF Act29 is considered to provide with several rules and
regulations, which would provide with a framework for any Australian regulatory regime and
such would be aimed at preventing and detecting money laundering as well as terrorism
financing. The Act is considered to apply to certain designated services which are provided by
the financial institutions and are designated as remittance service providers. These obligations
are considered to impose on the organizations, which would include the registration of the
Australia’s regulator, which is the AUSTRAC. These obligations are imposed on these
organizations in order to include registration of the regulator30. These help in conducting various
risk assessments and along with such it also tries to maintain a program in order to respond to the
risks which have been detected or identified or for undertaking the customer identification with
due diligence and along with such reporting the transactions and matters that are related to
AUSTRAC. It also drafts legislations in order to extend the coverage relating to the AML/CTF
Act31 in order to include all the designated as well as non-financial businesses and professions
which are required by the FATF Recommendations32.
The regulatory framework in Australia needs to be a little more stringent which would
help in reducing the cases of money laundering. There have been various regulations and along
with such maximum penalty has also been provided through the legislations for anti-money
laundering but the enforcement of such is considered to be weak and therefore, it needs to be
enforced and implemented on the individuals as well as the corporations involved with the crime
of money laundering which would help or refrain them from this particular kind of organized
crime. As these are considered to effect the economy of a country and cause economic
distortions. It also impairs the development of the legitimate private sector and causes erosion of
the financial sector. It also causes reduction in the government revenue and therefore, the
legislations need to be implemented and enforced properly and there is a need of more stringent
regulatory framework.
28 Franklin, Jimmie. "Money laundering scandals create opportunities for fintech." International Financial Law
Review (2019).
29Anti-money Laundering and Counter-terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth).
30 Unger, Brigitte, Joras Ferwerda, and B. Unger. "Money Laundering and Tax Fraud." (2018).
31 Anti-money Laundering and Counter-terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth).
32 Levi, Mike, and Melvin Soudijn. "Understanding the Laundering of Organized Crime Money." Crime and
Justice 49.1 (2020): 000-000.

8WHITE COLLAR CRIME IN AUSTRALIA
Critical Evaluation of Money Laundering
According to the author, it has been stated that in the year 2006 the government in
Australia was considered to undertake certain major reformative measures which were
considered to be the responses to the changing nature of money laundering and this initiative was
taken in order to impose limitations on the existing compliance relating to rule-based regulatory
approach. Originally this was considered to be done with the intention of dealing with the cash
that had been laundered as such had been generated through drug trafficking and along with such
other contemporary anti-money laundering systems which would deal with range of public bad
which were prevailing in the society such as organized crimes, fraud, financing and funding for
terrorism along with corruption, theft and financial weakness of the failed states. These existing
regulatory systems were considered to have generated unwieldy due to volumes of various
defensive reports which depict the suspicious transactions but in a manner which has certain
tangible outcomes. These were considered to be the deficiencies that were brought to light
through the evaluation for the anti-money laundering regulatory frameworks33. However, it has
been stated by the author that these deficiencies are considered to be addressed by the Anti-
Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act of 2006 (Cth)34. The statutory
provisions aimed to evaluate and assess the change regarding the compliance to that of the risk-
based approach. In addition to such, it also aimed at increasing the requirements for customer
due diligence and the impact or the effect it had on the bank privacy and along with such other
related issues. Furthermore, it also states that the new regulatory framework is considered to
cause an impact on the AUSTRAC and the relationship it has with other financial institutions
along with other reporting entities35.
Theories of criminal conduct and theories of punishment
A crime is considered to be the product of someone’s rational choice, it can be stated that
the offender commits a certain kind of act which would be for the reasons of a personal gain or
any gratification. The behavior of such an individual is considered to be completely under
control. The extent of such behavior might be dependent on certain factors which would intrude
and along with such compromise the ability of the individual to exercise such free will. There are
various theories associated with it. In the broadest sense, the criminal behavior theories are
considered to consist of certain factors which are inclusive of psychological, social and
biological factors. These human behavior are considered to be the product of complex
interactions among various other factors.
There are wide range of possibilities that could incline an individual towards a crime and
which are casually related to the criminal behavior. These involve development and along with
such social and economic factors. For instance, poverty is considered to be used as a
socioeconomic condition which can be associated with crime. The stress or strain along with
33 Savage, David, et al. "Detection of Money Laundering Groups: Supervised Learning on Small
Networks." Workshops at the Thirty-First AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence. 2017.
34 Anti-money Laundering and Counter-terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth).
35 Unger, Brigitte, Joras Ferwerda, and B. Unger. "Money Laundering and Tax Fraud." (2018).

9WHITE COLLAR CRIME IN AUSTRALIA
frustration, which are experienced by individuals who are lacking the financial resources, gets
inclined towards committing a crime in order to fulfil the desires. In another instance, if an
individual faces violence while growing up such can shape their behavior and make them
respond to the difficulties of their own through violent means. Therefore, the environment of a
child is considered to play a crucial role as such shapes the child’s behavior.
There are certain psychological factors, which can also make an individual behave in a
certain way, and by virtue, the requirement for such is considered to be the intention behind the
crime and the criminal courts put a more focus on the intention behind the criminal activity that
has taken place. The relationship between the mental disorder and the criminal behavior is
considered to be complicated and difficult but the individuals who are considered to experience
such false perceptions or hallucinations by hearing different voices have no basis regarding the
objective reality. Therefore, recent research has shown that people with mental disorders or
schizophrenia along with psychosis have an increased risk of committing crimes, which are
considered to be violent36.
The numerous amount of biological regarding various social and psychological factors
are also considered to increase the risk of the criminal behavior which are mediated through the
biological process. A diet in a proper manner is considered to be optimal for the brain to
function. A deficiency in any of the essential elements are considered to compromise the
functioning of the brain through lowering of the energy which is considered to be available.
These would be in turn associated with the violent behavior which would lead to aggravated
assault or domestic violence, murder or rape under the influence of such lack.
Therefore, it can be understood that the long tradition regarding the assumption of crime
is related to the product of volition which is considered to be unencumbered by these processes
which are aberrant psychological as well as biological processes. These would instigate
impulsive or violent criminal behavior therefore, in order to go ahead and figure out about the
culpabilities the courts are considered to proceed with caution37.
The immediate consequence, which is considered to follow a criminal act, is considered
to be known as punishment. Punishment is considered to be defined as the suffering or the loss or
pain or the penalty that is considered to be inflicted on individuals for the crime which would be
committed by the authority concerned. There are different kinds of theories for punishment
which an individual might face and they are considered to comprise of the retributive theory, the
preventive theory, the reformative theory and lastly, the deterrent theory38.
Retributive theory is considered to be the most ancient form of punishment where the
individual is considered to deserve the punishment for the wrongful act that had been committed
by him. This theory also signifies that no individual would be punished until and unless such
36 Hagan, Frank E., and Leah E. Daigle. Introduction to criminology: Theories, methods, and criminal behavior.
Sage Publications, 2018.
37 Burke, Roger Hopkins. An introduction to criminological theory. Routledge, 2017.
38 Zaibert, Leo. Punishment and retribution. Routledge, 2016.

10WHITE COLLAR CRIME IN AUSTRALIA
individual has broken the law. The penalty according to this theory would be given which would
be equivalent to the grievance that has been caused by that individual. If the crime has been
performed with culpability and if similar, individuals committing such crime had been punished
due to the offences.
The preventive theory is considered to use a restraint that an offender or any perpetrator
if repeats any criminal act is culpable for death or exile or any imprisonment. The theory is
considered to get a certain kind of importance from any notion that the society is to be protected
from the criminals therefore, the punishment in this form of theory is considered to be solidarity.
The reformative theory is considered to have been used and implemented from classical
as well as non-classical philosophies which are a mixture of the deterrence theory as well as the
retributive theory. The reformative theory was considered to not be a punishment in the virtual
sense but rather than such it is considered to be a rehabilitative process. Therefore, this theory
helps in making a criminal try to be a good individual.
Lastly, the deterrent theory is considered to suggest that the evil should be allowed to
return for the evil without being able to take any kind of consequences or any consideration. The
punishment in this theory is specifically designed in order to educate the offenders where it was
created in order to instill a fear that the punishment would not be repeated. Therefore, this would
help in preventing and avoiding the future crime39.
Therefore, it can be understood from the discussion there are various factors that make an
individual be inclined towards committing a crime and such depends on these factors as the
factors have the ability to develop an individual into a way which would make them act in ways
which are detrimental to the society. In case of money laundering is a form of organized crime
where the individuals try to launder the money by generating the money that has been obtained
through activities which are illegal and generate them form a legitimate source so that they
appear clean. The reason for the individuals to be inclined towards this form of crime can depend
on various factors. In addition to such, there are various theories of punishment which would be
applicable in case an offender is considered to breaking the law. The deterrent theory would help
the individual deter from crime in the future and the reformative theory would try to provide
certain rehabilitation facilities in order to prevent or deter from crimes in the future.
Recommendations
There has been an increase in the statutory provisions in order to prevent money
laundering especially after the AML/CTF Act40 came into force. However, there are certain
improvements that can still be made regarding the anti-money laundering measures by bringing
the additional high risk services for payment types along with systems which would be within
the regulatory scheme and such would help in developing the options for bringing better services
39 Picinali, Federico. "Do theories of punishment necessarily deliver a binary system of verdicts? An exploratory
essay." Criminal Law and Philosophy 12.4 (2018): 555-574.
40 Anti-money Laundering and Counter-terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth).

11WHITE COLLAR CRIME IN AUSTRALIA
and conducting the cost-benefit analysis. In addition to such, Australia could also try to
strengthen the reporting regime which would be for the cross-border movements and provide
with simplified obligations which would be related to correspondent banking and these would
help in bringing such into the alignment.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be understood from this particular discussion, that money laundering is
the process by which the individuals generate their dirty money, which has been acquired
through the engagement in certain illicit activities and launder such money through legitimate
source in order to make the money appear clean. Thus, this is one form of organized crime and
such is considered to be dangerous as it poses a threat to the economy of a country and causes
economic disruption. There have been various laws that have been in force in order to control
these criminal activities but the enforcement of such in Australia is considered to be weak.
Therefore, this paper provides the critical evaluation of the regulatory framework of Australia in
comparison to the United States. Lastly, it provides with recommendations which can improve
the regulatory framework in the present situation.

12WHITE COLLAR CRIME IN AUSTRALIA
Bibliography
Case Laws
Pasquantino V. United States (03-725) 544 U.S. 349 (2005).
United States v. Green 617 F.3d 233 (2010).
United States v. Cunningham, 883 F.3d 690 (2006).
Books, Articles and Journals
Burke, Roger Hopkins. An introduction to criminological theory. Routledge, 2017.
Chaikin, David. "A Critical Analysis of the Effectiveness of Anti-Money Laundering Measures
with Reference to Australia." The Palgrave Handbook of Criminal and Terrorism Financing
Law. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2018. 293-316.
Franklin, Jimmie. "Money laundering scandals create opportunities for fintech." International
Financial Law Review (2019).
Hagan, Frank E., and Leah E. Daigle. Introduction to criminology: Theories, methods, and
criminal behavior. Sage Publications, 2018.
Harvey, Anne Imobersteg. "Australian aml/ctf Legislation in the International Context." Anti-
money Laundering and Counter-terrorism Financing Law and Policy. Brill Nijhoff, 2019. 14-57.
June, S. "Money Laundering through Gambling Devices–Big Business in Australia and the
USA?." (2016).
Levi, Mike, and Melvin Soudijn. "Understanding the Laundering of Organized Crime
Money." Crime and Justice 49.1 (2020): 000-000.
McIlroy, Jim. "Westpac scandal underlines coalition's hypocrisy on banks, unions." Green Left
Weekly 1247 (2019): 7.
Picinali, Federico. "Do theories of punishment necessarily deliver a binary system of verdicts?
An exploratory essay." Criminal Law and Philosophy 12.4 (2018): 555-574.
Pol, Ronald F. "Anti-money laundering effectiveness: assessing outcomes or ticking
boxes?." Journal of Money Laundering Control (2018).
Savage, David, et al. "Detection of Money Laundering Groups: Supervised Learning on Small
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Unger, Brigitte, Joras Ferwerda, and B. Unger. "Money Laundering and Tax Fraud." (2018).
Zaibert, Leo. Punishment and retribution. Routledge, 2016.

13WHITE COLLAR CRIME IN AUSTRALIA
Legislations
18 U.S. Code Title 18— Crimes and Criminal Procedure. U.S. Code.
Anti-money Laundering and Counter-terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth).
Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre.
Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011 (Cth).
Bank Secrecy Act 1970.
Criminal Code Act of 1995.
Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988.
USA Patriot Act, 2001.