There are many ways that criminals seek to gain money and cash. Whilst we don’t need to go through them all, one of the main problems they have is how to make money they earn “clean”. Sudden influxes of cash into an account, when there has been no activity or use for it since it was opened, start to make banks and financial institutions ask questions. It’s one of the reasons why they have KYC (an acronym for Know Your Customer) in place so that everyone is checked out first. https://www.w2globaldata.com/regulatory-compliance-solutions-and-software/know-your-customer are one of the world leaders in the provision of this service.
Money laundering is making illegally gained profits clean for use on the open market. There are many ways that criminals do this. One way is to deposit the money into a bank account . But large sums are questioned, and they don’t like to drip feed the amount slowly. Another is to use the cash as a deposit on a house, which they then immediately sell. Other options include large purchases that are then sold. The criminals are content to take the hit on the profit; the aim is to get the money clean, not to acquire goods that come later.
Investment in businesses, and charitable donations that are then deducted from tax, all are ways to get money clean. It is an increasing trend that fraud is being committed throughout the country, and it means our financial institutions and regulatory bodies need to be very aware.