Financial crime is defined as crime that is specifically committed against property. These crimes are almost always committed for the personal benefit of the criminal, and they involve an illegal conversion of ownership of the property that is involved. Financial crimes can occur in many different forms, and they happen all over the world. Some of the most common crimes facing the financial sector are money laundering, terrorist financing, fraud, tax evasion, embezzlement, forgery, counterfeiting, and identity theft. These crimes are committed every single day, and governments across the globe are constantly prosecuting financial criminals while searching for new ones.The two most prevalent types of financial crime faced today are money laundering and terrorist financing. While the term “terrorist financing” is fairly straight forward, money laundering can be a more complicated concept to grasp. In essence, though, money laundering is simply the act of disguising profits that were obtained from crime. Cartels and mafia groups are some of the most prominent money launderers in popular news media, but money laundering can also extend beyond organised crime groups and can happen at many different scales.Criminals who launder money and provide financing to terrorists generally use very sophisticated techniques, which means they are difficult to detect and catch.

Dr. Madhu Shreya has been researching the creative and cultural industries for the last fifteen years. While currently an Associate Professor at Private College in the Karnataka, she has also taught business classes to graduate students in cultural management, art and music programs at Banglore.