In trade-based money laundering, which tactic involves issuing many invoices for the same shipment to justify multiple payments?

In trade-based money laundering, which tactic involves issuing many invoices for the same shipment to justify multiple payments?

• A. Multiple invoicing
• B. Under-invoicing
• C. Phantom shipments
• D. False freight charges

Answer: (A)

Multiple invoicing involves issuing several invoices for the same shipment to justify multiple payments. This creates a convincing paper trail that looks like legitimate business activity, allowing illicit funds to move across borders as if they’re separate, real transactions. By splitting payments into multiple invoices, criminals can layer and integrate proceeds of crime, making it harder for investigators to see a single source of funds. The key idea is that the same shipment is used to generate more payment inflows than the actual value or quantity would ordinarily support, which masks the true origin and amount of money moving through trade channels. Red flags include repeated invoices with the same shipment details, identical goods descriptions across different invoices, and payments that don’t align with a plausible underlying trade. Other TBML tactics—such as under-invoicing, phantom shipments, or false freight charges—achieve related illicit aims through different manipulation of value or goods.

Multiple invoicing involves issuing several invoices for the same shipment to justify multiple payments. This creates a convincing paper trail that looks like legitimate business activity, allowing illicit funds to move across borders as if they’re separate, real transactions. By splitting payments into multiple invoices, criminals can layer and integrate proceeds of crime, making it harder for investigators to see a single source of funds. The key idea is that the same shipment is used to generate more payment inflows than the actual value or quantity would ordinarily support, which masks the true origin and amount of money moving through trade channels. Red flags include repeated invoices with the same shipment details, identical goods descriptions across different invoices, and payments that don’t align with a plausible underlying trade. Other TBML tactics—such as under-invoicing, phantom shipments, or false freight charges—achieve related illicit aims through different manipulation of value or goods.