PENNINGTVÄTT - En kvalitativ studie utifrån ett kriminologiskt tillfälles- och möjlighetsperspektiv

Abstract

Over the past few years, money laundering has become a huge problem worldwide, due to globalization and new technologies. Previous research indicates that money laundering has an extremely negative impact on society, affecting individuals and the world economy at large. In relation to this, authorities worldwide have become interested in developing new strategies to decrease the level of money laundering. In 2014, Sweden implemented a new legislation on money laundering with the purpose of facilitating the investigations and convictions. Furthermore, the number of crime reports on money laundering has increased in Sweden during the past few years. Although, the number of convictions and prosecutions have not yet increased in Sweden. The purpose of this qualitative study has been to study why money laundering seems to be such a difficult subject to investigate and why there are so few convictions and prosecutions in Sweden, from a criminological opportunity perspective. The study consists of a collection of court cases concerning money laundering from Sweden and conducted interviews with prosecutors involved in such court cases. The results of the study indicate that there are four main aspects that influence the opportunity structure and the number of convictions and prosecutions of money laundering. There is a lack of knowledge about money laundering and its legislation in several social institutions, insufficient control systems, high evidentiary/complex investigations as well as the several different approaches to committing money laundering. In conclusion there are recommendations for future research and practitioners of how to increase the risk of detection and sanction.