Organised criminals use ‘cuckoo smurfing’ as a method of laundering money to disguise and integrate their funds across borders to profit from and further enable their illegal activities.
Generally this method of money laundering relies on exploiting the bank accounts of customers expecting to receive legitimate funds. These customers are often unaware that the funds transferred into their accounts are the proceeds of crime.
To protect Australia’s financial system against exploitation, AUSTRAC’s Fintel Alliance has developed this financial crime guide on cuckoo smurfing.