Europol has published a groundbreaking report titled “Leveraging Legitimacy: How the EU’s Most Threatening Criminal Networks Abuse Legal Business Structures.”
The report uncovers the alarming extent to which organized crime groups exploit legitimate business structures to strengthen their power, evade law enforcement, and expand their illegal activities.
Building on the findings of its April 2024 study, “Decoding the EU’s Most Threatening Criminal Networks,” Europol’s latest assessment delves deeper into this phenomenon.
Commissioned by the Justice and Home Affairs Council of the European Union, the report examines the methods, motivations, and locations behind the abuse of legal business structures by criminal organizations.
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Key Findings of the Report
1. Abuse of Legal Frameworks – A Critical Enabler
Legal business structures are deeply intertwined with the operations of organized crime, serving as essential tools for money laundering, economic manipulation, and the transportation of illicit goods.
Cash-intensive businesses, in particular, are frequently targeted to conceal illegal proceeds. This exploitation distorts economic competition, placing legitimate businesses at a disadvantage while criminal enterprises thrive.
Furthermore, such practices foster local corruption, deepening criminal networks’ grip on communities and creating layers of protection from law enforcement.
2. Pervasive Criminal Exploitation
A staggering 86% of the EU’s most threatening criminal networks manipulate legal business structures for illicit purposes.
These structures allow criminals to hide their activities, launder profits, and seamlessly merge legitimate and illegal operations.
3. Criminal Ownership and Infiltration
Criminal networks deploy various strategies, including outright ownership or covert infiltration of legitimate companies.
Often, businesses are either established as fronts for illegal activities or taken over to serve expansive, long-term criminal goals.
4. Cross-Border Operations
While the majority (70%) of exploited businesses are located within the EU and adjacent regions, criminal infiltration extends globally.
Europol identified infiltrated legal entities in nearly 80 countries, showcasing the international dimension of this threat.
5. Insider Threats and Facilitated Crime
Employees, managers, and executives within legitimate companies are increasingly targeted by criminal networks, either through coercion or corruption.
These individuals grant access, knowledge, and influence that facilitate everything from money laundering to drug trafficking.
Europol’s findings highlight the urgent need for preventive and administrative measures to tackle this exploitation.
Criminally infiltrated businesses provide the infrastructure for multiple forms of organized crime, underscoring the importance of robust oversight and international cooperation.
The report will serve as a blueprint for future law enforcement operations and policy discussions, aiming to curb the abuse of legitimate enterprises by criminal networks.
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