Word: hawala
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Welcome to the world of hawala, an international underground banking system that allows money to show up in the bank accounts or pockets of men like hijacker Mohammed Atta, without leaving any paper trail. There are no contracts, bank statements or transaction records, and yet those who use the hawala networks can move thousands of dollars around the world in a matter of hours...
...Although Indian authorities have found Kashmiri militants making extensive use of the hawala system, funding terrorism is not a priority for the hawala dealers. The big money comes from defrauding trade regulations: An importer arranges with a supplier to charge a fraction of his real prices on an invoice, and pays the difference via hawala. Drug traffickers and corrupt officials also use the system for money laundering. "Hawala dealers don't care about where the money comes from or what it is being used for," says Ali. "They only concern themselves with the deal...
...only is there no paper trail, Ali's system avoids bank charges, transmission delays and foreign exchange regulations. All that hawala requires is trust. And that, ironically, is why it thrives in the underworld. No one cheats, Ali insists. And if they do? He looks a little shifty. "The small gain will not be worth the bigger price," he says. "You will lose respect, and for a man, honor is his most important asset." How about his life? Ali laughs. "Yes, if someone is very upset, he might want to kill the thief," he says. "But it seldom comes...
...industry's hub is the oil emirate of Dubai, home to many gangsters from both India and Pakistan who maintain legitimate enterprises there but also operate hawala networks. Dubai is a free trade zone with no limitations on the movement of goods or currency. In the absence of laws expressly prohibiting the practice of hawala, it is difficult to track and arrest the offenders. And since hawala does not affect the Dubai economy, and it's not a priority for local law enforcement...
Some of bin Laden's money is in mainstream institutions--the Saudis froze his assets after the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Africa, though he may have money in Switzerland, England and numerous other countries--but al-Qaeda also makes heavy use of hawala, an informal Islamic banking network that has operated for generations in Asia and the Middle East. Hawala, Hindi for "in trust," links brokers around the world who advance funds to depositors on a handshake and, sometimes, a password. In remote areas, a broker may have little more than a rug and a phone. In larger cities...