The global precious metals market operates on a distinction between clean and dirty gold that functions primarily as an industry fiction, allowing illicitly obtained materials to enter the mainstream economy. Wall Street financial institutions and various governments around the world actively profit from gold that originates with criminals, violent gangs, and operations that exploit children. Despite international regulations and corporate compliance frameworks, the mechanisms of the trillion-dollar industry routinely facilitate the laundering of illegal gold, obscuring its origins before it is refined and sold on the open market.
How the Global Gold Industry Launders Illegal and Unethical Precious Metals
An investigation into the global precious metals market reveals that the boundary between clean and dirty gold is largely an industry fabrication. Major financial institutions and governments worldwide continue to derive profits from gold sourced through criminal enterprises, gangs, and child labor.
