BBC's The Gold, Ozark and Narcos 'distort' realities of money laundering, warns expert
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From Ozark to Narcos and most recently the BBC's The Gold, money laundering is never far from TV screens in some form or another as audiences are presented with more illicit activity from white collar criminals trying to clean their ill-gotten gains.
Ozark depicted financial worker Marty Byrde (played by Jason Bateman) under duress to launder vast sums of Mexican cartel money for the Navarro family through his casino, while Narcos re-tells real-life drug lords washing their cash.
Similarly, The Gold charted the real-life Brink’s-Mat robbery in the 1980s, which saw three tonnes of bullion stolen from a security depot near Heathrow Airport with the money from selling the gold quickly laundered through various means, including pouring funds into the London Docklands redevelopment.
Speaking to exclusively to Express.co.uk, cybersecurity expert and the Managing Director of SmartSearch Martin Cheek said: “Hit Netflix shows like Ozark and Narcos, and dramatisations of real-life crimes, like The Gold, portray powerful characters engaging in high-stake, sophisticated schemes to launder illicit funds.
“But depicting money laundering in a desirable way, with a key emphasis on profits, makes us empathise with those committing the crime and incites great interest in engaging in illegal activities.
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Kenneth Noye in BBC's The Gold
Kenneth Noye in BBC's The Gold (Image: BBC)
“It’s easy to see how these storylines can distort the view of financial crimes and their consequences. We are encapsulated by the protagonist's lavish lifestyle and ‘get rich quick’ schemes across these TV series.”
Cheek went on to say Ozark made financial crimes “seem accessible” with viewers empathising and rooting for the Byrdes with these illegal activities appearing “commonplace”.
He said: “Criminals in pop culture are often portrayed as charismatic and intelligent individuals who are able to reap large profits from their illegal activities. Marty’s depiction, as a calm, clear-headed, family man, leads the viewers to relate and empathise with his efforts as we find ourselves rooting for him to outsmart law enforcement.
“Yet Marty is only able to continue his activities as there are no regular audits and ongoing monitoring of financial transactions, and a lack of due diligence and Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures in his business transactions and partnerships.”
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Marty and Wendy Byrde in Ozark
Marty and Wendy Byrde in Ozarkq (Image: NETFLIX)
Narcos, meanwhile, did give audiences an insight and added “educational value” of how these real-life crimes were carried out.
Cheek added there was again a sympathy angle with the characters: “We can also empathise with the protagonists living in economic crisis, making their motivations seem justifiable for striving to create a better life for themselves and their families.”
When it comes to The Gold, Cheek said a theft on the scale of Brink’s-Mat couldn’t happen again.
The cybersecurity expert explained: “The main legislations to combat money laundering in the UK in the 1980s were the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and Proceeds of Crime Act 1986, which only came into play after the crime and were not as comprehensive or sophisticated as they are today.
“The UK has since implemented a number of additional laws and regulations to combat money laundering. AML policies must be implemented by financial institutions, customer due diligence must be conducted, and suspicious activities must be reported to the authorities. Non-compliance also carries significant penalties, such as fines and criminal sanctions, as we have become more determined to combat financial crimes.”
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