Accounts managed by professionals such as lawyers or accountants, where client funds are held separately from the professional's own for authorized purposes like legal settlements or tax payments.
Main/
Client Accounts
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Code
PS0074
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Name
Client Accounts
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Version
1.0
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Category
Deposit & Account Services
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Created
2025-03-12
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Modified
2025-04-02
Related Techniques
- Complicit lawyers or accountants can maintain funds in their professional client accounts on behalf of criminals, distancing illicit proceeds from the actual owner.
- The separation of funds under the professional’s umbrella makes it harder to trace suspicious activity back to the true beneficiary.
- Professionals (e.g., lawyers, accountants) may hold funds on behalf of criminal principals, with the professional acting as the named account holder.
- This arrangement blurs the line between the proxy manager and the true beneficial owner, reducing transparency.
- Fraudulent court settlements can be deposited into client accounts maintained by legal professionals, masking the original criminal source of funds.
- The commingling of legitimate and illicit funds within these segregated accounts further obscures beneficial ownership and complicates detection during standard reviews.
- Legal or accounting professionals can maintain illicit funds in segregated client accounts, masking the criminals’ direct connection to those funds.
- Rapid transfers in and out of these accounts with limited documentation add layers of complexity to hide ultimate ownership.