A financial service where a third party or institution holds and regulates funds or assets on behalf of parties to a transaction, ensuring that agreed-upon terms or requirements are met. This includes specialized services for legal proceedings, such as handling retainer or settlement funds, as well as facilitating real estate and business transactions.
Main/
Escrow and Settlement Account Services
[]
Code
PS0092
[]
Name
Escrow and Settlement Account Services
[]
Version
1.0
[]
Category
Deposit & Account Services
[]
Created
2025-03-14
[]
Modified
2025-04-02
Related Techniques
- Large sums of cash can be placed in escrow to finalize real estate sales without thorough source-of-funds checks.
- Criminals may structure multiple smaller deposits into settlement accounts, reducing suspicion while layering illicit proceeds into property transactions.
- Escrow accounts hold funds under third-party control, lending legitimacy to large sums moving through real estate deals.
- Criminals exploit the rapid turnover of funds via escrow, making subsequent resale proceeds appear to originate from a legitimate property closing.
- Criminals route illicit funds through settlement accounts labeled as arbitration payouts, exploiting legal confidentiality.
- Bypassing standard AML scrutiny, these accounts legitimize illicit proceeds under the guise of a formal arbitral award.
- Criminals utilize specialized settlement or escrow accounts to temporarily store funds awarded through coerced or falsified legal proceedings, lending the appearance of lawful entitlement.
- By channeling these purportedly court-ordered payments through a neutral party, the illicit funds gain a veneer of legitimacy, making detection and tracing more difficult.