UK tax experts warn of virtual world money laundering

Cory Doctorow 7:57 pm Mon May 14, 2007

A panel of UK tax experts have raised alarms about the virtual goods market in online games, suggesting that they could be used to launder money:

“I see this as a virtual version of the hawala or hundi system,” said Johnson, who heads risk management firm TRMG, referring to the informal money transfer network that is commonly used through the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

“It’s trust based – I give you 1,000, you give someone else 1,000 – it serves to move money from A to B to C to D while obscuring the trail.”

He recommended treating virtual currencies like the Linden dollar as “real money”, including a requirement for virtual world operators like Linden Lab to report suspicious financial transactions, just as for real-world banks and financial institutions.

Link

(via Futurismic)

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