Name Your Price: Exploring the Costs of Professional Money Laundering Services in Large-Scale Cases in the United States

The fight against money laundering has motivated the establishment of a far-reaching regime worldwide. Despite debate over its effectiveness, empirical evidence on the pricing of money laundering services is limited, primarily due to the dearth of data and information on money laundering. To address this knowledge gap, this study examines the pricing of professional money laundering services in the United States, drawing on an exploratory sample of 88 large-scale criminal cases from January 2007 to December 2024. The findings reveal a median commission fee of 8% of the total amount to be laundered, with notable price variations across different types of predicate offences. Cybercrime stands out as the most expensive, with a median commission fee of 26%, followed by drug trafficking and fraud, both at 7%. Implications of the findings for both research and policy are discussed.