# Is this evidence of money laundering? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 16, 2013, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-evidence-of-money-laundering/650477 "2013-02-16T06:15:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 18
**Author:** ![The\_Lurker\_Above](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Lurker\_Above](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Lurker_Above)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-evidence-of-money-laundering/650477/18 "2013-02-18T00:27:26Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The basic fact is that most businesses fit a profile - if you know how much money is going into the business, you can make a pretty accurate guess how much money is coming out. So it’s a red flag when you try to claim your business is making ten times as much money as other similar businesses make. Doesn’t buying extraneous dump trucks make your trash-hauling business look bigger? You’d have to make it look like you’re using the industry-typical amount of money for insurance, maintenance, payroll etc for your ‘larger’ business. Then you can get away with more fake customers/pickups before tripping any red flags. I image that trash-hauling expenses are mostly capital equipment and payroll. Heck, you could provide ‘legitimate employment’ as ‘drivers’ to your mob underlings to help with **their** money laundering problems. You wouldn’t want all your underlings doing their own amateur money laundering and getting caught; they might rat you out! --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-evidence-of-money-laundering/650477)._