I have this notion on my mind because of Breaking Bad, but it comes up in a lot of movies and TV shows, seems like.
The way it is often portrayed, people go to New Hampshire or Alaska or similar far-flung locales. Now, I suppose in those locations your neighbors and the authorities have more of a libertarian attitude, so that’s good. On the other hand, though, unless you get way deep in the wilderness where you can’t spend the money or just live very quietly somewhere without spending almost any of the money, those places are awfully visible.
It strikes me that if you live in the heart of a city, living with some roommates who have a nice apartment and let you pay cash for your share, that would be the best move. You can wander about and eat gourmet food for every meal, go to shows, etc., without standing out. You still would be best off not to acquire a lot of high ticket items that require licensing like expensive cars; but again, not something you need in a big city.
Are you wanted by the police (e.g. as in their is a warrant out for your arrest), or do you just want to appear normal even though you are spending illegally obtained money?
It’s difficult in countries like the US to avoid having to formally reveal your identity once in a while, so if you are wanted it may be difficult to open a bank account, get a driver’s license, travel by air, or travel internationally, since you normally need ID to do those things. If you aren’t actively wanted but you just want to make sure the police don’t realize you have illegal cash, it becomes easier and primarily revolves around making sure you don’t act suspicious even though you have the right legal documents and appear to be interacting normally with society - having a bank account, photo id, filing taxes, etc.
In a place where you have a lot of cash transactions, preferably in an inflationary setting. The last thing you want to do is deposit large amounts in the bank, or invest in financial assets or real estate. Keep to arms-length transactions with other (shady?) individuals.
Say you had a suitcase full of banded $100 bills ($10k each) = ~$360,000, well just stash that case in your closet behind a pile of golf clubs and fishing gear and what have you and then just blend that cash into your daily bank withdrawals, slow but sure. Over time, like 5-6 years it will be much easier to launder, after the heat has cooled down.
You live as you normally did, but you buy everything in cash that can be bought without attracting attention. You can even pay for prepaid debit cards so you aren’t paying for trips with $5,000 at a drop. As long as you don’t go too crazy - the chances of you getting caught are close to nil. You pay for a mortgage with money orders - and same for a car. This using the money to pay for extras works really well if you have a drug habit, like hookers, eating out a lot, buying electronics. It’s only when you try and buy multiple houses/cars and such that you are likely to run into problems. This method works best if you already have a regular job - or at least keep on long enough to get a mortgage/car loan.
If you want to BUY a house or expensive car in cash - you need to have a bank account that has tens or hundreds of thousand dollars in it. This is why Walt has the car wash. You can launder money this way. The reason for laundering money is not to physically remove any trace of dirt of the money (the Feds don’t KNOW that THAT money was gotten from cocaine sales) - it is used to build up assets so it appears you have a legit reason for having hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.
The way you do this is the OPPOSIT of what most people do - you try and pay more money n taxes than you need to :). You buy a car wash, bar, liquor store, hair salon, laundromat - any place where lots of transactions are done in cash. When you ring up $1,000 in sales that night - you deposit $2,000 and claim you did $2k in sales. Using this method - you can “launder” $365,000 a year. Of course you have to pay taxes on it - but who cares
Other methods include having a very good night at the casino - this is much more likely to draw attention. You play $100 slots or $500 a hand blackjack until you have a good night. You then report the gain as income and deposit the money when you get back from Vegas. You have to be careful with this method - as the casinos track a lot with player cards - and not using one is suspicious.
The problem here is you’re looking for a place that has a casual attitude about property ownership and law enforcement where you can feel safe about having a large sum of money in your possession. I think you can see the paradox here.
If that’s a serious suggestion, it’s a bad one. The women working in a brothel are going to be trading information with both the local police and the local organized crime outfits for protection. If you move in with a pile of money, the only question is who they’ll inform on you to.
