Terrorist Financing, Money Laundering, and Tax Evasion

Terrorist Financing, Money Laundering, and Tax Evasion. By Jayesh D’Souza. CRC Press, www.crcpress.com; 232 pages; $59.95.

This book covers a crucial element in the worldwide battle against terror and provides an academic viewpoint of many of the issues surrounding the ability to quantitatively measure the performance of financial intelligence units. Much of the book is dedicated to offering context to the war on terror, and how it is approached by many governments and other organizations throughout the world.

The book offers an extensive set of general examples of various financial schemes and offers an introduction to the shady financial strategies terrorists are using that are difficult to track.

The author acknowledges the difficulty of trying to quantify the effectiveness of the efforts of international agencies that work to combat terrorist financing. And, in fact, the book’s objective is remarkably difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. Nonetheless, the book elucidates a complex field with text that is easy to understand, and it is rich in examples, citations, and exhibits.

Reviewer: Courtney Banks Spaeth is CEO of National Security Associates Worldwide. She serves on the ASIS Global Terrorism, Political Instability and International Crime Council.