Matt Peyer

About the author

Matt Peyer is a Marine Corps Signals Intelligence analyst turned money laundering investigator for a national bank. He has a bachelors degree in history from Illinois State University, a masters degree in Financial crime and compliance management from Utica College. Don't bother trying to follow him on twitter, this is about as interesting as he gets.

A guide to front companies through the lens of Breaking Bad

By now anyone who reads these articles knows that money laundering is the process of taking money from criminal activity and cleaning it up to look like fresh and clean taxable income. Additionally the fact that if a drug dealer or would be terrorist walks into the bank with a suitcase full of cash sets […]

Why Bitcoin is overrated for terrorist finance

For this article, cryptocurrencies will generally be referred to as Bitcoin to avoid confusion. Introduction Bitcoin was supposed to change the world of finance. Created by the reclusive and possibly imaginary Satoshi Nakamoto, it offered a purely digital currency that all of the people loved. Libertarians championed its unregulated free market aspect. Anarchists liked that […]

Revenge of the Guardians: How the Iranians will evade new US Sanctions

The nuclear deal with Iran is gone, lying dead on the rubbish heap of history. It all seemed straightforward on the surface. The Iranians promised to halt the enrichment of uranium and not blow up Israel. In return, the U.S. and the European Union agreed to lift economic sanctions that stunted the Iranian economy. Unfortunately, it […]

Money laundering in three easy steps

Everyone has heard of money laundering. It features prominently in TV shows like “Breaking Bad” and “Narcos” and just about every Mafia movie since the 1980’s. Despite this, few people know how money laundering works. A perfect example comes from the cinematic classic “Office Space”, where after executing a skimming scheme that is years ahead of its […]

An introduction to financial intelligence

Introduction Finance has always been part of intelligence and warfare. The Romans poured salt on the land of Carthage, denying the people the ability to grow and sell crops. During the Civil War, Union military strategists planned the capture of Confederate cities with factories and destroyed railroads. The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested the organized […]