Foreign nationals in the United States to work and study are playing a key role in laundering the proceeds of health-care fraud and tax-refund fraud schemes that cost the government hundreds of millions of dollars each year, the U.S. Treasury warned. The Treasury announcement on Friday, which was aimed at persuading anti-money laundering personnel at U.S. banks to participate in online training, suggested that "multiple" law enforcement investigations have determined that some people in the United States on J-1 work and F-1 student visas have been laundering money. Some of these individuals are linked to transnational organized crime groups. It did not identify any passports commonly held by purported laundrymen, Treasury said. A department spokesman told Compliance Complete that "most activity is related to Eastern Europe and Russia." "Such passport holders have been recruited by individuals to obtain legitimate state-issued identification, incorporate business entities, and open
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