John
Cassara
John Cassara began his 26-year U.S. government career as an intelligence officer during the Cold War. He later served as a Treasury Special Agent in both the U.S. Secret Service and US Customs Service where he investigated money laundering, trade fraud and international smuggling. He was an undercover arms dealer for two years. Assigned overseas, he developed expertise in Middle East money laundering, value transfer and underground financial systems. Concerned about trade-based money laundering, he invented the concept of Trade Transparency Units (TTUs). He also worked six years for Treasury’s FinCEN and was detailed to the Department of State. Mr. Cassara's final assignment was with Treasury's Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI). Since his retirement, he has lectured in the United States and around the world on a variety of transnational crime issues. He has been a consultant for government and industry. He is on the Board of Directors of Global Financial Integrity and the International Coalition Against Illicit Economies. He is a fellow at George Mason University’s Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC).
Mr. Cassara has authored many articles and six books, including Trade-Based Money Laundering: The Next Frontier in International Money Laundering Enforcement, the 2020 release of Money Laundering and Illicit Financial Flows: Following the Money and Value Trails, and in 2023 China Specified Unlawful Activities: CCP Inc., Transnational Crime and Money Laundering.
More information is available at www.JohnCassara.com