Organised Crime Portfolio: Illicit Revenues and Criminal Investments in Europe

Abstract

This article presents the main findings of the Project OCP — Organised Crime Portfolio. It focuses on the economics of organised crime in Europe by estimating the criminal revenues of illicit markets and by analysing organised crime involvement in the legitimate economy. Furthermore, a qualitative analysis addresses organised crime involvement in different illicit markets and investments in the legal economy. Results show the magnitude and characteristics of the criminal portfolio of both illegal and legal businesses and provide an important contribution to help EU Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs), Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) and Asset Recovery Offices (AROs) to reduce the opportunities for criminal infiltration in the legitimate economy. The results also constitute a starting point for development of risk assessment models for crime prevention.