Organized crime and money laundering. The case of usurpations and land concentration

Abstract

The city of Rosario is traversed by complex criminal acts behind which gigantic and clandestine criminal markets rise up. The crime of money laundering includes a multiplicity of actions carried out by criminal groups that seek to change the appearance of the assets generated from illegal activities, "clean" them in order to thus be able to enjoy the product or benefit from the illegal acts committed. The enactment of Law 26683 in 2011 recognized money laundering as an autonomous crime. This implied an evolution of the regulations that corresponds to the idea that it is a multi-offensive crime since it causes multiple and serious consequences at an economic, social and institutional level. To understand what this crime consists of, it is necessary to visualize how this mass of illicit assets -integrated by goods or money- is inserted into the economy, affecting the normal functioning of all sectors: financial, productive, family, since the main function of the action maneuver is to hide or mask the true origin of these and ensure that the social economy absorbs them. The article addresses -in particular- the issue from the real estate sector, particularly in land ownership where among the preceding crimes are real estate fraud, usurpation, extortion, as well as the application of money flows generated from other activities carried out by criminal organizations.