The Wire: Season One (2002)
Follow the Drugs Shifts to Follow the Money
The Wire, the acclaimed five-season HBO series, starts off Season One with police officers in the City of Baltimore trying to solve murders by drug gangs in the inner-city projects. Each successive season shifts the primary storyline to other parts of life, such as the unemployment in the local dockyards, a failing education system, corruption in political campaigns, and finally, the printed press, however, the underlying theme across all seasons is the drug game.
Jack Ryan: Season One (2018)
Transaction Analysis Reveals Suspicious Activity of International Wire Transfers Funding a Terrorist Attack
Jack Ryan, the Amazon four-season streaming series that refreshed and repositioned the main character,Dr. Jack Ryan (John Krasinski), as a former battlefield tested marine in Afghanistan turned cubicle-riding Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) threat intelligence analyst in the Terrorist, Finance, and Arms Division (T-FAD).
The Night Manager (2016)
Trade-Based Money Laundering Used to Conceal Corrupt Arms Deal
The Night Manager, the six-part espionage series, leads off in Cairo with a former British army soldier, Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston), serving as a luxury hotel night manager. Subsequently, Pine or Jack Lindon or Thomas Quince or, as he is finally known as, Andrew Burch, bounces through Zermatt, Devon, London, Mallorca, Monaco, Marrakech, Istanbul, and the Syrian desert, among others, serving as an informant for Angela Burr (Olivia Colman), an agent for the International Enforcement Agency (IEA) in London, tracking an international arms dealer.
Scarface (1983)
Drug Kingpin Places, Layers, and Integrates the Proceeds of Cocaine Sales During Miami’s Drug Wars
Scarface, the crime thriller about a Cuban immigrant turned drug kingpin, provides a glimpse into the 1980’s Miami drug wars. Antonio Montana (aka Tony) arrives in Miami during the Mariel boatlift, the mass exodus of Cuban emigrants from Cuba’s Mariel harbor to Key West, FL, which started in April 1980 and resulted in more than 100,000 Cuban refugees hitting the US shores.
Sicario (2015)
Follow the Smurf to Seize the Bank Accounts of a Cartel Leader
Sicario, the tense thriller about the drug war between the US and Mexico, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent, Kate Macer (Emily Blunt), volunteers to serve as a liaison on an inter-agency task force where the Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking advisors to focus on cartel activity. Matt Graver, (Josh Brolin) Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), leads a team with the intent of creating chaos within the Sonora cartel based in Juarez, MX.
Heat (1995)
Botched Armored Car Robbery Nets a Money Launderers Bearer Bonds
Heat, the 170-minute Michael Mann crime drama, features some of the most memorable action sequences in film, a heavy, but methodical opening scene of an armored truck heist gone awry and a chaotic bank robbery shoot-out in downtown Los Angeles, CA. Heat maintains multiple storylines, the primary one of cop versus robber with Vincent Hannah (Al Pacino), as the obsessive LAPD Detective, and Neil McCauley (Robert DeNiro), the career criminal taking down scores.
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Important Local Businessman uses his Art Gallery as a Front Company for Drug Smuggling
Beverly Hills Cop, the 1980’s action-comedy about Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy), the hot shot detective from the Detroit Police Department, that goes on ‘vacation’ to Beverly Hills to investigate the murder of his childhood friend, Michael Tandino (James Russo). After Tandino breaks into Axel’s apartment in Detroit, he tells Axel he was released early from prison and went to California. Tandino pulls out $10,000 Deutsch Marks in bearer bonds from a brown paper bag, calls them ‘untraceable,’ then when asked by Axel whether he stole them, Tandino responds with a blank stare.
Office Space (1999)
Disenchanted Employees Install a Computer Virus on their Employer’s Systems to Steal Company Funds, then Need to Launder the Ill-Gotten Gains
Office Space, the comedy about TPS reports, fax machines, answering machines, floppy disks, PC load letter, Hawaiian shirt day, 15 pieces of flair, snarling commutes, office cubicles, tips jars vs. trays, and a group of friends that skim off their hated employer to end the monotony of it all. In the Y2K era, where the computer-based world was supposed to end because of using two-digit year codes, Initech software engineers plug away at lines of code to update bank software for the Y2K switch.
The Beekeeper (2024)
Large-Scale Tech Support Scam Disguised as a Call Center Preys on Elderly Victims to Fund a Presidential Campaign
The Beekeeper, the crime thriller about a former US government operative known as a Beekeeper now living the quiet life uncovers a fraud scheme that funded a presidential campaign. Adam Clay (Jason Statham), a former Beekeeper, now raises bees on a remote farm property in Springfield, Massachusetts owned by a retired educator, Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rishad).
Arkansas (2020)
Bayou Drug Dealer uses Front Businesses to Disguise his Drug Operation, While a Close Associate Withdraws all the Proceeds from their Joint Bank Account
Arkansas, is a southern noir-crime thriller about two low level drug dealers working for a drug kingpin they never met before. Kyle Ribb (Liam Hemsworth), a local drug dealer and courier gets promoted to run an operation in Little Rock, Arkansas. Klye self identifies he’s at the bottom of an organized crime outfit run by an elusive guy named Frog. He moves in and out of random phone booths, bathrooms, laundromats, moving his product. Kyle believes the ‘Dixie Mafia’ in the south is overplayed and organized crime is not that organized, rather, just a lose affiliation of deadbeats with no code of honor.
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)
Compliance Officer Identifies Unusual Trade Activity of an Important Client from a High-Risk Country Indicating a Possible Terror Plot
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, the post- 9/11 espionage thriller that updated the focus of Jack Ryan to thwarting terrorist plots on US soil steeped in manipulating global financial markets. Post-Afghanistan battlefield injured-Marine, Jack Ryan (Chris Pine), encounters William Harper (Kevin Costner) while in recovery at a Washington D.C. hospital. Harper is impressed with Ryan based on his military background and seeks to recruit him to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) by offering him a cozy desk job as a covert analyst at Wall Street private banks to track terror groups.
Emily the Criminal (2022)
Dummy Shopper Credit Card Scam Operator Dreams of Integrating Proceeds into a Large Real Estate Purchase
Emily the Criminal, the noir-crime thriller about a woman struggling with student and credit card debt enters the world of credit card fraud for some quick money. Emily Benetto (Aubrey Plaza) is saddled with more than $70,000 of student debt and is working at a catering company while she looks for a ‘real’ job. Unfortunately, she has a criminal background of a prior assault and driving under the influence, which is an impediment to her during job interviews.
The Equalizer 3 (2023)
Change in Historical Transactional Behavior of a Winery Raises Suspicion of Illicit Activity
In Equalizer 3, Robert McCall (Denzel Washington), a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operative, is just a guy passing through and drinking tea in a scenic town in Sicily, Italy. McCall finds himself in Italy because he tracked down a cyber attacker that hacked the pension fund of a bricklayer’s union in Boston, MA with a member losing his entire savings of $366,400.
RISK | STRATEGY | CYBER COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT
