Rinsed: From Cartels to Crypto: How the Tech Industry Washes Money for the World's Deadliest Crooks

In this episode Mark sits down with author and journalist Geoff White about his latest book ‘Rinsed: From Cartels to Crypto: How the Tech Industry Washes Money for the World's Deadliest Crooks’.

Rinsed tells stories of money laundering online, from popular gaming like Axie infinity and Call of Duty to Backpage and Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixing service. And how cybercriminals use these different platforms to launder their illicit gains.

He also talks about larger than life characters that inhabit this space, like the Nigerian social media influencer, Hushpuppi, whose jet-setting lavish lifestyle came crashing down after it was revealed that he laundered millions of dollars for the North Korean Lazarus Group’.

Geoff has been investigating cyber and financial crime for some time, writing books and presenting podcasts on his work. He is best known for his research into the infamous “Lazarus Group”, connected to the North Korean state and responsible for some of the biggest (not just crypto) heists in history – such as the Bangladesh Bank cyberattack, the Axie Infinity hack and most recently Bybit Heist, which saw $1.5 billion in Ethereum disappear from the exchange.

Geoff talks about his book, the seeming blindness or indifference tech companies have towards their platforms being used by money launderers, and the challenge of writing books on this subject.

Timecodes:

0:00 - Intro

01:46 - Background to Geoff's book Rinsed

03:01 - The Intersection of Technology and Money Laundering

05:56 - General Blindness in Tech Industry

08:32 - Tornado Cash, Axie Infinity and North Korean Hackers

12:55 - Backpage, CSAM, Money Laundering

17:25 - Response to the Book from Tech World

19:00 - Resilience of Cryptocurrency & Pro-Crypto US Administration

22:54 - Lack of Ability to Control Illicit Finance

26:18 - The Evolving Threat of North Korean Cybercrime

30:01 - Hushpuppi: Social Media Influencer by Day, Money Launderer by Night

33:33 - The Challenges of Crypto Traceability

37:38 - Challenges of Writing on Money Laundering

40:58 - Characters that Left a Lasting Impact

43:19 - Discovering the Story

46:03 - What's Next?

49:44 - Why Books like Rinsed are still needed

52:11 - Importance of Security

54:11 - Upcoming Projects

54:53 - Outro

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Geoff White's book ‘Rinsed: From Cartels to Crypto: How the Tech Industry Washes Money for the World's Deadliest Crooks’ is available here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rinsed-Cartels-Crypto-Industry-Deadliest/dp/0241624835

Audible version: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rinsed-Cartels-Crypto-Industry-Deadliest/dp/B0CWJMSTYG/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0

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Underworlds with Mark Shaw Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0ss7EEqXOflp3d-lZw4LfIe

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📱 YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@UCP-lqJdhM-9iDKkswuVcXZA

🌎 VISIT US! Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime - https://globalinitiative.net/

🎧Audio version: https://link.chtbl.com/7c27X1CM

🎧WHY NOT TRY OUR OTHER PODCASTS:

🎧Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0spSX0QUq7j0NmIZOqyDTZQ

🎧The Index - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0uc_4CftGl8PrwHA3IK5WeI

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FOLLOW US

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LinkedIn - @Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

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Man Alone: Mandela’s top cop – exposing South Africa’s ceaseless sabotage

In this episode Mark sits down with journalist Caryn Dolley to discuss her latest book, ‘Man Alone: Mandela’s top cop – exposing South Africa’s ceaseless sabotage’.

Man Alone follows the career of a remarkable South African police officer called André Lincoln, who passed away in May 2025. He was handpicked during the 1990s by Nelson Mandela, to head a secret unit investigating connections between government officials and organized crime in South Africa. He started with Cosa Nostra, the mafia from Sicily.

His long career was marked by controversy, in 2003, Lincoln was convicted of fraud and sacked by the South African Police Service (SAPS), only for the decision to be overturned a few years later after a successful challenge. He always insisted that people within the state, including fellow officers, targeted him in an attempt to scupper his investigations.

Lincoln dedicated 39 years to law enforcement, eventually heading the Western Cape Anti-Gang Unit, a unit dedicated to combatting gangsterism in the area. He was accused of not doing enough to prevent the murder of his colleague Charl Kinnear, who was gunned down in 2020, although he vehemently denied this.

In May 2025, Major-General André Lincoln passed away, after years of health problems that left him in a wheelchair.

Caryn talks about Lincoln’s life but she also speaks candidly about her life as a journalist covering the crime beat in the Western Cape.

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Caryn Dolley's book ‘Man Alone: Mandela’s top cop – exposing South Africa’s ceaseless sabotage’ is available here: https://www.amazon.com/Man-Alone-Mandelas-exposing-ceaseless-ebook/dp/B0DPZL8ZB1

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Underworlds with Mark Shaw Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0ss7EEqXOflp3d-lZw4LfIe

====================================================

📱 YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@UCP-lqJdhM-9iDKkswuVcXZA

🌎 VISIT US! Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime - https://globalinitiative.net/

🎧Audio version: https://link.chtbl.com/7c27X1CM

🎧WHY NOT TRY OUR OTHER PODCASTS:

🎧Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0spSX0QUq7j0NmIZOqyDTZQ

🎧The Index - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0uc_4CftGl8PrwHA3IK5WeI

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FOLLOW US

X - @gitoc

LinkedIn - @Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

IG - @gi_toc

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Underworlds with Mark Shaw is returning for another season.

Mark sits down with authors to discuss their investigations into the murky world of organized crime.

In season two, we hear about a range of stories such as money laundering and cryptocurrency; the 'Ndrangheta's expansion from Calabria, Italy to other countries of Europe.

Also the story of a leading South African police officer, who was tasked with investigating the Italian mafia in South Africa by Nelson Mandela.

A fascinating story about one of the largest frauds in the history of the maritime industry. The growth and evolution of ransomware market, and finally a history of modern Russia told through the stories of four very different criminals.

The series is hosted by Mark Shaw, the Director of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. Mark is also an author of a number of books on organized crime in South Africa.

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📱 Youtube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@UCP-lqJdhM-9iDKkswuVcXZA

🌎 VISIT US! Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime - https://globalinitiative.net/

🎧WHY NOT TRY OUR OTHER PODCASTS:

🎧Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0spSX0QUq7j0NmIZOqyDTZQ

🎧The Index - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0uc_4CftGl8PrwHA3IK5WeI

===================================================

FOLLOW US

X - @gitoc

LinkedIn - @Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

IG - @gi_toc

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Russia, the Wagner Group and the Fall of Yevgeny Prigozhin.

In this episode, Mark sits down with Professor Mark Galeotti, to discuss his new book, co-authored with Anna Arutunyan, ‘Downfall: Prigozhin, Putin, and the new fight for the future of Russia’.

The life of Yevgeny Prigozhin was nothing if not extraordinary. After an earlier stint in prison in Russia, he turned his hands to business, became a catering magnate, then a troll master, and finally the leader of the infamous Wagner PMC (Private Military Contractor).

The actions of the Wagner Group in places like Mali, the Central African Republic and other countries in Africa led to it being designated a transnational organized criminal group by the US in early 2023, whilst it was locked in a fierce battle with Ukrainian forces in the city of Bakhmut, Ukraine.

At the same time, Prigozhin was involved in a very public war of words with the Russia MoD, particularly with then Minister of Defence and close associate of President Putin, Sergei Shoigu. This spat eventually boiled over and led to Prigozhin’s ill-fated ‘March of Justice’ in 2023 which made it to the very edge of Moscow. This catastrophic decision ultimately led to his death, alongside several other members of the Wagner leadership, in a dramatic plane crash a few months later.

In this episode Mark Galeotti sits down with Mark Shaw to talk about Yevgeny Prigozhin, his life and career, his turbulent relationship with certain members of the Russian elite, his posthumous reinvention as the ultimate Russian patriot, where he sits in the arc of Russian history and the future of the Wagner Group without him.

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Mark Galeotti’s book ‘Downfall: Prigozhin, Putin, and the new fight for the future of Russia’ is available here: https://amzn.eu/d/jiIaqS8

Audible version: https://amzn.eu/d/9Tb9MIE

====================================================

Underworlds with Mark Shaw Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0ss7EEqXOflp3d-lZw4LfIe

====================================================

📱 YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@UCP-lqJdhM-9iDKkswuVcXZA

🌎 VISIT US! Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime - https://globalinitiative.net/

🎧Audio version: https://link.chtbl.com/7c27X1CM

🎧WHY NOT TRY OUR OTHER PODCASTS:

🎧Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0spSX0QUq7j0NmIZOqyDTZQ

🎧The Index - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0uc_4CftGl8PrwHA3IK5WeI

===================================================

FOLLOW US

X - @gitoc

LinkedIn - @Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

IG - @gi_toc

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What role do women play in the Latin American drug cartels?

In this episode, Mark sits down with investigative journalist Deborah Bonello to discuss her book ‘Narcas: The Secret Rise of Women in Latin America's Cartels’.

During the trial of Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman in 2018-19, there was only one woman named on the indictment, Guadalupe Fernández-Valencia, the unassuming elderly woman is the highest-ranking woman known today in the Sinaloa Cartel.

This peaked Deborah’s curiosity, who was the Bureau Chief for VICE Latin America at the time – why was so little known about Guadalupe? Was it unusual for a woman to rise to such a high level in the male-dominated world of organized?

Deborah embarked on research into the powerful cartels of Mexico and beyond, discovering that women were not always the powerless or victims, but that they were actively involved in organized crime. They were mothers and grandmothers, but they were also running criminal empires, trafficking illicit drugs and ordering murders.

Her work changes the narrative around organized crime, by understanding the agency that women have, and how to respond to it.

In this episode, Mark talks to Deborah about her book ‘Narcas: The Secret Rise of Women in Latin America's Cartels’.

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Deborah Bonello’s book ‘Narcas: The Secret Rise of Women in Latin America's Cartels’ is available here: https://amzn.eu/d/8Vz8iSl

Audible version: https://amzn.eu/d/8Vz8iSl

====================================================

Underworlds with Mark Shaw Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0ss7EEqXOflp3d-lZw4LfIe

====================================================

📱 YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@UCP-lqJdhM-9iDKkswuVcXZA

🌎 VISIT US! Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime - https://globalinitiative.net/

🎧Audio version: https://link.chtbl.com/7c27X1CM

🎧WHY NOT TRY OUR OTHER PODCASTS:

🎧Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0spSX0QUq7j0NmIZOqyDTZQ

🎧The Index - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0uc_4CftGl8PrwHA3IK5WeI

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FOLLOW US

X - @gitoc

LinkedIn - @Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

IG - @gi_toc

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What links the Italian mafia, the DEA, and Hezbollah?

In this episode, Mark sits down with investigative journalist Miles Johnson, to discuss his book ‘Chasing Shadows: A True Story of the Mafia, Drugs and Terrorism’.

Miles discovered a DEA investigation into a money laundering network in Europe, which branched out to reveal the truly global nature of organized crime, and how it intersects with the world of terrorism.

Miles’ book reads like a cinematic thriller, a story about the globalization of organized crime. There are three central characters from three different institutions – the ‘Ndrangheta, the Italian mafia from Calabria; the terrorist organization, Hezbollah; and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in the US.

Although the characters never meet, their stories intertwine and reveal how geopolitics shapes organized crime.

Before writing this book, Miles spent a number of years as a foreign correspondent in Italy, and reveals the hundreds if not thousands of documents and legal transcripts he went through to build this fascinating story.

In this episode, Mark talks to Miles about his book ‘Chasing Shadows: A True Story of the Mafia, Drugs and Terrorism’

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Miles Johnson's book ‘Chasing Shadows: A True Story of the Mafia, Drugs and Terrorism’ is available here: https://amzn.eu/d/bDUHTaa

Audible version: https://amzn.eu/d/3FhI2aq

====================================================

Underworlds with Mark Shaw Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0ss7EEqXOflp3d-lZw4LfIe

====================================================

📱 YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@UCP-lqJdhM-9iDKkswuVcXZA

🌎 VISIT US! Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime - https://globalinitiative.net/

🎧Audio version: https://link.chtbl.com/7c27X1CM

🎧WHY NOT TRY OUR OTHER PODCASTS:

🎧Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0spSX0QUq7j0NmIZOqyDTZQ

🎧The Index - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0uc_4CftGl8PrwHA3IK5WeI

===================================================

FOLLOW US

X - @gitoc

LinkedIn - @Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

IG - @gi_toc

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How did the Kinahan organized crime group rise to the top of cocaine trafficking in Europe?

In this episode, Mark sits down with investigative journalist and author Nicola Tallant to discuss her book ‘Cocaine Cowboys: The Deadly Rise of Ireland's Drug Lords’.

At the end of the 90s, Ireland was booming, the ‘Celtic Tiger’ had risen. People had more money to spend on leisure activities, and on drugs.

In steps a man from a comfortable middle-class background in Ireland, the well-educated and well-mannered, Christopher Kinahan Snr, who alongside his two sons Daniel Kinahan and Christopher Jnr, created the Kinahan Cartel.

Along with the cocaine came money, extreme violence and assassinations. The most famous of these was the Hutch-Kinahan feud, which saw criminal groups fighting one another across Europe.

Eventually, the Kinahan Cartel would join with criminal organizations from across Europe to create what Europol called the ‘European Super Cartel’, controlling the distribution of cocaine across the continent.

In 2022, the Kinahan Cartel, alongside its leading members, were sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) over alleged links to a money laundering network run by Hezbollah.

Nicola Tallant has been reporting and investigating organized crime in Ireland for three decades. She has written several books about the topic and has a successful podcast called ‘Crime World’.

In this episode, Mark talks to Nicola about her new book ‘Cocaine Cowboys: The Deadly Rise of Ireland's Drug Lords’.

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📖 Nicola Tallant's book ‘Cocaine Cowboys: The Deadly Rise of Ireland's Drug Lords’ is available here: https://amzn.eu/d/aoS98Lf

🎧 Audible version: https://amzn.eu/d/gYM6fdh

📺 Nicola also has a podcast called 'Crime World' and its available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UC8MalTYHvpmBKt5y365hDmQ

====================================================

Underworlds with Mark Shaw Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0ss7EEqXOflp3d-lZw4LfIe

====================================================

📱 YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@UCP-lqJdhM-9iDKkswuVcXZA

🌎 VISIT US! Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime - https://globalinitiative.net/

🎧Audio version: https://link.chtbl.com/7c27X1CM

🎧WHY NOT TRY OUR OTHER PODCASTS:

🎧Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0spSX0QUq7j0NmIZOqyDTZQ

🎧The Index - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0uc_4CftGl8PrwHA3IK5WeI

===================================================

FOLLOW US

X - @gitoc

LinkedIn - @Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

IG - @gi_toc

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Are these the twilight years of the Yakuza, the Japanese mafia?

In this episode, Mark sits down with investigative journalist and author Jake Adelstein to discuss his book ‘The Last Yakuza: A Life in the Japanese Underworld’.

The Yakuza have been part of the fabric of Japanese society for decades, they have inspired films and fanzines, invested in social network websites, provided humanitarian assistance, extorted people, meddled in politics, killed one another and politicians, as well as brought down governments. They are famed for their elaborate tattoos and chopping off pinkie fingers as a form of apology.

We hear about the unique relationship between the Yakuza and law enforcement, where once upon a time a raid on a Yakuza office was done by appointment. But that changed after a faction of the largest group, the Yamaguchi-gumi, called Kodo-kai, challenged the authority of police, which spelled the beginning of the end of the Yakuza.

Jake has been reporting on the Yakuza for decades, his first book ‘Tokyo Vice’ was adapted into an HBO series in 2022. He discusses about how to report on organized crime and how to manage relationships with Yakuza members.

In this episode, Mark talks to Jake about his book ‘The Last Yakuza: A Life in the Japanese Underworld’.

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Jake Adelstein’s book ‘The Last Yakuza: A Life in the Japanese Underworld’ is available here: https://a.co/d/2k2V0MR

Audible version: https://a.co/d/cKHMZZ2

====================================================

Underworlds with Mark Shaw Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0ss7EEqXOflp3d-lZw4LfIe

====================================================

📱 Youtube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@UCP-lqJdhM-9iDKkswuVcXZA

🌎 VISIT US! Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime - https://globalinitiative.net/

🎧Audio version: https://link.chtbl.com/7c27X1CM

🎧WHY NOT TRY OUR OTHER PODCASTS:

🎧Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0spSX0QUq7j0NmIZOqyDTZQ

🎧The Index - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0uc_4CftGl8PrwHA3IK5WeI

===================================================

FOLLOW US

X - @gitoc

LinkedIn - @Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

IG - @gi_toc

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