The Laundromat with Dawn Pretorius

Episode 1 of The Laundromat dives deep into the world of money laundering, exposing the staggering scale of financial crime across the globe. From major banking scandals like TD Bank’s involvement in laundering fentanyl profits to Mozambique’s $2 billion fraud, we uncover how illicit funds flow through legitimate systems, often with minimal consequences for the perpetrators. Cyber scams, shell companies, and underground banking networks all play a role in this multi-trillion-dollar problem, affecting economies, businesses, and everyday people. With technological advancements, criminals…

In this episode, we dive into the intricate connections between politics, the rule of law, and global economics—where money laundering plays a central role. From corporate power and tax havens to the unintended consequences of globalization, we explore how illicit financial flows distort economies, deepen inequality, and undermine democracy. With billions of dollars hidden offshore, governments lose vital resources needed for infrastructure, healthcare, and education, widening the wealth gap.

Is money laundering as serious as climate change? Absolutely. It fuels corruption, strengthens…

In this thought-provoking episode, financial integrity expert Dawn Pretorius and Professor Louis de Koker delve into the complex world of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF); its origins, effectiveness, and the unintended consequences of its global standards.

Established in 1989 by the G7 to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, FATF now influences global financial regulations. But has it lived up to its mission? Dawn and Lois unpack the nuances behind the numbers, the realities of implementation, and the costs — both financial and social.

Don't give me rules, give outcomes; don't ask for risk assessments.

This episode explores the effectiveness or otherwise of rules-based legislation versus principles-based legislation intended for anti-money laundering. Will financial institutions find it easier to apply or not?

A related regulatory requirement is to draft extensive risk assessments. Do we consult them when a risk occurs? Businesses manage their risks anyway - why do they need it to be documented?

An opinion is given on whether the financial impact of money laundering is ever factored into published economic statistics…

According to the World Justice Project, 2024 marked the seventh consecutive year of global rule-of-law decline.

From South Africa to the United States, from Europe to Latin America, the trends are worrying… and the consequences could shape global compliance for years to come.

If powerful individuals can escape consequences in the world’s leading democracy, what message does that send to countries already on the edge?

What do you think? Which trends worry you the most in 2025 — judicial interference, corruption, or civic repression?
How does rule-of-law erosion increase risks for…

The empty vessels that are moving billions of dollars supporting criminals.

In this episode, we’re diving into a topic that’s both mysterious and infuriating:
the use of shell companies, which involves secret wealth, global corruption, and the reason why your country might be losing billions in tax revenue every year.

The real shock is that the world’s richest economies are quietly the world’s biggest enablers. It’s not just small islands — it’s the big players that set the rules and then exploit them

Enter the fray and take up the fight.

Hawala is more than a remittance tool - it's a silent counter-economy.

Rooted in ancient trust-based systems, the hawala system allows funds to travel across borders without ever entering the formal financial system.

For financial criminals, hawala is an off-the-books express lane. For AML professionals, it's the ultimate blind spot. But for foreigners sending money home, it's cheap, fast, and trustworthy.

A candid, insider view of AML’s wins, failures and future.

✅ South Africa’s greylisting journey — are we really out of the woods?
✅ The rise of scams as a global, multi-billion-dollar industry.
✅ The real challenges faced by AML professionals on the ground.
✅ Whether SMEs and non-financial businesses can realistically keep up with compliance.
✅ Public perceptions of AML — does it matter to ordinary people?
✅ And if Bela were in charge of the FIC or FATF, what would she change?

Where technology, crime, and compliance collide.

A sharp, investigative podcast that exposes how technology is reshaping the global fight against money laundering. Hosted by Dawn Pretorius, The Laundromat tackles the fast-evolving world of AML through expert conversations, real-world cases, and bold questions about regulation, innovation, and the launderers who always seem one step ahead.

Rethinking the RBA, AML effectiveness, and UBO failures.

In this hard-hitting episode, Dawn Pretorius is joined by seasoned financial-crime expert Pieter Rossouw to unpack whether our global AML systems are truly fighting illicit finance — or unintentionally fuelling it. From the misuse of the risk-based approach, to the startling ineffectiveness of the global AML regime, to South Africa’s still-fragile UBO framework, this conversation asks the uncomfortable question: are we solving the problem, or sustaining it?

Lifestyle audits are symbolically unsubstantial.

Lifestyle audits can be extremely valuable, especially considering the high level of crime within the public sector, and South Africa is a notable example.

Many public departments treat audits as mere self-reporting exercises without verification. There is poor follow-through on findings, a lack of mandatory referral to criminal procedures, complications with offshore assets, and political interference.

Pretorius concludes that lifestyle audits in South Africa remain largely symbolic rather than substantive, exposing corruption without…

Discover what FSIs can do (and should do) but don't do, to fight crime.

This episode with Oonagh van den Berg of Raw Compliance takes a bold step in re-looking at how we comply with our AML regulatory requirements.

Oonagh argues that many current control frameworks are not fully fit for purpose as they were designed for a slower financial world and struggle to keep up with instant payments, embedded finance, crypto, and AI-driven fraud. While these frameworks may be technically compliant, they lack operational effectiveness.

The conversation covers issues of overregulation, data…

In the first 2026 episode of The Laundromat, Dawn Pretorius speaks to veteran investigator Chad Thomas about how organised crime in South Africa has evolved into structured, corporate-style enterprises.

From a billion-rand international boiler room scam to the use of boutiques, barber shops and churches as laundering vehicles, Chad exposes how criminal networks professionalise and scale. He discusses South Africa’s cash-heavy economy, the misuse of POPIA, “tick-box” compliance culture, and the real impact of the country’s removal from the FATF grey list.

This episode is a hard look at the…

Governments seize tons of drugs every year — yet the global drug trade continues to expand. Why?

In this episode of The Laundromat, Dawn Pretorius examines what actually works in the fight against drug trafficking. From border interdictions and crop eradication to international cooperation and demand reduction, she breaks down why the most visible strategies often produce the least structural impact.

The core argument is simple: trafficking survives because profits are successfully laundered. As long as money moves through financial systems, trade channels, shell companies, and professional…

In South Africa, terrorism hasn’t historically taken the form of large-scale, frequent attacks like you’d see in places affected by groups like ISIS or Al-Qaeda. Instead, the threat is lower in frequency but still very real — and evolving.

Organised crime networks are deeply entrenched. These networks — while not terrorist in nature — can overlap with terrorism in terms of smuggling routes, forged documents, and illicit financing. SA is a transit point, a funding node, and a recruitment ground. How do we manage this?

Body language, deception detection, and the signals liars can't hide.

Can you really spot a liar? In this fascinating episode of The Laundromat, Dawn Pretorius sits down with internationally renowned body language expert David Allen to separate fact from fiction in deception detection. From eye movements and nervous gestures to interview techniques used by law enforcement, David explains how behavioural analysis can reveal discomfort, concealment, and potential deception. He shares real-world cases involving criminal investigations, false reports, and leadership environments, while…

The red flags were there. Why didn't anybody stop it?

The Zondo Commission exposed far more than corruption — it exposed the weaknesses of the systems meant to prevent it. This episode explores the AML lessons hidden within South Africa's state capture saga, including PEP risk, consulting fee abuse, governance failures, and the role of professional firms and financial institutions. The real question is not how state capture happened, but why so many controls failed to detect it.

The global AML system is getting better at compliance — but is it getting better at stopping criminals?

Dawn Pretorius challenges the effectiveness of the world's anti-money laundering architecture, drawing on FATF's own concerns about the gap between technical compliance and real-world outcomes. From ineffective risk-based approaches and beneficial ownership weaknesses to the broken link between suspicious transaction reports and criminal prosecutions, this episode asks a difficult question: Are we measuring the wrong things?

And more importantly — is it time to completely rethink how the…

For more than three decades, the world has invested billions in the fight against money laundering. But has all that investment actually reduced crime — or simply displaced it?

In this compelling conversation, Dawn Pretorius speaks to Professor Louis de Koker, one of the leading voices in financial crime research, about whether the global AML/CFT system is still fit for purpose.

They explore why organised crime continues to evolve, why the AML system may still be operating on thinking developed in the 1980s, and whether we have become too focused on banks, compliance and suspicious…

Billions of data points but little financial crime disruption at best!

Are We Fighting Money Laundering or Just Collecting Reports?
The global anti-money laundering system is built on a fundamental assumption: the more suspicious transactions we report, the better equipped authorities will be to detect and disrupt financial crime.

But what if that assumption is wrong?

In this episode of The Laundromat, Dawn Pretorius challenges the effectiveness of suspicious transaction reporting and asks an uncomfortable question: Are we generating actionable financial intelligence, or have we created an…

Are we genuinely assessing financial crime or ticking a box?

Is the Wolfsberg Correspondent Banking Due Diligence Questionnaire genuinely helping to combat money laundering, or has it become another costly compliance exercise?

Dawn Pretorius challenges the value of the Wolfsberg Questionnaire and the many variations developed by banks and compliance officers around the world. Designed to assess the anti-money laundering, sanctions and financial crime controls of correspondent banking partners, these questionnaires include about 150 questions and require documentation updates and repeated…