On a Wednesday morning in late April, economics professor Melvin Ayogu walked into a small classroom inside Emory University’s anthropology building and asked a group of first-year students to explain pivotal moments in the last season of the Netflix crime drama “Ozark.”
Ayogu, who has been teaching economics for decades, wasn’t inquiring about the Georgia-filmed television show because he’d missed some episodes and wanted to catch up. He has incorporated the fictional series into his new introductory course on the economics of money laundering.
The idea isn’t to teach students how to “clean” so-called “dirty” money, Ayogu said. He said he wants to open students’ eyes to the fact that money laundering – the process of making illegally obtained money appear legitimate – is an undeniable part of the global economy.
“We want to de-filter their idealized view of the world,” Ayogu told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “They call (money laundering) the crime that makes all crime possible. It’s everywhere.”
Ayogu launched the course in the fall of 2023 and will offer it again this fall. He said it serves as a wake-up call for students who “have no idea of this parallel universe” that is “hiding in plain sight.” Lessons explore how illegally obtained money is transported around the world, the laws of various countries that make it possible, the players involved and the moral dilemmas they face.
“Movies glamorize money laundering but they never talk about the personal battles,” Ayogu told his students. “But ‘Ozark’ as a drama was very unique in bringing that human aspect.”
The show starring Jason Bateman and Laura Linney is about a married couple’s work laundering money for a Mexican drug cartel. In the class, one of Ayogu’s students referenced a scene that explored how an end to the drug trade would deprive countless families of income.
Students learn that it’s not just “bad guys” taking part in money laundering, which is facilitated, directly and indirectly, by lawyers, politicians and community leaders, among others, Ayogu said.
“The devil is not walking around with horns,” he said. “He’s walking around in a three-piece suit just like everybody else. If you’re looking for the illegal business, you’re not going to find it, because it’s next door to the McDonald’s.”
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
During the class, Ayogu used an “Ozark” scene, in which government officers entrap and assassinate a cartel boss, to explain that “sometimes even the good guys break the law.”
Ayogu’s classes cover the organizational structures of money laundering and the role of institutions, international governance and emerging trends like internet-enabled crimes.
In addition to fictional case studies, real examples of money laundering are part of the curriculum. Ayogu reminded his students that only the unsuccessful money launderers can be studied, as their crimes are the ones that have been discovered.
“They’re surprised that the real world is worse than ‘Ozark,’” Ayogu said of his students. “And this is only what we see. The successful ones we never know.”
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Ayogu also teaches an advanced class on the economics of money laundering to third-year students. This spring he had a federal prosecutor from Georgia speak to the students about the challenges that the U.S. Department of Justice faces in combating money laundering, and how the government is addressing them.
The material can help prepare students for work in a variety of sectors and organizations, including the FBI and CIA, Ayogu said. He said much of the focus is on predicting how money launderers will innovate and adapt with technology.
“The idea is to get ahead of the curve,” he said.
Credit: Jessica Miglio/Netflix
Credit: Jessica Miglio/Netflix
Money laundering cases in Georgia
- Mitzi Bickers, one of the Atlanta City Hall corruption defendants, was found guilty of money laundering and other charges. She was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
- Former Georgia insurance commissioner and gubernatorial candidate John Oxendine was charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and money laundering. The money laundering charge was dropped when Oxendine pleaded guilty to the fraud charge.
- Jack Fisher, an Alpharetta accountant, was convicted of money laundering and other charges for his part in a scheme that allowed investors to claim more than $1 billion in false federal tax deductions. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
- Shelitha Robertson, an Atlanta lawyer and business owner previously employed by the city as a police officer, was found guilty of money laundering and other charges in relation to a $7 million Paycheck Protection Program fraud. She has yet to be sentenced.
- Metro Atlanta pharmacist Raphael Ogunsusi pleaded guilty to money laundering and other charges tied to illegal drug prescriptions. He was sentenced to more than nine years in prison.
- Former Georgia insurance commissioner Jim Beck was found guilty of money laundering and other charges after embezzling more than $2 million from his former employer. His seven-year prison sentence was upheld on appeal.
- Three nonprofit executives were charged with fraud and money laundering in connection with funds raised to support opposition against Atlanta’s planned public safety training center.
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