Times Insider explains from us and what we do and offer visions behind the scenes on how to assemble our journalist.
For several months, Salim Jibrikidan, a correspondent for the New York Times, was staring at a maze of handwritten graphics, drawings and plans on a wall inside her apartment in Hong Kong. She was trying to collect how one of the largest money laundering networks works in the world.
“I needed visual help because I was dividing it into steps,” she explained. Her efforts were well used: This month, Mrs. Jibrikidan and Joy Dong, a correspondent researcher who covers China in the Times, published a complex investigation that provides an interior view of how some fraudsters washed with money and staying away from it. For their article, Mrs. Jibrikidan and Mrs. Dong spoke to nearly half of the fraudsters of the fraudsters, then described each step of the washing process.
“We wanted to make the story within the reach of the readers,” Mrs. Jibrikidan said about the investigation, which focuses on one washing network in Southeast Asia. “But first we had to understand the complications ourselves.”
In a video call from Hong Kong, Mrs. Jibrikidan and Mrs. Dong discussed an interview with fraudsters and money laundering for their article and questions that still top the mind for them. These excerpts were edited from the conversation.
What prompted you at first to follow this story?
Hello from the pregnant woman I started looking to launder money on a large scale for about nine months. Farah and wanted to understand how the criminal crime world works.
We have received advice that the city of Sehanokville, Cambodia, like a number of other casino centers in that area, was a hot point for fraud and money laundering, especially after the epidemic. When I visited, I am surprised by the number of incomplete buildings in every street. The upper floors in these empty buildings contain fluorescent lights, throughout the night. I kept thinking: Who is there? What do they do?
It took some time to gain people’s confidence, but then, in January, we got a break. A number of criminals agreed to speak to us.
How did you gain people’s confidence?
Joy Dong We found someone ready to introduce introductions in the local deception community, which was incredibly beneficial. We shared meals with money laundering and deceitful. I have a feeling that they are very alone and want to show what they do for strangers who will not judge them. It seems as if they are proud of a friend about the amount of money they earn and the extent of its intelligence.
Did you have most of your interviews personally?
It lacks the member We had at least one meeting with everyone; No one will talk to you on the phone about these things, usually. They were almost all in restaurants. We got mainly a tour of various Chinese cuisine – Fujian to Hunan to Sichuan.
One night after dinner, we saw a nine -minute fireworks show on the beach. This was immediately before the lunar new year and it appears very expensive. Later, we learned that the fraudsters shine fireworks to celebrate their largest content. We were shocked because every time fireworks explode, there is likely that someone’s life savings on the other side.
How to balance the writing of a convincing narration with the fact that these criminals laugh?
It lacks the member We talked to the victims who wanted to understand: How did they transfer my money so quickly? Why can’t I restore it? So we started trying to answer these questions first.
Some readers wrote to us after the story came out, talking about how to lose their confidence in the world and the psychological crisis that they suffered after targeting them. Like, who can I trust? Can I even make myself making the right decisions anymore? We were trying to make it clear to people that there is a complete system designed to make you feel completely impotence.
What is the biggest challenge for you?
Dong After we found Telegram channels where unknown users announce money laundering services, we started trying to decipher messages. Everything is in Chinese, but some language was not logical. So we asked some of the former fraudsters, and explained to us. After that, we got a cache of the files-a type of money laundering booklet-from the informants’ hideout, which had the dictionary of the deceptive language that we continued to decipher more messages.
What is your most surprising discovery?
It lacks the member How rude is everything. When you go to Bennah in Cambodia, you will not believe the number of SUVs you see on the street – you often see these huge American cars in Asia, or anywhere in the world. It is like, where does this money come from?
Both are planned to continue to report this industry. What questions do you hope to answer?
It lacks the member During the report, we got glimpses on how to run other parts of the washing industry that was not reported elsewhere – and as you can imagine, we may have difficulty hacking. But we want to understand how the system works. We want to show our readers that this world is very universal. It is equivalent to international trade in that it barely pays attention to the border. Things are done in hours, or sometimes, seconds.