WhereTerrorists, Far-Right Extremists and Greedy Criminals Meet: A Comparative Study of Financial Crimes in the US

This dissertation study proposes to advance a comparative study of financial crimes committed by (1) terrorists, (2) non-terrorist but ideologically motivated offenders (i.e., far-right extremists), and (3) non-ideological profit-oriented individuals, who have been prosecuted by U.S. federal courts between 2000 and 2008. The project's primary goal will be to investigate to what extent these various actors converge in the financial arena. More specifically, the PI will compare and contrast the financial criminality of terrorists, far-right extremists and profit-driven individuals to identify similarities and differences. In addition, she will explore the nature and structure of relational ties among members of financial criminal networks. The findings will provide the basis for an empirical analysis and in-depth discussion of many theoretical and policy-related issues that have yet to be tested.

This study will provide a descriptive analysis of the financial criminality of terrorists, far-right extremists, and profit-driven individuals, before moving into a social network analysis (SNA) of financial criminal networks. The quantitative analysis will help understand similarities and differences existing among various offender categories. Social network analysis will allow her to test the degree of convergence between terrorists, far-right extremists, and profit-oriented individuals inside and outside their primary financial criminal networks. Finally, she will select significant incidents as case studies to analyze opportunity structures and situational factors that facilitate crime commission and develop targeted situational prevention measures.

ca/ncf