In brief
Selam Gebrekidan and Joy Dong’s investigative report sheds light on the complex processes behind money laundering in Southeast Asia.
In a dedicated investigation spanning several months, Selam Gebrekidan, a reporter for The New York Times, immersed herself in understanding a massive money laundering operation. To make sense of the convoluted details, she utilized a wall in her Hong Kong apartment to organize her findings with diagrams and charts. Joined by researcher Joy Dong, the duo sought to unravel the workings of a major laundering network that primarily focuses on operations in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. Following reports that the city had become a hub for scams and money laundering, particularly post-COVID-19, Gebrekidan traveled there to explore the local landscape. The sight of multiple unfinished buildings with fluttering fluorescent lights prompted her curiosity about the activities occurring inside. Together, she and Dong managed interviews with various fraudsters and launderers, piecing together the elaborate steps involved in the laundering process.Their goal was to translate the complexity of their findings into an accessible narrative for readers. “We wanted to make the story accessible for readers,” Gebrekidan explained. Their investigation, while shedding light on a particular laundering network, places emphasis on the broader patterns of crime and illicit finance in the region, offering insights into a shadowy world that remains largely hidden from public view.
