CRIMINAL MARKET – AN ESSENTIAL SYMPTOM OF ORGANIZED CRIMINAL ACTIVITY

Abstract

The article provides a comprehensive scientific analysis of the phenomenon of the criminal market as a system-forming element of organized criminal activity. It is emphasized that modern organized crime functions not only as an association of individual criminals or criminal groups, but as a structured criminal segment, which in terms of logic, tools and goals is close to the legal market. It is substantiated that the main purpose of the functioning of the criminal market is to obtain excess profits through the sale of prohibited or illegal goods and services under conditions of conspiracy, resistance to disclosure and influence on state institutions.The authors typologize the criminal market according to geographical and functional characteristics (local, regional, national and global market). The connection between organized crime and the penetration of criminal capital into the legal economy is also highlighted, which causes dangerous consequences – from the shadow economy to the reduction of the efficiency of public administration and corruption of government bodies.The authors reveal in detail the stages of legalization (“laundering”) of criminal proceeds: the introduction of “dirty” money into circulation, multiple movements to hide the origin, and the final legalization of capital. Special attention is paid, in accordance with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), to the three-phase model of legalization (placement, layering, integration), as well as to the mechanisms of the transnational nature of such operations, the role of offshore zones and shell companies.It is stated that effective counteraction to the criminal market as a manifestation of organized crime requires a multi-level, cross-sectoral strategy that includes not only a force component, but also measures of financial control, analytical intelli- gence, international cooperation and legal reform. A doctrinal understanding of the term “criminal market” as a category that requires further scientific development and consolidation in domestic legislation is proposed.