Laundering in the Art Market

If you are familiar with the world of fine art, then you know that certain pieces can sell for exorbitant amounts of money. At times, the high price of some art pieces, especially those that look like a kindergartener’s finger painting, seems entirely unjustified. But this theory offers a unique explanation for those high prices.

The idea here is that criminals use the art market as one big money laundering scheme. Once those criminals have spent their dirty money on a painting or sculpture, it would become incredibly difficult for them to get caught. It’s unlikely that the whole art market operates that way, but there’s a good chance that some duplicitous person has at least thought of trying that tactic.