> "Money laundering through the Apple AppStore or Google Play isn’t a new idea and has been done before. In the 2011 the Danish part of the Apple App Store was flooded with expensive suspicious applications. More than 20 out of 25 of the most downloaded applications were from China. The price of the apps ranged from $50-$100. For example, one of them “LettersTeach”, was intended for children who are learning English letters, yet it cost nearly $78. This pointed to money laundering then, however, what we encountered now is much more sophisticated.

I don't understand how the laundering part works. There was a similar link posted to an overpriced book on amazon yesterday on HN, which also alluded to money laundering.

So if I understand correctly, the person(s) who want to launder their ill-gotten cash publish an app with an outrageous price, and then by the same app with their ill-gotten money, thereby turning it legitimate (buy way of the app company)?

If yes, then how much money could you possibly launder this way? Won't purchase of the same app a 100 times (if that's even possible) raise suspicion? And even then you've only managed to launder 50 - 100 x 100 = max of 10,000 USD. This is peanuts for the real money launders who would be dealing with millions of $ monthly.