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Comment by crazygringo | Hacker News Reader

Considering how all money streams for MoviePass depend on domestic card transactions which generate 100% auditable records... I'm completely failing to see how it could possibly result in money laundering or tax evasion.

Can you explain how? I don't see any obvious explanation in the articles you linked.

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It's in vogue to describe a business you don't understand as "money laundering" even when you don't understand money laundering.

Ok, but what about mattress stores? Are you telling me they aren't for money laundering?

> Ok, but what about mattress stores? Are you telling me they aren't for money laundering?

Margins are insanely high on mattresses. Why the connection to money laundering?

It's become a meme, likely due to the clusters of mattress stores that seem to pop up despite zero customers.

Mattress Firm's parent company was up to some sketchy stuff. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-steinhoff-intlnl-ceo/stei... The CEO resigned.

Planet Money covered that: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2018/12/13/676538506/why-...

Probably not in this case, but thinly traded share prices could be used to launder money.

Adam 1 buys shares with clean stake.

Adam 2 pumps share price with dirty money.

Adam 1 sells shares, getting stake back, plus clean profit.

Adam 1 short sells shares.

Adam 2 dumps shares, dropping share price.

Adam 1 cashes in on short.

Adam has laundered dirty 2 money into clean 1 money.

Needs a story to work the market a bit. This could work at a business level too.

the money they pay AMC has to come from somewhere right? Cue in illegally obtained money that's now in the system. profit??

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