TraCCC Courses

Graduate Certificate in Illicit Trade Analysis
Graduate Certificate in Illicit Trade AnalysisThis brand new program has been approved by the Board of Visitors and the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV). Students may apply for Fall 2020 consideration. Please complete the request more information form to learn more, or contact the Office of Admissions at schar@gmu.edu.

Illicit Finance and Trade Based Money Laundering Executive Webinar
This online course on Illicit Finance and Trade-Based Money Laundering (TBML) is taught by two internationally-recognized experts on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT), John Cassara (former US law enforcement official and author) and Lakshmi Kumar (Policy Director, Global Financial Integrity). The instruction will be in “real time” where students login to the virtual class on Mason’s platform. Students that successfully complete this executive development webinar will receive a certificate from the Anti-Illicit Trade Institute of the Terrorism, Transnational Crime, and Corruption Center (TraCCC), Schar School of Policy and Government.

AITI: Transnational Crime, Money laundering and Illicit Finance from Authoritarian States

This course will focus on Chinese and Post-Soviet illicit trade, money laundering and illicit finance.  At the same time, it will provide information on understanding how money laundering works, current issues, trends and methodologies used by today’s bad actors. It will contrast the forms of Chinese money laundering with that used in the post-Soviet successor states.

The instructors will share practical insights on what works and what does not by examining effective international standards such as those by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), AML measures, best practices, and case studies in detecting and preventing the laundering of dirty money. This course will also focus on TBML, underground financial systems, free trade zones (FTZs), black market exchanges, new payment methods, and other illicit finance processes, vehicles and methods that enable bad actors to disguise and clean their dirty money.

AITI: Investigating and Prosecuting Counterfeit and Pirated Goods (and E-Commerce Illicit Trade)

This course examines how criminal trafficking in goods bearing counterfeit trademarks and criminal copyright infringement (piracy) works, current issues, trends, and techniques used by today’s bad actors. The course will begin with an examination of the laws Congress enacted to combat these intellectual property crimes. Students will learn about the statutes, policies, principles, standards, and rules governing the investigation and prosecution of intellectual property crime cases. Then we will address how criminal copyright and criminal trademark counterfeiting cases are investigated and prosecuted in the United States. In doing so, we will explore why the successful investigation and prosecution of such cases increasingly requires cooperation and coordination with other countries. We will also walk through both actual and hypothetical cases in each of these areas. Finally, we will address how federal judges impose sentences and order both forfeiture and restitution in intellectual property crime cases.

See the AITI Courses page for more details

Human Trafficking and Smuggling
Course Number: PUBP 765-001 (Syllabus)

Transnational Crime and Corruption
Course Number: PUBP 764-001 (Syllabus)

Illicit Trade
Course Number: PUBP 763-001 (Syllabus)

International Money Laundering, Corruption, & Terrorism
Course Number: POGO 750-D17 (Syllabus)