Following The Money: Criminal Finance & Money Laundering Investigations

This comprehensive masterclass explores how criminal organizations generate, move, conceal, and ultimately utilize illicit proceeds. Rather than relying on theoretical frameworks, this training offers practical insights drawn from nearly two decades of real-world operational experience infiltrating transnational organized crime networks and working undercover as a professional money launderer.

Course Overview

Spanning either one full day (8 hours) or five consecutive days (40 hours) in a classroom setting, this program provides end-to-end examination of criminal finance and money laundering. The curriculum traces illicit money from street-level proceeds through couriers, financial accounts, legitimate businesses, shell companies, trusts, cryptocurrency holdings, professional facilitators, asset acquisitions, and offshore financial structures.

Key Learning Objectives

• Understand how offenders, money flows, businesses, assets, facilitators, and leadership interconnect within larger criminal organizations
• Trace illicit proceeds from initial street-level activity through complex financial networks and offshore structures
• Move beyond surface-level offenders to identify decision-makers, financiers, money movers, professional facilitators, and organizational leadership
• Recognize methods criminals employ to conceal ownership, disguise proceeds, store wealth, exploit legitimate systems, and launder illicit funds
• Develop comprehensive investigations that progress from initial criminal activity through complete financial networks toward dismantling the entire organization
• Build stronger enterprise-level cases targeting the people, money, assets, facilitators, and infrastructure supporting criminal operations

Instructor

Matthew Hedger, a former U.S. intelligence officer with 17 years of combined service at the CIA and NSA, leads this training. A recognized subject-matter expert in covert finance, anti-money laundering, and transnational organized crime, Matthew spent more than a decade operating undercover inside criminal networks. His field experience spans Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, where he led sensitive operations targeting narcotics trafficking, weapons smuggling, and money laundering. His operational background includes work with Mexican drug trafficking organizations, international money laundering networks, and undercover infiltration of motorcycle gang leadership. Today, he advises law enforcement agencies, intelligence organizations, and global financial institutions on money laundering threats, organized crime patterns, undercover operations, and emerging financial risks.

Ideal Participants

This masterclass serves law enforcement officers, intelligence analysts, financial investigators, compliance professionals, private investigators, and prosecutors seeking practical understanding of real-world money laundering operations. Participants include:

• Law enforcement officers and aspiring undercover operators
• Plain clothes officers conducting proactive or investigative work
• Highway interdiction and narcotics unit personnel
• Financial crimes investigators and analysts
• Unit supervisors, task force leaders, and investigative team commanders
• Private investigators
• Prosecutors
• Compliance teams

Upcoming Schedule

Location: Minot, North Dakota
Dates: September 21-25, 2026
Time: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

This course is offered in a live, in-person classroom environment. Organizations interested in hosting a training session should complete an interest form to speak with the team about scheduling options.