Despite the impression that money laundering mainly occurs in small, landlocked European states or islands covered in palm trees, in reality, the U.S. political and economic system is remarkably open for the practice. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in December 2021 that “the best place to hide and launder ill-gotten gains is actually the United States,” and these words have been repeated by her and other Treasury Department officials in various forms ever since.