Book

Description

Preface Financial crime is not an abstract problem that belongs only to bankers, police officers and judges. It is a problem that begins in homes, schools, markets, mosques and churches, and offices; it is carried by young people who are recruited as money mules, by traders who are pressed to pay bribes, by public servants who are tempted to divert public funds, and by communities whose development is stolen when public money disappears. For too long our education systems have treated this subject as specialist knowledge reserved for professionals. This book rests on a different conviction: the best defence against money laundering, terrorism financing and fraud is an educated and ethical citizenry. Africa and the wider developing world pay a particularly heavy price. Illicit financial flows drain public revenue that should build schools, clinics, roads and security. Corruption and fraud weaken trust in institutions. Terrorist groups exploit weak controls, informal value-transfer systems and poverty. When the poor are the victims, the damage lasts for generations. Education is therefore a form of prevention, and prevention is cheaper, more humane and more durable than prosecution. This book was written for two audiences. The first is the secondary-school teacher and learner, for whom the book offers age-appropriate concepts, activities, ethics lessons and a ready-to-use syllabus. The second is the university lecturer and student, for whom it offers a fuller treatment of the legal framework, international standards, institutions, case studies and a layered curriculum from certificate to doctoral level. School and university programmes are deliberately built to connect: a learner who meets integrity, honesty and public-money stewardship at age fifteen should find those same ideas deepened in law, accounting, public administration, business and leadership at university. I have drawn on my years of teaching and research in leadership and organisational development and on practical work promoting accountability in higher education and public institutions.