In the ongoing saga of card-room corruption in California, one facility stands head and shoulders above the rest: Hawaiian Gardens Casino (l.), located in the town with the same name. The casino produces 80 percent of the revenue the town takes in. Gaming commentator Richard Schuetz says that’s why there have been no arrests in conjunction with the money laundering activities that occurs there. 

Money laundering facilitates terrorist activities, public corruption, tax avoidance and a whole raft of social ills. It enables organized crime and drug dealing and is a method through which bad people can conceal the proceeds of crime. When people think of the great money laundering centers of the world, they probably think of certain offshore islands or countries outside of the United States. I would argue that the unquestionable leader for the title of money laundering capital of the world is the city of Hawaiian Gardens, California.