Financial Crimes Through Fintech by Political Leaders: The Experience of Select South Asian States

Financial crimes have been very common in the arena of political culture of South Asian states. This chapter intends to investigate the financial cries of the leaders of selected South Asian states through fintech. This chapter will attempt to do case studies of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka. Corruption has become an integral part of these three countries. Political leaders often have been accused of financial irregularities and misuse of public funds. Political leaders have transferred funds illegally from their own country to other parts of the globe by using financial transfer technology. In most cases, they used to transfer money through “hawala” and other unauthorized channels. The unregulated economies of Pakistan and Afghanistan are responsible for facilitating financial crimes through fintech. The legacy of corruption in these countries has made the state economy vulnerable. The ruling party leaders and their family members misuse the funds of the government and open fake accounts abroad through fintech. The governments of this country have information about the unauthorized money laundering system, but no such bold steps have been taken against those agencies. This chapter will try to investigate the causes and impact of financial crimes in the economy of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka. It will further attempt to delineate the policy implementation process of these states toward eliminating financial crimes. The content analysis method will be used in this chapter.