front business
Legitimate-looking criminal cover
A front business is a legitimate-seeming commercial operation that conceals illegal activity.
Drug dealers might run a laundromat or restaurant as a front business to disguise the source of their income and launder money.
The business appears normal from the outside—it may even serve real customers—but its primary purpose is to provide cover: The mob ran a front business selling olive oil.
- shell companyInactive firm for transactions
- money launderingDisguising criminal proceeds' origins
- dirty moneyIllegally obtained wealth
- facadeDeceptive outward appearance
- coverProtect by overlaying
storefront · legitimate · cash · cash only · laundromat · mob · mafia · criminal · enterprise · smuggling · hidden · illegal · cartel · operation · scheme · racket · underworld · cleaning
- crimerobbery, accomplice, alibi, burglary, conspiracy
- fraudscam, fraud, swindle, con, deceive
- criminal schemesconspiracy, collusion, racketeering, kickback scheme, assassination plot
- shell companiesshell company, brass plate
- Traffickingdrug trafficking, trafficking, trafficker, drug smuggling, smuggling
- crime investigationdetective, whodunit, investigation, detectives, investigator