front company
Criminal's legitimate storefront
A front company is a business that appears legitimate but exists primarily to conceal illegal or secret activities.
Criminal organizations use front companies to launder money—a cash-intensive restaurant or laundromat can blend illicit funds with genuine revenue.
Intelligence agencies also establish front companies to provide cover for operatives: The CIA set up a front company to smuggle weapons.
The defining feature is the gap between the company's apparent purpose and its actual one.
- smokescreenConcealment through misdirection
- tax evasionIllegally avoiding government dues
- cutoutShape removed from material
- subterfugeDeliberate deception to conceal
- ruseDeliberate act of deception
espionage · concealment · facade · obfuscation · paper trail · disguise · veil · shell · brass plate · cover-up · off the books · straw man · infiltration · money laundering · black money · sleeper agent · operative · deception
- espionagespy, spies, double agent, double agents, spying
- fraudscam, fraud, swindle, con, deceive
- Spycraftspy, agent, asset, covert, handler
- criminal schemesconspiracy, collusion, racketeering, kickback scheme, assassination plot
- Sting Operationssting operation, undercover, bust, decoy, bait
- shell companiesbrass plate