#13 How organised crime professionalised in South Africa | Chad Thomas
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In the first 2026 episode of The Laundromat, Dawn Pretorius speaks to veteran investigator Chad Thomas about how organised crime in South Africa has evolved into structured, corporate-style enterprises.
From a billion-rand international boiler room scam to the use of boutiques, barber shops and churches as laundering vehicles, Chad exposes how criminal networks professionalise and scale. He discusses South Africa’s cash-heavy economy, the misuse of POPIA, “tick-box” compliance culture, and the real impact of the country’s removal from the FATF grey list.
This episode is a hard look at the financial backbone of organised crime — and why disrupting money flows matters more than ever.
From a billion-rand international boiler room scam to the use of boutiques, barber shops and churches as laundering vehicles, Chad exposes how criminal networks professionalise and scale. He discusses South Africa’s cash-heavy economy, the misuse of POPIA, “tick-box” compliance culture, and the real impact of the country’s removal from the FATF grey list.
This episode is a hard look at the financial backbone of organised crime — and why disrupting money flows matters more than ever.
Chapters
- 00:01 Introduction and Chad Thomas' background
- 01:49 Internantional boiler room scam operation
- 03:56 Structured criminal operations and recruitment
- 06:01 Money laundering through legitimate businesses
- 07:32 Cash-based laundering and South Africa's cash economy
- 10:35 Regulatory arbitrage and South Africa's grey listing
- 11:37 Enhanced investigation capabilities and challenges
- 13:19 Churches as money laundering vehicles
- 15:28 International cooperation and success stories
- 17:10 Banking reporting obligations and POPIA challenges
- 21:02 Enforcement focus and the Enablers Report
- 22:54 Crime statistics and conviction rates
- 24:31 Positive outlook and solutions
