The Wire, Chasing the Paper Trail

“You follow drugs; you get drug addicts and drug dealers. But you start to follow the money, and you don't know where it's gonna take you.” Detective Lester Freamon, The Wire. 

The Wire is one of the smartest televisions shows ever made! This is one of my favorite clips from the first season. Here, Lester is teaching the younger detectives the basics of what some of us call “obfuscation games”. Whether you call it obfuscation games, layering, or asset protection, Lester breaks down a basic form of using lawyers and shell corporations to conceal true ownership of property, and sources of funding. Lester then shows the young detectives how break through the corporate veil using old fashion public records and cross referencing.