Every fifth Latvian resident believes they are not affected by companies that don’t pay taxes or pay «envelope wages» to their employees, according to results of a survey performed by market and social studies centre Latvijas fakti.
Survey results indicate that 86% of respondents admit money laundering is related to contraband. 82% believe this criminal activity is related to tax avoidance and payment of «envelope wages».
Despite all that, every fifth respondent said the fact that some companies pay taxes honestly or pay «envelope wages» does not affect them at all.
To determine residents’ attitude towards money laundering and its hidden crimes, Office for Prevention of Laundering of Proceeds Derived from Criminal Activity together with Edgars Bāliņš took it to the streets and checked Latvian residents’ overall knowledge of fraud, corruption, human trafficking and other sources of dirty money.
Pedestrians were asked questions related to «dirty money» and money laundering in general.
Results of the survey show that the majority of residents have faced «dirty money» at least once in their lives. Respondents also mentioned that if they were offered less money acquired legally or more money of unknown origin, respondents said they would pick more money, giving no consideration where it came from.
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