💸💸 🔎 Follow The Money - How Financial Data Can Expose Human Trafficking ⛓️‍💥

⛓️‍💥 Human trafficking is often hidden in plain sight but it leaves financial evidence. In this episode of Siren Investigates, John Randles is joined by Robert Reed, Chief Operating Officer of the International Bank of Chicago and founder of Reed Advancements, to explore how financial data, compliance systems, and investigative technology can be used to uncover and disrupt human trafficking networks. Drawing on decades of experience across global banking, AML, and forensic investigations, Robert explains how trafficking activity surfaces in transaction data, why traditional compliance approaches fall short, and how enhanced data analytics, AI, and cross-sector collaboration can save lives when used effectively. In this episode, they discuss: ⛓️‍💥 How human trafficking activity appears in financial transactions and behavioural patterns ⛓️‍💥 Why “following the money” remains one of the most effective ways to expose exploitation ⛓️‍💥 The role banks play in detecting trafficking through AML and SAR reportingReal-world examples where data analysis directly led to shutting down illicit operations ⛓️‍💥 How technologies like AI and entity resolution can accelerate investigations ⛓️‍💥 Why data collection alone is not enough—and why data utilisation matters What regulators, corporations, and everyday citizens can do to help combat trafficking This is a powerful conversation about the human reality behind financial data and how investigators, technologists, and institutions can work together to protect vulnerable people and dismantle criminal networks. Listen now to understand how financial intelligence can be a force for good