The Laundry

E176: Are Pokémon Cards fincrime’s hottest new toy?

The Laundry

Show Notes

$190,000 of trading cards stolen in Tokyo with a hammer. One card sold at auction for $16.5 million.

Somewhere between those two facts is the reason a children's card game became one of the most portable stores of value on the planet.

We're talking about Pokémon: the Japanese phenomenon that has hooked generations of collectors. The game that told children to "Catch 'Em All" now has a much darker following.

Our expert host, Robin Lycka, is joined by Paolo Aprile, Founder of DM Dirty Money, and Nick Jarman, Founder & CEO of Certified Trading Card Association, to ask: "Are Pokémon Cards fincrime’s hottest new toy?"

The panel discuss: how a simple, fun card game turned into something else entirely, and what happens when a whole market sits outside every AML rulebook on earth.

Producer: Lois Dunford Executive Producer: Matthew Dunne-Miles Editor: Dominic Delargy

Subscribe to our newsletter, Fresh Laundry, here. ____________________________________

The Laundry connects anti-money laundering, compliance and financial crime to the real world — the headlines, the regulation behind them, and what non-compliance actually costs.

Hosted by Marit Rødevand, Fredrik Riiser and Robin Lycka, each episode brings on practitioners from banking, fintech, regulators and investigative journalism to unpack what's actually happening in the industry.

The Laundry is proudly produced by Strise – manual fincrime works ends now.

Get in touch: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More from The Laundry

Oct 22, 2026

What’s the key skill in fighting financial crime? Most people would say a head for data, spreadsheets and analytics.

Oct 15, 2026

Recorded on stage at the International Anti-Financial Crime Summit in London.

Oct 8, 2026

Donald Trump in 2025: "I'm a big crypto fan. I've been that from the beginning."

Sep 24, 2026

Last November in the UK, more than 2,000 vape shops, mini marts and candy stores were raided in a National Crime Agency (NCA) operation – with £11 million in cash seized.

Sep 17, 2026

We talk a lot about the dark money that makes the criminal world turn — but what about the money paid to the people fighting it?

See all episodes →