Stealing the the money is the easy part, running away and hiding is the hardest
I just saw news of another $300m crypto scam, and as I was wondering how they would get away with it by laundering the money, I remembered a neighbor in Ikoyi who was a suspected offshore fraudster and how he managed to evade scrutiny for so long.
He kept importing used household items in containers and selling them off at ridiculous prices. I kept wondering why he was bringing them in if he wasn't making much money from them. It later clicked. That was how the money was likely laundered.
Pay cash for worthless goods, import them, sell them for almost nothing but claim you made a lot of money from selling them. On both sides, money was being washed.
He lived a very quiet life doing this for a very long time. No family, no visitors. He lived among the ultra-wealthy but kept a very low profile. No flashy cars. One day, I saw him on the plane in Libya, flying economy class. It was very odd. He was shocked to see me, but pretended that he didn't know me at all. He disappeared from the neighborhood shortly afterward. Nobody saw him again.
Crime is not an easy occupation. Stealing the money is the easy part. Running away and hiding the money is much harder.