John Cassara retired after a 26 year career in the federal government intelligence and law enforcement communities. He is considered an expert in anti-money laundering and terrorist financing, with particular expertise in the areas of money laundering in the Middle East and the growing threat of alternative remittance systems and forms of trade-based money laundering and value transfer. A large part of his career was spent overseas. He is one of the very few to have been both a clandestine operations officer in the U.S. intelligence community and a Special Agent for the Department of Treasury.

Mr. Cassara has written Hide and Seek – Intelligence, Law Enforcement and the Stalled War on Terrorist Finance. Although the issues involved with terrorist finance are complex, the book was written primarily for the layperson. It takes the form of a story. The incidents and issues discussed are designed to give the concerned and curious citizen one public servant’s perspective on what “it is really like out there.” Many of the examples given are symptomatic of larger issues that have not yet been addressed by various post September 11 reforms.

Money is the necessary ingredient for terrorist organizations. Simply put, without money there is no terrorism. Unfortunately, years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, despite a variety of initiatives, countermeasures, regulations, and reorganizations, there is no doubt that terrorist networks retain access to hidden financial sources and can move and transfer both money and value to finance the next terrorist plot.