DETERMINING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF FINANCIAL CRIMES EMPLOYING NMV-BASED APLOCO METHOD AND COMPARING CRIME LEVELS OF UNITED NATIONS MEMBER COUNTRIES

Financial crimes possess an international nature, manifesting in various forms and types, and can spread globally with a single click in the digital age. Controlling these crimes is extremely important for the economic structures of countries. The aim of this study is to determine the significance level of crimes, particularly financial crimes, within the global organized crime index. To achieve this determination, the Normalized Maximum Values (NMV) method, a multi-criteria decision-making approach, was utilized. Subsequently, the Approach on Logarithmic Concept (APLOCO) method was employed to compare the crime levels of countries based on the established weights. According to the findings obtained from the NMV analysis, the significance levels of victim and witness support, prevention, smuggling of affordable goods, and heroin trafficking were identified as the highest. Financial crimes, which are one of the main objectives of the study, were found to have a medium level of significance compared to other crimes. Based on the weights determined by NMV, the results of the APLOCO method indicated that Colombia, Mexico, Myanmar, and Liechtenstein have high crime levels, while countries such as Sao Tome and Principe, Kiribati, Comoros, Eswatini, and Nauru exhibit low crime levels.