Michael Levi graduated from Oxford, Cambridge and Southampton Universities and has been Professor of Criminology at Cardiff University since 1975.  He has researched the control of white-collar and organised crime, corruption and money laundering/financing of terrorism since 1972.  His books include The Phantom Capitalists; Regulating Fraud; and Drugs and Money. 

Recent distinctions include the 2019 Outstanding Achievement Award, British Society of Criminology; 2017 Runner-Up, ESRC’s International Impact Prize; 2014 Sellin-Glueck Award, American Society of Criminology, for contributions to comparative and international criminology; and 2013 Distinguished Scholar Award, International Association for the Study of Organized Crime.

He is a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales; a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences; Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute; and Senior Research Fellow at RAND Europe.

He has recently completed work on the detection of insider cyber threats and pathways to cyber-enabled fraud; co-led an evaluation of the criminalisation of organised crime membership and special investigative measures in the EU; researched the extent and impact of bank de-risking and the process and impact of anti-money laundering evaluations. Current projects include the detection and prevention of online mass marketing frauds; and how domestic and transnational bribery are financed.