Money Laundering

Domain	Definition
Finance	An offence against the administration of justice in which a person performs an act aimed at frustrating the identification of the origin, the tracing, or the confiscation of assets which he knows or must believe were obtained through the commission of a felony. Source: European Union. (references)
Law	When committed intentionally, the conversion or transfer of property, knowing that such property is derived from criminal activity or from an act of participation in such activity, for the purpose of concealing or disguising the illicit origin of the property or of assisting any person who is involved in the commission of such activity to evade the legal consequences of his action; the concealment or disguise of the true nature, source, location, disposition, movement, rights with respect to, or ownership of property, knowing that such property is derived from criminal activity or from an act of participation in such activity; the acquisition, possession or use of property, knowing, at the time of receipt, that such property was derived from criminal activity or from an act of participation in such activity; the participation in, association to commit, attempts to commit and aiding, abetting, facilitating and counselling the commission of any of the actions mentioned in the foregoing paragraphs. Source: European Union. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Specialty Definition: Money laundering

Money laundering is the practice of engaging in financial transactions in order to conceal the identities, sources and destinations of the money in question. In the past, the term "money laundering" was applied only to financial transactions related to otherwise criminal activity. Today its definition is often expanded by government regulators, such as the SEC, to encompass any financial transaction which is not transparent based on law. As a result, the illegal activity of money laundering is now commonly practised by average individuals, small and large business, corrupt officials, and members of organized crime,such as drug dealers or Mafia members.

If someone is making thousands of dollars in small change a week from his business, and he wishes to deposit that money in a bank, he cannot do so without possibly drawing suspicion. In the United States, cash transactions and deposits of more than $10,000 are required to be reported to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), along with any other suspicious financial activity.

One method of keeping this small change private would be for an individual to give his money to an intermediary who is already taking in large amounts of cash money. The intermediary would then deposit that money into her account, take a premium, and write a check to the individual. Thus, the individual draws no attention to himself, and can deposit his check into a bank account without drawing suspicion.

Another method involves establishing a business whose cash inflow cannot be monitored and funneling the small change into this business and paying taxes on it. All bank employees however are trained to be constantly on the lookout for any transactions which appear to be an attempt to get around the currency reporting requirements.

By the strictest definition of the term, anyone who assists in concealing the proceeds from his transactions is considered a money launderer. An individual therfore may be unwittingly employed by money launderers, and may still be criminally liable in many jurisdictions. Large multinational financial institutions have established private banking businesses to aid wealthy individuals who do not wish to reveal the details of their transactions.

The term "money laundering" is said to have evolved from the Prohibition era in the United States. Many methods were devised to disguise the origins of money generated by the sale of then-illegal alcoholic beverages. One method was legal gambling via slot machines—a way to efficiently transform giant volumes of coins into easily moveable currency. Another business so employed was laundries, and from this particular aspect of the trade, the term "laundering" emerged.

External link

What is Money Laundering? from CounterMoneyLaundering.com

Commercial Usage: Money Laundering

Domain	Title
Books	Dirty Dealing: The Untold Truth About Money Laundering (reference) Evil Money: The Inside Story of Money Laundering and Corruption in Government Bank and Business (reference) Money Laundering : A New International Law Enforcement Model (reference) (more book examples)

Periodicals	Alert Country Reports On The Money Laundering Laws & Regulations Of The United States (reference) Journal Of Money Laundering Control (reference) World Money Laundering Review (reference) (more periodical examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Image Slideshow: Money Laundering

Non-Fiction Usage: Money Laundering

Subject	Topic	Quote
Business		However, in an effort to curb money laundering, the Government prohibited foreign direct investors from obtaining ownership in real estate not connected with other investment activities. (references)
		Current trends also suggest that, because of the country's political and economic crisis, the computer-related services market may not recuperate from the slowdown until 2001. Computer hardware and software products continue to be smuggled into Colombia as contraband or through money laundering activities. (references)
		It is estimated that at the end of year 2000, computers in use in Colombia surpassed three million units and that by the year 2005, the computer sector will represent over five percent of the GDP. Current trends suggest that, because of continuing security and economic uncertainty, the import and cross-border markets may not recuperate from the slowdown associated with the recession of 1998-2000 until 2001. Computer hardware and software products continue to be smuggled into Colombia as contraband or through money laundering activities. (references)
Civil Liberties	Russia	On October 29, the Procuracy General completed its investigation of the alleged embezzlement of $68,500,000 (5 billion rubles), use of false documents, and money laundering by Titov, and turned the case over to a judge. (references)
	Chile	Under the new press law, the courts also absolved journalist Paula Afani Saud, who was charged with breaching the secrecy of a criminal investigation when she wrote articles in 1998 about an investigation by authorities into narcotics trafficking and money laundering. (references)
Economic History	Bulgaria	The 1996 Money Laundering Law also applies to bribes. (references)
Human Rights	Jamaica	Legal aid attorneys are available to defend the indigent, except those charged with certain offenses under the Money Laundering Act or Dangerous Drugs Act. (references)
	Poland	In June in response to the growing threat of organized crime and money laundering, the Government established the Financial Investigative Unit (FIU), a division of the Ministry of Finance. (references)
	Mexico	On July 1, a federal judge sentenced retired General Jorge Mariano Maldonado to 26 years and 3 months in prison after finding him guilty of drug trafficking, money laundering, and organized crime. (references)
Political Economy	TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO	Only a few reporting requirements have been retained to deter money laundering and tax evasion. (references)
	Nauru	The country is being investigated by the OECD'S financial action task force for alleged money laundering. (references)
	KUWAIT	A new draft anti money laundering law will impose a reporting requirement for cross-border currency movements of more than KD 10,000. (references)
Trade	Guatemala	Currently there is no law making money laundering illegal, except in cases involving drug trafficking. (references)
	Panama	Unfortunately, the CFZ has also been used by the Colombian drug cartels for money laundering and drug trafficking. (references)
	Australia	The purpose is to control tax evasion and money laundering and does not inhibit currency transfers associated with international trade. (references)
Worker Rights	Switzerland	On April 9, the Criminal Court of Lausanne sentenced a 38-year-old Nigerian to 9 years in prison after he was found guilty of trafficking in women across Europe and of money laundering. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Money Laundering

Modern Translation: Money Laundering

Language		Translations for "money laundering"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Danish		hvidvaskning af penge. (various references)

Dutch		witwassen van geld. (various references)

Finnish		rahanpesu. (various references)

French		blanchissage d'argent sale, blanchissage d'argent, blanchiment de capitaux, blanchiment d'argent. (various references)

German		Geldwäscherei, Geldwäsche. (various references)

Greek		νομιμοποίηση εσόδων από παράνομες δραστηριότητες. (various references)

Italian		riciclaggio di denaro sporco, riciclaggio di denaro, riciclaggio (material recovery, materials recycling, recycling). (various references)

Japanese Kanji		マネーフロー分析 (kind of bicycle favored by housewives running errands around their neighborhood, mafia, maharaja, Mahatma, mahogany, Mahomet, malaria, Malibu, Mama, management, manager, mannequin, mannequin girl, manometer, maracas, maraschino, marathon, Maya, mayonnaise, monetarism, money market, money-flow analysis, moneymaker, muff, muffin, muffler, scarf). (various references)

Japanese Katakana		マネロン , マネーロンダリング . (various references)

Pig Latin		oneymay aunderinglay

Portuguese		indivíduo avaro, branqueamento de capitais. (various references)

Spanish		blanqueo de capitales. (various references)

Swedish		Expertgruppen för fragor om penningtvätt (Money Laundering Experts' Group). (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Anagrams: Money Laundering

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-d-e-e-g-i-l-m-n-n-n-o-r-u-y"
	-3 letters: unmanneredly.
	-4 letters: endearingly, underlaying, unendearing.
	-5 letters: enamouring, enduringly, laundering, laundrymen, malingered, maundering, meandering, mineralogy, mouldering, mourningly, nonaligned, nonreading, remodeling, underlying, unendingly, unenlarged, unlearning, unmannered, unmannerly.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

Expression	Frequency per Day
money laundering	316
anti money laundering	37
money laundering alert	8
patriot act money laundering	5
anti money laundering training	5
money laundering act	4
money laundering case	3
money laundering law	3
bank money laundering	2
money laundering regulation uk	2
information money laundering	2
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Money Laundering

Definition: Money Laundering