Studies have suggested Americans spend over $150 billion on illegal drugs each year. Those who generate profits by trafficking and/or selling drugs often engage in what is called money laundering with their proceeds. When they’re caught doing it, they must hire money laundering crime lawyers to help them fight the charges filed against them.
This is just one of the many examples of a money laundering crime. Florida money laundering laws have been enacted to deter people from engaging in illegal financial transactions.
Discover more about what a money laundering crime is and what you should do if you’re ever charged with committing one below.
What Is Money Laundering?
Money laundering is a white-collar crime that involves taking money earned through illegal acts and trying to make it look like it came from legitimate sources. Those who commit money laundering crimes might:
- Hide “dirty” money and sneak it out of the country to a place where it can be “cleaned”
- Accept “dirty” money from someone who acquired it illegally and agree to “clean” it for them
- Set up a legit business with “dirty” money to make it ”clean”
In some instances, money laundering operations are on the simpler side. Someone who sells illegal drugs, for example, might take their profits to a casino and exchange them for chips before gambling for a little while and then exchanging their chips for cash. It’s a quick way to “clean” money.
Certain money laundering operations are significantly more sophisticated. Some Mexican drug gangs have relied on major U.S. banks to help them “clean” money earned through the illegal drug trade in the past.
Either way, you’ll need to hire a money laundering crime lawyer to help. They will lend a hand as you fight money laundering charges.
What Are Money Laundering Crime Examples?
People have been engaging in money laundering crimes all across the world for almost as long as money has existed.
Here are several other ways people commit money laundering crimes beyond the ones we’ve already mentioned:
- Structuring — or “smurfing” — to turn large cash deposits into a series of much smaller cash deposits to avoid raising red flags at banks and other financial institutions
- Buying real estate in cash with “dirty” money before selling it soon after to collect “clean” cash at closings
- Setting up shell companies and funding them with “dirty” money to hide the identities of those who control this cash
Those who engage in money laundering crimes these days have even started to turn to cryptocurrency for help with “cleaning” money. They convert “dirty” cash into digital currencies and move them around before transforming them back into cash that seems to be “clean.”
How Serious Are Money Laundering Crimes?
Money laundering and other financial crimes are considered very serious. If you’re accused of committing one, you will need to work with a money laundering crime lawyer.
These statistics, courtesy of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, illustrate just how serious these crimes are in the eyes of the law:
- Over 90% of those found guilty of money laundering go to prison.
- The average prison sentence for someone found guilty of money laundering is just under six years.
- Money laundering suspects are often hit with fines of up to $500,000 and sometimes even more, depending on the severity of their crimes.
Call Us To Connect With a Money Laundering Crime Lawyer
Were you charged with a money laundering crime recently? Retain the services of a criminal defense attorney from Michael White, P.A.
To reduce the chances of you facing a conviction, defense lawyers from our law firm will fight on your behalf in court. Contact us at 954-270-0769 to schedule a consultation with an experienced money laundering crime lawyer.
