Money Laundering

Money laundering usually involves the transfer of money that is the result of illegal activity with the intent that the money will support further illegal activity. Both federal and Florida laws include heavy fines and severe criminal penalties, including potential mandatory/minimum sentences of up to 25 years and maximum potential sentences of up to life. Mr. Petruzzi has represented numerous individuals charged with, or under investigation for, money laundering offenses by both federal and state authorities. His experience and knowledge serve as an invaluable asset to his clients.

Federal money laundering offenses are investigated and prosecuted by various agencies, including the FBI, DEA, ICE, IRS, Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice. Some common federal statutes criminalizing money laundering activities include:

18 USC Sec. 1956 –

(a) (1) Whoever, knowing that the property involved in a financial transaction represents the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity, conducts or attempts to conduct such a financial transaction which in fact involves the proceeds of specified unlawful activity –

(A) (i) With the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity; or

(ii) With intent to engage in conduct constituting a violation of section 7201 or 7206 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; or

(B) Knowing that the transaction is designed in whole or in part –

(i) To conceal or disguise the nature, the location, the source, the ownership, or the control of the proceeds of specified unlawful activity; or

(ii) To avoid a transaction reporting requirement under State or Federal law, shall be sentenced to a fine of not more than $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater, or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both. For purposes of this paragraph, a financial transaction shall be considered to be one involving the proceeds of specified unlawful activity if it is part of a set of parallel or dependent transactions, any one of which involves the proceeds of specified unlawful activity, and all of which are part of a single plan or arrangement.

(2) Whoever transports, transmits, or transfers, or attempts to transport, transmit, or transfer a monetary instrument or funds from a place in the United States to or through a place outside the United States or to a place in the United States from or through a place outside the United States –

(A) With the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity; or

(B) Knowing that the monetary instrument or funds involved in the transportation, transmission, or transfer represent the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity and knowing that such transportation, transmission, or transfer is designed in whole or in part –

(i) To conceal or disguise the nature, the location, the source, the ownership, or the control of the proceeds of specified unlawful activity; or

(ii) To avoid a transaction reporting requirement under State or Federal law, shall be sentenced to a fine of not more than $500,000 or twice the value of the monetary instrument or funds involved in the transportation, transmission, or transfer, whichever is greater, or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both. For the purpose of the offense described in subparagraph (B), the defendant’s knowledge may be established by proof that a law enforcement officer represented the matter specified in subparagraph (B) as true, and the defendant’s subsequent statements or actions indicate that the defendant believed such representations to be true.

(3) Whoever, with the intent –

(A) To promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity;

(B) To conceal or disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, or control of property believed to be the proceeds of specified unlawful activity; or

(C) To avoid a transaction reporting requirement under State or Federal law, conducts or attempts to conduct a financial transaction involving property represented to be the proceeds of specified unlawful activity, or property used to conduct or facilitate specified unlawful activity, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than 20 years, or both.

Florida money laundering offenses are investigated and prosecuted by various state and local law enforcement agencies. Some common Florida statutes criminalizing money laundering include:

896.101 Florida Money Laundering Act; definitions; penalties; injunctions; seizure warrants; immunity. –

(3) It is unlawful for a person:

(a) Knowing that the property involved in a financial transaction represents the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity, to conduct or attempt to conduct such a financial transaction which in fact involves the proceeds of specified unlawful activity:

1. With the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity; or

2. Knowing that the transaction is designed in whole or in part:

a. To conceal or disguise the nature, the location, the source, the ownership, or the control of the proceeds of specified unlawful activity; or

b. To avoid a transaction reporting requirement or money transmitters’ registration requirement under state law.

(b) To transport or attempt to transport a monetary instrument or funds:

1. With the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity; or

2. Knowing that the monetary instrument or funds involved in the transportation represent the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity and knowing that such transportation is designed in whole or in part:

a. To conceal or disguise the nature, the location, the source, the ownership, or the control of the proceeds of specified unlawful activity; or

b. To avoid a transaction reporting requirement or money transmitters’ registration requirement under state law.

(c) To conduct or attempt to conduct a financial transaction which involves property or proceeds which an investigative or law enforcement officer, or someone acting under such officer’s direction, represents as being derived from, or as being used to conduct or facilitate, specified unlawful activity, when the person’s conduct or attempted conduct is undertaken
with the intent:

1. To promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity; or

2. To conceal or disguise the nature, the location, the source, the ownership, or the control of the proceeds or property believed to be the proceeds of specified unlawful activity; or

3. To avoid a transaction reporting requirement under state law.