Home Crimes Corporate Criminal Law Money Laundering

Money Laundering

Accused of Money Laundering? Fill in the form and we will contact you as soon as possible.

4.1 based on 95+ reviews

Direct contact

'The laundering of illegal funds or at least the attempt to do so are punishable.'

Article 5,1§ of the Money Laundering Act describes in detail what the legislator understands by the term money laundering.

These include the conversion or transfer of money or assets with the intent to conceal the illegal origin of those funds/assets.
Misdemeanor money laundering also occurs when a person who was involved in a crime from which monies or assets arose helps to escape the legal consequences of his alleged acts.
Persons are also punishable when they use/possess/acquire money or assets of which these persons know the illegal origin.
...

The important element is that both participation, aiding and abetting, attempt, aiding the crime,... are punishable.

Terms

To speak of money laundering, 2 legal conditions must be met.

Act: it must be about a criminal act. It involves buying, exchanging, receiving, possessing, encumbering or managing property obtained from the crime.
Knowledge of illegal origins: the perpetrator had to have knowledge of the illegal origin. Funds or assets have an illegal origin when they originate from a crime ( a crime related to: illegal drug trafficking, human trafficking, financing of terrorism,...), when the funds/assets originate from a stock market crime ( the unlawful attraction of savings, theft or extortion,...) and finally funds/assets that originate from fraud ( abuse of trust, a theft,...).
The crime is a separate autonomous crime. The conviction for money laundering, does not necessarily imply that the defendant was also guilty as a perpetrator of the crime from which the capital gains were obtained.

What penalties do you risk?

The crime of money laundering is punishable by imprisonment from 15 days to five years and/or a fine from 26 to 100,000 euros.

The amounts of this fine have yet to be multiplied by the opdeciemen. Right now, the opdeciemen are equal to 8. (fine amount x8)