White Collar Crime Attorney in Boca Raton, Florida
What trends do you see in the prosecution of money laundering?
What trends do you see in the prosecution of money laundering?
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So the Department of Justice is not just
bringing your traditional money
laundering cases anymore. When we’re
talking about money laundering, we’re
talking about a few different statutes
in the federal context. The primary ones
being title 1956 and 1957. So the
statutes themselves are older statutes.
They talk about using unlawful proceeds.
um they’re often tied to a fraud case
and it comes down to how the money is
spent, disguising money. Um you we’re
seeing now that the Department of
Justice is reverting back to a more
traditional look at pure money
laundering, which is in effect cleaning
money, but in a modern way. A lot of
money laundering and what we’re going to
see for the future these days involves
cryptocurrency. It involves overseas
transactions. It involves dealing with
countries that may be on a blocked
sanctions export list. So moneyaundering
statutees the same. It’s been the same
for decades. It’s still about cleaning,
disguising money, but we’re seeing it
used in very new and inventive ways. So,
keeping up with the technology, keeping
up with how foreign actors are
infiltrating and and working with
domestic individuals and my clients to
find ways to invest money into the
United States in unlawful ways is very
much at the forefront right now.
Boca Raton, FL criminal defense attorney David Tarras talks about the trends he sees in the prosecution of money laundering. He indicates that the Department of Justice is no longer limiting its focus to traditional money laundering cases. In the federal context, money laundering is primarily governed by statutes 18 U.S.C. §§ 1956 and 1957. While these statutes are longstanding and center on the use of unlawful proceeds—often tied to fraud cases—their application has evolved. Traditionally, money laundering involved disguising or “cleaning” money. Today, however, the practice has taken on modern forms.
Increasingly, cases involve cryptocurrency, overseas transactions, and dealings with countries on blocked sanctions or export lists. Although the statutes themselves have remained unchanged for decades, the methods used to launder money continue to grow more sophisticated. As a result, staying ahead of technological advances and monitoring how foreign actors collaborate with domestic individuals to channel illicit funds into the United States remain critical enforcement priorities.
