Learn the Most Common Penalties for Money Laundering

Money laundering is a practice that some people use to hide the origins of their income. While this is an illegal practice, not everyone who does it could be considered a career criminal. In fact, some people do it to simply hide the fact that they have a particular job, as they want to mislead the government or bank officials into assuming that the money comes from a different job than the one they have. However, anyone practicing money laundering faces various penalties.



One of the most common penalties of money laundering includes large fines. In effect, if you are caught laundering money, you might have to pay the government at least what you laundered, if not double the amount. The fines can go up to $500,000 in many cases, though minor cases of money laundering often require lower fines. In general, criminals who launder money should be prepared for the possibility of having to pay back at least the amount they have laundered.



Another common penalty is time in prison. Since this is considered a federal crime, you can expect to spend time in a federal prison for up to 20 years per count of money laundering that you are charged with. For minor cases that involve laundering only a small amount of money, it is often possible to stay out of prison with the representation of a good lawyer. Of course, it must be the first offense of this type, and in fact, a completely clean record is often required to avoid prison for this crime. Consider what time in prison would do to your life, as you would not be able to work, provide for your family, or see your loved ones often. The best case scenario would be avoiding prison, but you would have to pay money for a good lawyer in order to do so. Thus, avoiding money laundering at all is best.



If you own a business or lots of personal assets, they can be seized by the government. This is especially true if you cannot afford the fines that you are charged with. Business owners stand to lose equipment that they need to run their company, leaving them without a source of income. Personal assets that can be seized include a house, car, jewelry, and furniture, to name a few. If you want to keep these items, do not take a chance laundering money.



Keep in mind that banks are often required to report suspicious activity to law enforcement, and the government goes to great lengths to investigate and prosecute those who commit this illegal act. This is because most of the time, those who hide the true source of their income are generating it through illegal means, and are often not paying taxes on it. Thus, if you think you have a reason to hide your income's origins, talk to a lawyer about your options rather than committing this illegal act.



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