Money laundering is a federal offense. This one refers a process. Through this process, the launderers obtain money by illegal means, conceal the source of the obtaining and lastly clean the money in way that it appears that the money had been acquired legally. This is a federal offense with consequences. In case you get arrested for money laundering and the prosecutor succeeds in establishing the offense you will face enormous penalties. You will have to pay fine. You will also have to serve prison time.
Most of the people have no clear idea about money laundering, in spite of hearing the term almost regularly. There are three steps of money laundering – placement, layering and integration. The first step is acquiring the money. This can be done by blackmailing, kidnapping or any other means of criminal activities. After obtaining the money, the launderers place the money in some financial institution in small portion.
When the placement of the money is done, the launderer begins the next step, layering. In this stage, the launderer gets the money out of the country. The goal of launderer is to create distance between the source and the amount of money. After this comes the integration part. In this stage the launderer bring the money back in way that is appears legal to everyone.
It is very easy to get wrongly accused of money laundering charge. You should consult an experienced Fort Lauderdale federal defense attorney to help you in this situation.
