The first stage of money laundering is known as 'placement', whereby 'dirty' money is placed into the legal, financial systems. After getting hold of illegally acquired funds through theft, bribery and corruption, financial criminals move the cash from its source.
Layering is the second stage of money laundering, and is performed to make the money as hard to detect as possible, further moving it away from the illegal source. It can often be the most complex stage of the laundering process.
—Whosoever directly or indirectly attempts to indulge or knowingly assists or knowingly is a party or is actually involved in any process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime and projecting it as untainted property shall be guilty of offence of money-laundering.
Layering can include changing the nature of the assets, i.e. cash, gold, casino chips, real-estate, etc. Complex layering schemes involve sending the money around the globe using a series of transactions. The more countries the money enters and leaves, the harder it is to uncover the “dirty” source of the money.
The third directive prohibits both the laundering of money and the financing of terrorism.
For many years AML compliance programs were built on the four internationally known pillars: development of internal policies, procedures and controls, designation of a AML (BSA) officer responsible for the program, relevant training of employees and independent testing.
Three strokes represent the three pillars or virtues of the AMLC — independence, integrity, and cooperation. The Council's acronym, “AMLC,” is given prominence to make the agency more familiar to the public.
The traditional forms of laundering money, including smurfing, using mules, and opening shell corporations. Other methods include buying and selling commodities, investing in various assets like real estate, gambling, and counterfeiting.
If someone tips you off, they give you information about something that has happened or is going to happen.
The AML/CTF Act provides the means to help deter, detect and disrupt money laundering and terrorism financing. It also provides financial intelligence to revenue and law enforcement agencies. The AML/CTF Act implements a risk-based approach to regulation. The AML/CTF Act sets out general principles and obligations.
Smurfing, or sometimes referred to as “structuring” is a type of money laundering that involves breaking up large transactions into smaller ones to avoid detection. The name comes from the similarity between the way funds are broken down and the way that cartoon characters known as “smurfs” divide up tasks.
Persons receiving, possessing, concealing, importing into Australia, exporting from Australia, or disposing of the proceeds of crime may be guilty of this offence. Possessing the proceeds of crime attracts a maximum custodial sentence of two years.
Any transaction or dealing which raises in the mind of a person involved, any concerns or indicators that such a transaction or dealing may be related to money laundering or terrorist financing or other unlawful activity.
15. The doctrine of "willful blindness" imputes subjective knowledge of illegal activity to a defendant and is used in both civil and criminal proceedings as a substitute mental state that fully satisfies a required mens rea of knowledge.
What Is a Money Mule? A money mule is someone who transfers or moves illegally acquired money on behalf of someone else. Criminals recruit money mules to help launder proceeds derived from online scams and frauds or crimes like human trafficking and drug trafficking.
One common form of money laundering is called smurfing (also known as “structuring”). This is where the criminal breaks up large chunks of cash into multiple small deposits, often spreading them over many different accounts, to avoid detection.
Reselling assets
Cash can be made to look legitimate through reselling. Criminals may purchase big-ticket items with cash, and then quickly resell those items to have money they are able to actually use in their bank account. Real estate, luxury cars, and other such items are popular placements for money laundering.
Money laundering is a process that criminals use in an attempt to hide the illegal source of their income. By passing money through complex transfers and transactions, or through a series of businesses, the money is “cleaned” of its illegitimate origin and made to appear as legitimate business profits.
bank statements of your cash amount (for cash buyers) further bank statements from past months/years to show how your money has built up over time. evidence of you selling a property (if using the funds to buy the new property) if you've been gifted the money, a letter from whoever gifted the money.
Criminals use money laundering to make illicit funds appear to have a legitimate origin. AML regulations require financial institutions to develop sophisticated customer due diligence plans to assess money laundering risks and detect suspicious transactions.