Is Money Laundering Illegal

The simple answer is yes, very much so. Money laundering has been an illegal practice for centuries and there is no sign that society or government is going to soften its opinion or position on it. Money laundering may seem to be something of a victimless crime but underneath there will be a trail of people who have suffered. The view of financial providers and government finance regulators, such as the Financial Conduct authority, is very clear that it is not to be tolerated and it is why we have protections like AML ID VERIFICATION in place to try and put a stop to it. Or, at the very least try and dissuade criminals from trying it.

Image credit

Money laundering is where criminals attempt to “clean” the money they have stolen by converting or introducing it into the general banking system. This can be as simple as opening a bank or savings account with the cash. However, this appears to be obvious and generates questions such as “where is the source of this deposit coming from?” which is hard to answer without proof.

Image credit

Other ways include making a large purchase of a high quality item such as a luxury car or yacht and then immediately selling it for cash. This is also true when trying to obtain a mortgage. Using ill gotten gains to put down a deposit on a property and then selling up straight after moving in is one attempted way to clean up the cash that might have been made through drug sales, coercion or theft.