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1 (March 15, 2006)

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                                                                Order Code RS22400
                                                                      March 15, 2006



 CRS Report for Congress

               Received through the CRS Web




 Criminal Money Laundering Legislation in the

                        1 09th Congress

                              Charles Doyle
                              Senior Specialist
                         American Law Division

Summary


     Money laundering is an auxiliary federal crime, established to accentuate the
 seriousness of other specific federal, state, and foreign crimes (predicate offenses). It
 is designed to cut off the flow of money and other resources to and from those predicate
 offenses. Each of the racketeer influenced and corrupt organization (RICO) predicate
 offenses, including any of the federal crimes of terrorism, is automatically included on
 the money laundering predicate offense list. Money launderers face lengthy prison
 terms, heavy fines, and the confiscation of property associated with the laundering
 offense.

     This is an identification of bills in the 109'h Congress that amend the money
 laundering provisions of 18 U.S.C. 1956, 1957, or use those offenses as the predicates
 for other federal crimes, or add new offenses to the money laundering predicate offense
 list either directly or indirectly. Principal among these is P.L. 109-177 (H.R. 3199), the
 USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act.

     Related reports include CRS Report RL33315, Money Laundering: An Overview
 of18 U.S.C. 1956 and Related Federal Criminal Law (available in a shorter, abridged
 version as CRS Report RS22401, Money Laundering: An Abridged Overview of 18
 U.S.C. 1956 and Related Federal Criminal Law, both by Charles Doyle.


 Introduction

    It is a federal crime to participate in a financial transaction or move money across a
state border in order to (1) conceal the origin or ownership of the proceeds of other
specific federal, state or foreign crimes (predicate offenses), (2) promote the commission
of further predicate offenses, or (3) evade a state or federal reporting requirement, 18
U.S.C. 1956(a)(1),(2). Regardless of the purpose, it is also a federal crime to simply
deposit or spend more than $10,000 of the proceeds from a predicate offense, 1957(a).

    Federal racketeer influenced and corrupt organization (RICO) provisions outlaw the
acquisition or conduct of the affairs of an enterprise, whose activities affect interstate or


       Congressional Research Service +. The Library of Congress

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