{ "id": "RS22401", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "RS22401", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 576237, "date": "2017-11-30", "retrieved": "2017-12-12T14:21:37.104967", "title": "Money Laundering: An Abridged Overview of 18 U.S.C. \u00a7 1956 and Related Federal Criminal Law", "summary": "This report provides an overview of the elements of federal criminal money laundering statutes and the sanctions imposed for their violation. The most prominent is 18 U.S.C. \u00a7 1956. Section 1956 outlaws four kinds of money laundering\u2014promotional, concealment, structuring, and tax evasion laundering of the proceeds generated by designated federal, state, and foreign underlying crimes (predicate offenses)\u2014committed or attempted under one or more of three jurisdictional conditions (i.e., laundering involving certain financial transactions, laundering involving international transfers, and stings). Its companion, 18 U.S.C. \u00a7 1957, prohibits depositing or spending more than $10,000 of the proceeds from a predicate offense. Section 1956 violations are punishable by imprisonment for not more than 20 years. Section 1957 carries a maximum penalty of imprisonment for 10 years. Property involved in either case is subject to confiscation. Misconduct that implicates either offense may implicate other federal criminal statutes as well. Federal racketeer influenced and corrupt organization (RICO) provisions outlaw acquiring or conducting the affairs of an enterprise (whose activities affect interstate or foreign commerce) through the patterned commission of a series of underlying federal or state crimes. RICO violations are also 20-year felonies. The Section 1956 predicate offense list automatically includes every RICO predicate offense, including each \u201cfederal crime of terrorism.\u201d A second related statute, the Travel Act (18 U.S.C. \u00a7 1952), punishes interstate or foreign travel, or the use of interstate or foreign facilities, conducted with the intent to distribute the proceeds of a more modest list of predicate offenses or to promote or carry on such offenses when an overt act is committed in furtherance of that intent. Such misconduct is punishable by imprisonment for not more than five years. Other federal statutes proscribe, with varying sanctions, bulk cash smuggling, layering bank deposits to avoid reporting requirements, failure to comply with federal anti-money laundering provisions, or conducting an unlawful money transmission business.\nSection 1956\u2019s ban on attempted international transportation of tainted proceeds for the purpose of concealing their ownership, source, nature, or ultimate location is limited to instances where concealment is a purpose rather than an attribute of the transportation (simple smuggling is not proscribed as such), as the Supreme Court explained in Cuellar v. United States v. Cuellar, 553 U.S. 550 (2008). In a second case, the Court held that the \u201cproceeds\u201d of a predicate offense often referred to the profits rather than the gross receipts realized from the offense. United States v. Santos, 553 U.S. 507 (2008). Congress responded by defining \u201cproceeds\u201d for money laundering purposes as the property obtained or retained as a consequence of a predicate offense, including gross receipts. P.L. 111-21, 123 Stat. 1618 (2009) (S. 386) (111th Cong.).\nThis report is an abridged version of a longer report, CRS Report RL33315, Money Laundering: An Overview of 18 U.S.C. \u00a7 1956 and Related Federal Criminal Law, without the footnotes, full citations, or appendixes found in the longer version. Related CRS Reports include CRS Report R44776, Anti-Money Laundering: An Overview for Congress, by Rena S. Miller and Liana W. Rosen, and CRS Legal Sidebar WSLG1127, Anti-Terrorist/Anti-Money Laundering Information-Sharing by Financial Institutions Under FinCEN\u2019s Regulations, by M. Maureen Murphy (available upon request).", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RS22401", "sha1": "72695a1a0d9409c9cd99147378ea966a8030cf1d", "filename": "files/20171130_RS22401_72695a1a0d9409c9cd99147378ea966a8030cf1d.html", "images": {} }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RS22401", "sha1": "8d6d1006d62cc11bab284c9ecd2cdbc5cbb9cae3", "filename": "files/20171130_RS22401_8d6d1006d62cc11bab284c9ecd2cdbc5cbb9cae3.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 399350, "date": "2012-02-08", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T21:52:54.056091", "title": "Money Laundering: An Abridged Overview of 18 U.S.C. 1956 and Related Federal Criminal Law", "summary": "This is an overview of the elements of federal criminal money laundering statutes and the sanctions imposed for their violation. The most prominent is 18 U.S.C. 1956. Section 1956 outlaws four kinds of money laundering\u2014promotional, concealment, structuring, and tax evasion laundering of the proceeds generated by designated federal, state, and foreign underlying crimes (predicate offenses)\u2014committed or attempted under one or more of three jurisdictional conditions (i.e., laundering involving certain financial transactions, laundering involving international transfers, and stings). Its companion, 18 U.S.C. 1957, prohibits depositing or spending more than $10,000 of the proceeds from a Section 1956 predicate offense. Violations of Section 1956 are punishable by imprisonment for not more than 20 years; Section 1957 carries a maximum penalty of imprisonment for 10 years. Property involved in either case is subject to confiscation. Misconduct which implicates Sections 1956 and 1957 may implicate other federal criminal statutes as well. Federal racketeer influenced and corrupt organization (RICO) provisions outlaw acquiring or conducting the affairs of an enterprise (whose activities affect interstate or foreign commerce) through the patterned commission of a series of underlying federal or state crimes. RICO violations are also 20-year felonies. Every RICO predicate offense, including each \u201cfederal crime of terrorism,\u201d is automatically a Section 1956 money laundering predicate offense. A second related statute, the Travel Act (18 U.S.C. 1952), punishes interstate or foreign travel, or the use of interstate or foreign facilities, conducted with the intent to distribute the proceeds of a more modest list of predicate offenses or to promote or carry on such offenses when an overt act is committed in furtherance of that intent. Such misconduct is punishable by imprisonment for not more than five years. Other federal statutes proscribe, with varying sanctions, bulk cash smuggling, layering bank deposits to avoid reporting requirements, failure to comply with federal anti-money laundering provisions, or conducting an unlawful money transmission business.\nThe Supreme Court has held that the Section 1956 ban on attempted international transportation of tainted proceeds for the purpose of concealing their ownership, source, nature, or ultimate location is limited to instances where concealment is a purpose rather than an attribute of the transportation (simple smuggling is not proscribed as such), United States v. Cuellar, 553 U.S. 550 (2008). In a second case, the Court indicated that for purposes of Section 1956 the \u201cproceeds\u201d of a predicate offense often referred to the profits rather than the gross receipts realized from the offense, United States v. Santos, 553 U.S. 507 (2008). Congress responded by defining \u201cproceeds\u201d for purposes of Sections 1956 and 1957 as the property obtained or retained as a consequence of a predicate offense, including gross receipts, P.L. 111-21, 123 Stat. 1618 (2009)(S. 386)(111th Cong.). \n This is an abridged version of CRS Report RL33315, Money Laundering: An Overview of 18 U.S.C. 1956 and Related Federal Criminal Law, by Charles Doyle, without the footnotes, appendices, or most of the citations to authority found in the longer report. Related CRS Reports include CRS Report RL33020, Terrorist Financing: U.S. Agency Efforts and Inter-Agency Coordination, by Martin A. Weiss et al., and CRS CRS Report RS21547, Financial Institution Customer Identification Programs Mandated by the USA PATRIOT Act, by M. Maureen Murphy.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RS22401", "sha1": "144b89a76656a960ce731a03c47f8a35ffb11e6f", "filename": "files/20120208_RS22401_144b89a76656a960ce731a03c47f8a35ffb11e6f.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RS22401", "sha1": "fecc46f819cc9e778963357145e7fb063b76307f", "filename": "files/20120208_RS22401_fecc46f819cc9e778963357145e7fb063b76307f.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc805634/", "id": "RS22401_2008Jul18", "date": "2008-07-18", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Money Laundering: An Abridged Overview of 18 U.S.C. 1956 and Related Federal Criminal Law", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20080718_RS22401_2afa83e441d24afe7ddb4e733b4a31d4ef5227f2.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20080718_RS22401_2afa83e441d24afe7ddb4e733b4a31d4ef5227f2.html" } ], "topics": [] } ], "topics": [ "American Law", "Economic Policy" ] }