Money laundering, commonly understood to involve the transfer of criminally derived money into legitimate channels, occurs in almost every crime in which there is a financial motive. Notwithstanding this broad definition, federal money laundering laws were enacted with a narrow purpose in mind: to take the profit out of drug trafficking and organized crime.

The past fifteen years have witnessed an alarming expansion of the money laundering statutes -- principally 18 U.S.C. 1956 and 1957 -- by the courts, the Department of Justice and the Congress. Once a tool for drug or racketeering cases, these laws are now applied to a wide range of activities, including routine business transactions. During the same time, courts have minimized and blurred the evidentiary requirements for establishing money laundering. As interpreted and applied, the current law is a cruel trap for unwary individuals and businesses that inflicts felony convictions, draconian and inflexible prison sentences, and ruinous asset forfeiture.

Ginny Walia can represent you for Federal money laundering charges.