NCJ Number
132775
Journal
Money Laundering Law Report Volume: 1 Issue: 9 Dated: (April 1991) Pages: 1,4-5
Date Published
1991
Length
3 pages
Annotation
Arizona was the first State to enact a money laundering statute, and other States are modeling their laws after it.
Abstract
The Arizona statute, A.R.S. 13-2314, was enacted in 1985 and has two significant parts: (1) a person who acquires or maintains an interest in, transfers, receives, or conceals the existence or nature of racketeering proceeds may be found guilty of money laundering in the second degree; and (2) a person who knowingly initiates, organizes, plans, finances, directs, manages, supervises, or is in the business of money laundering may be found guilty of money laundering in the first degree. The concept behind the Arizona statute is simple: attack the transaction through which the direct proceeds of an offense become useful to the criminal and remove the incentive to obtain those proceeds. The statute defines money laundering in terms of certain acts by a person who knows or has reason to know that proceeds are the result of an offense. Offense is defined broadly to include all unlawful conduct. The Arizona statute is broader than its Federal counterpart because it applies to the proceeds of any conduct deemed unlawful under Arizona law. Federal money laundering statutes only apply to a list of specified unlawful activities.