Money Laundering

The process of cleaning illegally obtained funds so that it appears to others to have come from, or to be going to, a legitimate source. This is done by funnelling the money through a string of banks and businesses until its origin is obscured.

In the past, the term was applied only to financial transactions related to organised crime. However, its definition is now usually expanded to encompass any financial transaction that generates an asset or a value as the result of an illegal act, which may involve actions such as false accounting or tax evasion. As a result, the illegal activity of money laundering is now recognised as potentially practiced by small and large businesses, individuals, members of organised crime (such as drug dealers or the Mafia) through a complex network of shell companies and trusts based in offshore tax havens.