The goal of any criminal enterprise, whether it’s human trafficking, drug dealing, or any other organized crime, is to generate a profit. However, after earning their illegal gains, criminals must introduce those funds into a legitimate financial system, lest they risk raising the suspicion of law enforcement officers or leaving a trail of incriminating evidence. Money laundering is the process criminals use to disguise their financial assets so that they can spend their ill-gotten gains without risking exposing their underlying crimes. Therefore, since money laundering provides the “fuel for drug dealers, terrorists, arms dealers, and other criminals to operate and expand their criminal enterprises,” reducing money laundering is critical to reducing international and domestic criminal activities. However, the current anti-money laundering (“AML”) legislative framework in the United States, the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 (the “BSA”), has been ineffective in significantly curtailing domestic money laundering
Scott Rothstein