Florida's anti-money laundering statutes.

• Author: Reyes, Israel

The legislature has equipped law enforcement with several interrelated criminal and civil sanctions to combat this facet of organized crime.

Although much has been said and written about the "war on drugs," the ongoing battles on the money laundering[1] front have not received the same degree of attention. Nevertheless, the Florida Legislature has armed law enforcement officers with myriad statutes that impose criminal and civil penalties on individuals who launder criminal proceeds in our state. These misunderstood and underused law enforcement weapons could be the seam of any coordinated and successful state money laundering prosecution. These statutes are best understood when analyzed within the context of a typical state-level money laundering case.

Typical State-Level Money Laundering Investigation

Police detectives follow a man and woman while they make deliveries of large amounts of U.S. currency to several area businesses. Later, each business owner confirms receiving the U.S. currency as payment for debts arising from sales of merchandise shipped to Colombia or Venezuela. None of the proprietors file any type of currency transaction report despite receiving cash in excess of $10,000.

The detectives also see the unemployed couple visiting different banks where either the man or the woman makes cash deposits into several bank accounts. The bank accounts are under different names and do not belong to the couple. Some of the accounts are controlled by an individual in Colombia while others belong to businesses engaged in exporting products to South America.[2] Neither one of them is in privity of contract with the account holders or business entities. The couple makes the cash deposits in round-figure increments of $2,000, $3,000, or $9,000 to avoid government currency transaction reporting requirements.[3] On one occasion, after making a deposit with a lobby teller, the man uses the drive-through of the same branch to make another cash deposit into a different account.

The detectives later discover an out-of-state company that shipped merchandise to Colombia and accepted cash deposits into its checking account via a Miami branch of the bank where the company has an account. The company accepted the cash deposit even though it had never conducted business in the State of Florida and was not in privity of contract with the either the man or the woman.

Subsequent police searches reveal large amounts of U.S. currency in the couple's car and home. The money is wrapped with rubber bands, separated into stacks, and sorted by denominations.[4] A drug-trained dog alerts to the greenbacks.[5] The couple goes on to explain that an individual they arranged to meet in a shopping center parking lot delivered the money to them. The couple believes the funds are drug proceeds and denies ownership of the money.

Florida's Anti-Money Laundering Initiative

The parties involved in the aforementioned scheme face a blanket of interconnecting statutes skillfully crafted by lawmakers to combat organized money laundering. For brevity, this article will analyze the couple's actions. From a criminal standpoint, the couple has violated provisions of the Money Transmitter Code,[6] the Florida Control of Money Laundering in Financial Institutions Act,[7] the Florida anti-money laundering statute,[8] the Florida RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization) Act,[9] and/or the conspiracy statute.[10] On the civil side, they face administrative penalties for violations of the Money Transmitter Code and the Florida Control of Money Laundering in Financial Institutions Act. The couple has also exposed the currency and their automobile to civil forfeiture pursuant to the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act.[11] If the home is not homestead property,[12] they may have to forfeit that, as well.

Money Transmitter Code

The felony violations of the Money Transmitter Code are powerful anti-money laundering deterrents. The chief portion of the code, the Florida Control of Money Laundering in Money Transmitters Act,[13] was clearly enacted to deter "smurfing."[14] Under the code, a money transmitter is any person located in or doing business in Florida who acts as a funds transmitter.[15] A funds transmitter is a person who engages in the receipt of currency or payment instruments for the purpose of transmission by courier.[16] Thus, the couple in this scenario were acting as funds transmitters (money transmitters). Accordingly, the code governs the couple and they have committed several felonies.

Chief among the consummated crimes is the provision that makes it a third degree felony for a person other than a registered money transmitter to engage in the business of a money transmitter.[17] Likewise, it is a third degree felony for a person to act as a vendor of a money transmitter when such money transmitter is subject to registration under the code but has not registered.[18] By express action, the Florida Legislature has directly tied federal money laundering violations to the code. For example, it is a violation of the code[19] to engage in an act that violates the federal money laundering statute[20] or the structuring provision of the Bank Secrecy Act.[21]

Additionally, if the couple willfully violated any provision of the Money Transmitter Code, or Ch. 896, committed in furtherance of the commission of any other violation of any Florida state law;[22] as part of a pattern of illegal activity involving financial transactions exceeding $300 but less than $20,000 in any 12-month period;[23] as part of a pattern of illegal activity involving financial transactions exceeding $20,000 but less than $100,000 in any 12-month period;[24] or, as part of a pattern of illegal activity involving financial transactions exceeding $100,000 in any 12-month period,[25] they could face more serious escalating felony charges. This statute illustrates how the legislature has joined related statutes to create an overall anti-money laundering scheme by incorporating Ch. 896.[26] Fines for violating any of the Money Transmitter Code crimes can...