What is money laundering?

What is behind the term money laundering?

Money laundering is a criminal offence under Section 261 of the German Criminal Code (StGB). Put simply, money laundering refers to the process of introducing illegally obtained funds into the legal financial and economic system.

Money laundering always involves a predicate offence – meaning a prior criminal act such as drug trafficking, kidnapping, extortion, tax evasion or bribery. Following a recent legal reform, any criminal offence can now serve as a predicate and thus lead to a charge of money laundering.