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. In very simple terms, money laundering can be understood as the smuggling of illegally obtained money into the legal financial and economic cycle.

Money laundering always requires a predicate offence, i.e. a criminal act such as drug trafficking, kidnapping, extortion, tax evasion or bribery. According to current legislation, every criminal offence is now covered and can lead to money laundering.