Money Laundering

Money laundering is the process of creating the appearance that large amounts of money obtained from serious crimes, such as drug trafficking or terrorist activity, originated from a legitimate source. There are three steps involved in the process of laundering money: placement, layering, and integration. Placement refers to the act of introducing dirty money (money obtained through illegitimate, criminal means) into the financial system in some way; layering is the act of concealing the source of that money by way of a series of complex transactions and bookkeeping gymnastics; and integration refers to the act of acquiring that money in purportedly legitimate means.