Legal determination of money laundering in a comprehensive approach

• Author: Naim Mëçalla
• Position: 'Wisdom University', Tirana, Albania
• Pages: 279-283

ISSN 2410-3918 Academic Journal of Business, Administration, Law and Social Sciences Vol 1 No 2

Acces online at www.iipccl.org IIPCCL Publishing, Tirana-Albania July 2015

279

Legal determination of money laundering in a comprehensive approach

Naim Mëçalla

“Wisdom University”, Tirana, Albania

Abstract

is article analyzes the legal determinants of Money laundering referring to international legal acts

and the national legislation of selected countries. e proper legal terminology of money laundering

is hiding the true nature of the source, location, transferring of the real rights of ownership, having

the knowledge that such “wealth” derives from a criminal activity. Money laundering is the process

that makes “dirty money” appear legitimate, a criminal activity that encompasses the eorts to hide

or camouage criminal prot. Analyzing the legal dispositions attributable to money laundering,

there are no substantial dierentiations about this phenomenon. However, dierent countries do

not have a consistent approach regarding Money laundering deriving from all sorts of criminal

activity. Some countries criminalize every activity aiming at legitimizing criminal income; other

countries have penal responsibility in the cases when money laundering is linked only to legalizing

income from certain criminal acts.

Keywords: Money laundering, object, criminal act by product, penal responsibility.

Introduction

e majority of countries have adopted Article 3 point “b” of UN Charter “Against Narcotic

Drugs and Psychotropic Substances” of 1988, referred to as Vienna Convention.1 It does

“dene Money laundering as transferring of wealth knowing the illicit origin ...............

with the aim to conceal the illegal origin.

e Vienna Convention, although it gives a denition for Money laundering, it is limited

to income produced by drug tracking not withstanding other important illegal activities.

e legal denition is completed in other international legal acts i.e. European Convention

“On laundering, deputation, conscation of crime by products” known as Strasbourg

Convention, date 8.11.1990 and the UN Convention “against International Organized

Crime” known as Palermo Convention, 12.12.2000, making a thorough denition of

Money laundering. According to these conventions the act of money laundering should

be considered a penal act on behalf of national penal systems in case of purposely done

when:

(i) Transferring of properties, which, he who acts has knowledge that such properties are

product of criminal activities, the origin of which has to be alternated......;

(ii) Concealing of the nature, origin, location, disposition, transferring or the real

ownership of the property or their rights, which the author is knowledgeable of their

criminal origin;

(iii) Proting, possession, or use of such properties, which the person that has gained,

1UN Charter “Against Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances’” (1988). Ratied in Albania

with Law No.8723 date 26.12.2000.