Primary Study On Crime Of Money Laundering

Money laundering is an international crime. Under the guidance of theories of criminal law and based on the revised version of Criminal Law of People's Republic of China, this paper studies several problems of crime of money laundering, like its components in terms of the definition and nature of crime of money laundering by referring to relevant international pact and foreign legislation. Meanwhile, it proposes some suggestions on the perfection of the legislation of crime of money laundering in our country. There are four chapters. The first chapter mainly introduces the process that money laundering becomes a term for crime from a common phrase and summarizes the great harms it does to the society: seduce, shield and hide up crimes; severely impair public trust to financial organs; bring out financial crisis; impede regular activities of judicial organs; erode government officials and bank workers, cause embezzlement and disturb regular economic activities. Based on the synthetic analysis of different definitions by western countries, several important international pacts and the theoretical circle of criminal in our country and combined with essential characteristics of money laundering, it concludes the definition of money laundering, that is, the process to cover up or hide the character, origin, position, ownership or control relationship of illegal income through specific serious crime, disconnect with crime and therefore appear to be legal. Meantime, it analyzes characteristics of money laundering, to use rather complicated financial transactions and other transactions aiming at currency and assets with particular character disconnect currency and assets with particular character with crime and finally achieve safe circulation. The second chapter elaborates crime of money laundering in criminal law of our country. Based on item 191 of criminal law in our country, this chapter makes a rather deep and detailed analysis of the components of crime of money laundering. As for the object of crime of money laundering, because item 191 of criminal law in our country does not explicitly points out the object of money laundering, there are different opinions on the object of crime of money laundering in criminal law theories. Based on the study of these opinions, the author considers that though the criminal law in our country does not classify crime of money laundering into the chapter of crime of sabotaging socialist market economy system, the object of money laundering should be mainly infringing regular activities of judicial organs and indirectly infringing financial management order. The author explains the reasons in the following aspects. First, money laundering is a crime to impair jurisdiction about handling booty (mainly money). It is similar to crime of concealing, transferring, purchasing and selling booty. It is kind of further concealing, making illegality legal, so it does more harm. Second, the reason why all the countries and some international pact prescribes money laundering as crime is to crack down serious predicate crime, such as drugs, smuggling, corruption, bribery etc. Their purpose of punishing crime of money laundering is not to directly protect financial order. Third, though in the real operation process, money laundering activity violates various bank rules, disturbs financial order to some extent, the reason why the bank prescribes some rules to keep away money laundering is not only to protect financial order, but to implement the obligation of laws to keep away crime of money laundering in our country. Fourth, the main purpose of money laundering activity is to conceal, hide the character and origin of benefits gained by predicate crime, to make illegal capital appear to be legal. As a result, it destroys the clue and evidence of crime, sets up barrier to indicting crime, investigation and taking over illegal gains and its benefits and impedes regular activities that judicial organs deal with predicate crimes; as for the objective aspect of crime of money laundering, the author describes it as: the act of concealing, hiding illegal gains and its benefits by drug crimes, smuggling crimes, organized crimes with gangsterdom character and terrorist activity crimes. Analyze five representations of crime of money laundering and points out that according to rules of criminal law in our country, crime of money laundering cannot be made up of omission. Make particular emphasis on the study of the scope of predicate crimes of crime of money laundering and consider that though drug crimes, smuggling crimes, organized crimes with gangsterdom character and terrorist activity crimes prescribed by criminal law in our country include several imputations, the predicate crime of money laundering is not the total of these crimes but those crimes that will bring illegal benefits among them; as for the subject of crime of moneylaundering, the author makes particular emphasis on the study of the problem that the actor of four kinds of particular crimes that implement rules of criminal law, that is, drug crimes, smuggling crimes, organized crimes with gangsterdom character and terrorist activity crimes launder their illegal income and whether he can be the subject of crime of money laundering. The author considers that according to rules of criminal law in our country, the criminals of drug crimes, smuggling crimes, organized crimes with gangsterdom character and terrorist activity crimes who launder their illegal income can not be the subject of crime of money laundering, because when criminal law prescribes the way of act of crime of money laundering, it employs the word provide and assist. However, the author proposes that this rule is unnecessarily reasonable; as for the subjective aspect of crime of money laundering, the author considers the type of subjective mindset of crime of money laundering can only be directly intentional rather than indirectly intentional and involuntary. Especially thoroughly elaborate the degree and content of subjective knowing of the actor of crime of money laundering, pointing out the content of knowing is that knowing the property is the illegal gains and its benefits by four particular crimes prescribed in criminal law, the degree of knowing should contain two levels of meaning, one is actor exactly knows others'property is illegal gains and its benefits by four crimes prescribed by law, that is exactly knowing. The other is the actor has efficient reason and evidence to suspect the property is illegal gains and its benefits by four crimes prescribed by law. The third chapter discusses on how to define the money laundering and the punishment. After elaborating on the boundary of the crime, the relations between the crime of money laundering and predicate crime and the crime of money laundering and several other kinds of confusing crimes, the author points out several issues which should be paid attention to while defining the crime of money laundering; After elaborating on whether the properties the third party gained good willing and the legal properties in the mixed properties, the author points out the issues which should be paid attention to while punishing. The fourth chapter discusses on the perfection of legislation of money laundering. After analyzing and doing research on the crime of money laundering and taking both the current situation of money laundering facing...