Supreme Court Makes Online Casino Laundering Charges Difficult

According to the Court's decisions in reviewing Cuellar v. United States and
United States v. Santos, just transporting hidden money in and out of the
country does not constitute money laundering.

Recent judgements by the United States Supreme Court have made persecuting foreign online gambling operators a little more difficult for U.S. prosecutors. Online casino operators are frequently attacked by U.S. law enforcement via money laundering charges, but now the Court has narrowed the scope of money laundering statutes.

According to the Court's decisions in reviewing Cuellar v. United States and United States v. Santos, just transporting hidden money in and out of the country does not constitute money laundering. Elements which must be present are an attempt to conceal the nature of the transaction, which therefore involves trying to present the money involved as legitimate wealth.

If the source of the money is not deliberately concealed, and the appearance of another source deceitfully arranged and established, then money laundering has not been committed.

Furthermore, the Court ruled that money laundering can only involve profits, as specified by the language of the statutes. Money transported, for instance, to pay winning gamblers or to pay employees or business expenses, does not qualify as the statutes are currently written.

Thus, if attempting to slam online gambling operators with money laundering, prosecutors must prove an element of intentional deceit, not just the actual transferring of funds; and money sent into the U.S. to pay winners, or drawn from the U.S. to meet payroll, cannot be considered laundering.

This removes an easy path for prosecutors, and forces them to prove a much tougher case to make, that of illegal gambling. Prosecutors hate the idea of sliding down this slippery slope; even though that is the true crime they feel has been committed, the vague and contradictory laws on the subject leave many avenues of defense to online gamblers. What law enforcement officials need to face is that , while they may despise gambling and wish to rid the country of online casinos, the legality is questionable and murky at worst, and if pursued to the highest Court, may turn out to be legal even under current laws.

Published on Haziran 24, 2008 by Tom Weston

Source: Online Casino Advisory