With few exceptions, all crime is committed for financial gain. Theft, fraud, extortion, embezzlement, drug trafficking, cross boarder smuggling, racketeering, and a slew of other offenses all produce what is commonly referred to as “dirty money”. Any process in which criminals are able to hide the illegal source of these proceeds, and thus openly use the money as “legitimate”, is called money laundering.

In the United States, money laundering is a federal crime, established to accentuate the seriousness of other specific federal, state, and foreign crimes for which it is committed. It is designed to cut off the flow of money and other resources to and from those “predicate offenses”. Money launderers face lengthy prison terms, heavy fines, and the confiscation of property associated with the laundering offense.

The article at the following link is an example of such activity and penalties:

Money Launderer gets 22 years in prison and forfeits $24 million.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6612025.html