Money Laundering

Defending You Against Money Laundering Charges in South Florida

Many criminal cases involving fraud or drug trafficking charges also involve the charge of money laundering. While money laundering may be a secondary charge, the penalties can be extremely serious — they often give the government an opportunity seize large amounts of your cash and property, and increase your potential prison sentence by many years.

At do Campo & Thornton in Miami, we are experienced in defending people against the highly complex, and sometimes technical charge of money laundering. Those charges may include:

  • Money Laundering: If you use money from a criminal enterprise to buy real estate, cars, jewelry or other assets, the government can seize the property through asset forfeiture laws.
  • Commingling funds: If you are accused of depositing the proceeds of drug sales in a business account into order to “cleanse” the money, the government can seize the entire account.
  • Structuring deposits: If you are accused of structuring deposits to avoid the $10,000 IRS reporting requirement, you can be charged with structuring deposits or smurfing.

Money laundering charges often hinge on the government’s ability to trace money through records such as deposits and other transactions. However, even if prosecutors can’t trace the transactions, the government can seize other assets, claiming that property as substitute assets. For example, if you are accused of $1 million in criminal fraud, the government can seize a $1 million home.