Goods and currency of insignificant value designated for personal consumption by criminals, e.g.:
· purchasing clothes, food and personal items;
· keeping stolen household goods.
Satisfaction derived by mentally inadequate criminals from violence inflicted upon victims, e.g. rape, molestation.
Public disturbances caused by extremist or terrorist actions sanctioned by sponsors.
Currency, goods and services of monetary value
Reinvestments
Criminals desire to use proceeds from a criminal activity in legal economy, e.g. acquire real estate, transportation or invest in companies which obey the law.
Criminal activity
Sponsorship, e.g. based upon ideological grounds
A necessity to conceal an illicit origin of proceeds
Government enforced AML measures
Trying to disguise the origin of proceeds, criminals send them through legal channels:
· use different financial institutions, make multiple financial transactions;
· transfer funds to, through and from different countries, especially offshore financial centers (OFCs);
· establish shell companies;
· use different financial instruments and value-storing assets;
· use other intermediaries, such as financial advisers, realtors, accountants and service providers.
When money is laundered and its illegal origin is disguised, the origins of illicit proceeds appear to look like a legitimate business. The ill-gotten gains of crime have been “legitimized”.
2.2. Predicate offences: the scope and methods of description
Methods of describing predicate offences:
1. All offenses.
2. A threshold approach:
a. All offences that are designated “serious offences”, for example, indictable offences, felonies and crimes as opposed to misdemeanors.
b. All offences punishable by a minimum penalty of more than six months imprisonment.
c.
The threshold must cover all these categories
All offences punishable by a maximum penalty of more than one year imprisonment.
3. A list of predicate offenses.
The 21 designated categories of offences (General glossary):
1.
Art. 5 of Palermo Convention
Participation in an organized criminal group and racketeering.
2.
Vienna Convention
Terrorism, including terrorism financing.
3.
Articles of the Merida Convention:
15. Bribery of national public officials.
16. Bribery of foreign public officials and officials of public international organizations.
17. Embezzlement, misappropriation or other diversion of property by a public official.
18. Trading in influence.
19. Abuse of functions.
21. Bribery in the private sector.
22. Embezzlement of property in the private sector.
Trafficking in human beings and migrant smuggling.
4. Sexual exploitation, including sexual exploitation of children.
5. Illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
6. Illicit arms trafficking.
7. Illicit trafficking in stolen and other goods.
8. Corruption and bribery.
9. Fraud.
10. Counterfeiting currency.
11. Counterfeiting and piracy of products.
12. Environmental crime.
13. Murder, grievous bodily injury.
14. Kidnapping, illegal restraint and hostage taking.
15. Robbery or theft.
16. Smuggling (including in relation to customs and excise duties and taxes).
17. Tax crimes (related to direct taxes and indirect taxes).
