Give me five legal reasons why somebody would launder money.

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Request for Question Clarification by justaskscott-ga on 27 Sep 2005 20:51 PDT

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Are you interested in legal reasons for money laundering in the United
States?  Are you referring to money laundering as it is defined under
US federal law, or some other definition?

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Clarification of Question by cornchip-ga on 27 Sep 2005 21:17 PDT

I'm not looking for legal advice... I'm not in trouble. ;)

I am curious (it has to do with a bet) if there are reasons why
somebody would want to launder money other than for the obvious
illegal reasons.

Are there some forms of money laundering that are perfectly legal?

I'd like to know 5 reasons somebody would want to launder money other
than for illegal reasons.

For arguement's sake, I am interested in the US federal law's definition.

Thanks.

There may be ways and means of making the source of money untraceable,
but by definition money laundering is the "washing" of dirty money to
make it appear clean (legitimate).

Look at these definitions of money laundering by searching with:
define:"money laundering"

The expression refers exclusively to illegal activities, and as one
site mentions, the SEC considers transactions that just conceal the
source of funds to be "laundering."  Click on the last site,
wikipedia, for more details.

Thus there cannot be "legal reasons to launder money" because the
activity refers to transactions made to conceal illegal funds - or
even ones that may appear to conceal such.

Why should I incur the expense of transferring legally acquired funds
on which I will pay or have paid taxes to other accounts, into other
currencies, to accounts in another country?  The transactions
themselves do not have to be illegal, indeed, that is the point of the
activity, that individual transactions in cash cannot be documented
and that bank transfers are of themselves not illegal.  It is the
reason why they are made that will be illegal.
People are not convicted for money laundering but for tax evasion.   
There is not one reason, let alone five reasons why anyone would
"launder" legit funds.
On the contrary, just the appearance can raise suspicions, exposing
one to unpleasant questions and maybe worse when one begins to stutter
about just playing a game  - for the logical reason that there is NO
reason to do that.

My money is on the guy who bet that there are no legal reasons.
Myoarin

Well, if your bills or coins are physically dirty and you wash them,
that could sort of be considered 'laundering' them. But using the
common definition of laundering money, it's like asking for a legal
reason to commit theft: theft is defined as illegally taking someone
else's property.

If you have forgotten money in the pockets of your pants before
tossing them into the machine.

Other than that, the term "money laundering" refers to illegal
activity: "The process of creating the appearance that large amounts
of money obtained from serious crimes, such as drug trafficking or
terrorist activity, originated from a legitimate source." (SOURCE:
Investopedia, <http://www.answers.com/money+laundering&r=67>).
Therefore, by definition, your question is unanswerable - there
couldn't be a case of money laundering, which is legal.

PG... "If you have forgotten money in the pockets of your pants before
tossing them into the machine."   muhahahahhahaa... ROFL!  lol

This is a bit of a problem
- if one defines 'Money Laundering' as illegal, then 'legal
laundering' is an oxymoron.

- rather like 'legal theft' 
However, I can think of cases where theft would be legal, for example
covertly taking possession of a weapon under circumstances where it is
dangerous.

So if we have the concept of 'legal theft' is is pretty easy to
establish the concept of 'legal money laundering'
- for example concealing the source of a donation to a charity.

The English (Anglish ?) language is pretty flexible, and evolves, as
does the law - our understanding of phrases is largely a flexible
convention.

Incidentally, I believe that the US recently established an amnesty
for people and/or companies repatriating overseas funds ...