Money laundering can occur through several different methods, all of which can carry serious penalties if convicted. The most common laundering schemes are discussed below:

• “Structuring” or “Smurfing” – this is when larger amounts of money are broken down and deposited in smaller sums in order to avoid suspicion and detection

• “Smuggling” – smuggling involves physically smuggling and relocating money into another jurisdiction and depositing it into a foreign institution, such as an off-shore account

• “Cash-Intensive Business” – these are typically businesses that legitimately deal in large sums of cash (such as a convenience store, restaurant, or retail store), and the illegal money is comingled and mixed in along with the legal money

• “Trade-Based Laundering” – this is one of the newest forms of laundering. Trade-based laundering involves either over-valuing or under-valuing subjectively priced assets (such as a piece of art) in order to disguise the movement of money

• “Shell Companies” – Shell companies allow the true owner of the assets to be hidden, as there are no requirements that the owner be disclosed

• “Casino Capture” – this occurs when an individual takes the dirty money and trades the money in for chips at a casino, so they can report the money instead as gambling winnings

• “Black Salaries” – this occurs when a company has an employee that is “off the books,” with no registration or employment agreement, and the employee is paid “under the table” in cash with the dirty money

No matter what scheme is used, the purpose is always to move money around in order to create confusion. Sometimes this may involve wiring and transferring money through numerous accounts.