Which statement best describes Title 18 USC 1956(a)(1)?

Which statement best describes Title 18 USC 1956(a)(1)?

• A. It criminalizes a monetary transaction over $10,000 for proceeds of illegal activity
• B. It is a tax crime
• C. It involves money laundering for any sum with no intent
• D. It criminalizes knowingly conduct or attempt to conduct a financial transaction with specific intent to promote or conceal illegal activity

Answer: (D)

Money laundering under 18 U.S.C. 1956(a)(1) requires knowing involvement in a financial transaction that uses the proceeds of unlawful activity, with the specific intent to promote the carrying on of that unlawful activity or to conceal the origin of the funds. The best choice captures all of those elements: the transaction must be financial, the funds must be proceeds of illegal activity, the person must knowingly participate, and there must be intent to promote or conceal the illegal activity. The other descriptions miss one or more elements: a monetary threshold over $10,000 points to a different statute, not 1956(a)(1); labeling it a tax crime is incorrect; and saying it involves a transaction with no intent ignores the required motive to promote or conceal.

Money laundering under 18 U.S.C. 1956(a)(1) requires knowing involvement in a financial transaction that uses the proceeds of unlawful activity, with the specific intent to promote the carrying on of that unlawful activity or to conceal the origin of the funds. The best choice captures all of those elements: the transaction must be financial, the funds must be proceeds of illegal activity, the person must knowingly participate, and there must be intent to promote or conceal the illegal activity. The other descriptions miss one or more elements: a monetary threshold over $10,000 points to a different statute, not 1956(a)(1); labeling it a tax crime is incorrect; and saying it involves a transaction with no intent ignores the required motive to promote or conceal.