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1998 SESSION

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HB 361 Comprehensive Money Laundering Act; created.

Introduced by: Glenn M. Weatherholtz | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles

SUMMARY:

Crimes: drug offenders; drug kingpins; money laundering. Creates a comprehensive money laundering act. Although the bill repeals the current money laundering statute, it retains the section's substance, which makes it a felony to conduct a financial transaction knowing the funds are proceeds of a specified unlawful activity: (i) with the intent to promote an unlawful activity or (ii) with the knowledge that the transaction is designed to conceal the nature or source of the proceeds. This bill adds a third condition, making it a felony to conduct a financial transaction knowing the funds are the proceeds of a specified unlawful activity with the intent to avoid reporting the funds. A violation of the act is punishable by imprisonment up to 40 years or a fine of up to $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved, or both imprisonment and a fine. The bill empowers the Attorney General to participate in the investigation and prosecution upon request of the local attorney for the Commonwealth. The act provides for the seizure of any property involved in the laundering scheme, for the freezing of any accounts in a financial institution if a court finds reasonable suspicion exists to believe that some of the proceeds in the account are the proceeds of an unlawful activity and for liability for loss to be imposed upon financial institutions which fail to comply with a request to freeze assets. Failure to file transaction reports required by federal law is made punishable as a state offense.

The bill also modifies the definition of criminal enterprise for purposes of the drug kingpin statute to reduce the monetary threshold from $500,000 to $250,000 in annual illegal drug commerce and the amount of cocaine (from 500 to 50 kilos) or heroin (from 100 to 10 kilos) subject to distribution.

The bill also provides for a substance abuse evaluation and assessment, prior to disposition or sentencing, of a juvenile found to have violated any provision of the drug use, possession and distribution statutes to determine if the juvenile is amenable to treatment and rehabilitation. For adult offenders and with their consent, the court may order the person committed to jail and defer sentencing for up to 30 days to allow time for a substance abuse assessment and evaluation.


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