money laundering

Money laundering is the term for acts intended to conceal or legitimise financial proceeds derived from crime. The core of money laundering is making unlawfully obtained funds appear legitimate through various transactions and methods that obscure the money's actual origin.

Under Danish law, the Penal Code (straffeloven) has contained a separate money laundering provision in § 290 a since 2018. It applies to anyone who converts or transfers money that is directly or indirectly the proceeds of a criminal offence in order to conceal or disguise its unlawful origin. The penalty is a fine or imprisonment for up to 1 year and 6 months, and in particularly aggravated cases imprisonment for up to 8 years.

Alongside this stands the offence of handling stolen goods (hæleri). Under straffeloven § 290, a person is punished who unjustifiably receives or obtains for himself or others a share in proceeds acquired through a criminal offence. The provision also covers anyone who unjustifiably conceals, stores, transports, assists in the disposal of, or in a similar way subsequently helps to secure such proceeds for another person. The penalty is imprisonment for up to 1 year and 6 months. If the offence is of a particularly aggravated nature, the penalty may under § 290(2) be increased to imprisonment for up to 6 years. In assessing whether an offence is particularly aggravated, factors such as the size of the proceeds, the nature of the act and the seriousness of the underlying crime are taken into account.

The Danish Money Laundering Act (hvidvaskloven) supplements the criminal law rules with a broader preventive purpose. The Act defines money laundering as unjustifiably receiving or obtaining for oneself or others a share in financial proceeds or funds acquired through a criminal offence, or unjustifiably concealing, storing, transporting, assisting in the disposal of or otherwise subsequently helping to secure such proceeds. The Act imposes extensive obligations on a range of businesses and professions, including banks, lawyers and estate agents, to prevent and detect money laundering. This includes requirements on customer due diligence, a duty to investigate and a duty to report suspicions to the Money Laundering Secretariat (Hvidvaskenheden). The aim is to prevent the financial system and the business sector from being used to channel and legitimise criminal funds.