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  3. Duties and responsibilities under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002

Guidance

Duties and responsibilities under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002

This advice explains how operators can make sure they and their employees comply with their obligations under The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA).

Published
13 November 2020

Last updated
13 November 2020 - Changes

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  1. Contents
  2. Part 2 - The advice
  3. 1 - What is meant by the proceeds of crime and money laundering?

1 - What is meant by the proceeds of crime and money laundering?

Broadly, the term 'proceeds of crime' or 'criminal proceeds' refers to all property from which a person benefits directly or indirectly, by being party to criminal conduct, for example, money from drug dealing or stolen in a burglary or robbery (this is commonly referred to as criminal property). It also includes property that a person gains by spending the proceeds of criminal conduct, for example, if a person uses money earned from drug dealing to buy a car or a house, or spends money gained in a bank robbery to gamble.

Typically, classic money laundering consists of a number of stages:

  • placement
  • layering
  • integration.

  1. Placement

    Placement is the first stage in the money laundering cycle. The laundering of criminal proceeds is often required because of the cash-intensive nature of the underlying crime (for example, drug dealing where payments take the form of cash, often in small denominations). The monies are placed into the financial system or retail market, or are smuggled to another country. The aim of the money launderer is to avoid detection by the authorities and to then transform the criminal proceeds into other assets.

  2. Layering

    Layering is the next stage and is an attempt to conceal or disguise the source and ownership of the criminal proceeds by creating complex layers of financial transactions which obscure the audit trail and provide anonymity. The purpose of layering is to disassociate the criminal proceeds from the criminal activity which generated them. Typically, layers are created by moving monies in and out of various accounts and using electronic fund transfers.

  3. Integration

    Integration is the final stage in the process. It involves integrating the criminal proceeds into the legitimate economic and financial system, and assimilating it with other assets in the system. Integration of the ‘clean’ money into the economy is accomplished by the money launderer making it appear to have been legally earned.

There is potential for the money launderer to use gambling at every stage of the process.

The land-based gambling industry is particularly vulnerable during the placement stage as the use of cash is prevalent and the provenance of such cash is not easy to determine. Although the remote gambling industry might appear less vulnerable as electronic transfers are required for placements, identify theft and identify fraud can enable the money launderer to move criminal proceeds with anonymity. Furthermore, the use of multiple internet transactions can facilitate the layering stage of money laundering.

Operators should be mindful that the offence of money laundering also includes simple criminal spend (the use of criminal proceeds to fund gambling as a leisure activity), and may not include all the typical stages of the laundering process (if any at all).
Next section
The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
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