11.4 Money Laundering

Definition: making the proceeds of crime appear legitimate — the dirty money's cleaning: placement (the cash enters the system) → layering (the transactions' maze disguising the source) → integration (the money returns as apparent wealth). The statute: the Asset (Money) Laundering Prevention Act, 2064 (2008) — the predicate-offence structure (the listed serious crimes whose proceeds trigger the offence), the laundering offences (converting, transferring, concealing, acquiring, possessing), the reporting machinery: the Financial Information Unit (FIU) at the Nepal Rastra Bank (the suspicious-transaction and cash-transaction reports), the Department of Money Laundering Investigation (DMLI) (the investigating agency), the freezing-and-seizure regime. The international frame: the FATF's standards (the 40 recommendations), the Asia-Pacific Group's peer reviews, the mutual-evaluation pressure that shaped Nepal's regime. The doctrinal notes: the double-punishment debate (the predicate plus the laundering); the reporting institutions' compliance burden (the banks' KYC/CDD duties — the know-your-customer architecture); the tipping-off offence (warning the customer of the report).