Money Laundering

The Israel Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition Authority was established in 2002 in order to investigate and prevent money laundering and other offenses. The Prohibition on Money Laundering Law was enacted in 2000 to prevent cases of concealing the source of funds and property obtained through drug offenses, prostitution, gambling, child and arms trafficking, as well as other offenses. The full list of offenses regarding money laundering is specified in the Prohibition on Money Laundering Law. Money laundering is considered a severe offense that results in heavy penalty in accordance with the criminal law. One of the law’s objectives, as well as one of the main goals of the Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition Authority, is to confiscate the prohibited funds and deliver them to the State Treasury. The banks tend to cooperate on this matter.

To handle the money laundering offenses, banks and other financial entities in Israel are required to report such activities, as transfer of property and funds, and operations with property, in order to expose offenses related to transfer to funds from one person or location to another. It is known that criminals use the tools they manage to access in the financial system to implement the property that originates from criminal activity. Since the money laundering offenses cause severe damage to society and both the business and public sectors, the legislature decided to fight this phenomenon, while the Prohibition on Money Laundering Law shall help the state, police and judiciary authority to fight against crime and eliminate the crime wave sweeping the country.

War against organized crime

As mentioned above, the state puts a special emphasis on war against criminals and criminal organizations, in particular. Therefore, in recent years, unprecedented penalties were given for money laundering, while the maximum penalty specified in the law is ten years in prison. In addition, a large fine may be imposed, and in some cases, offender’s property may be confiscated.

The Prohibition on Money Laundering Law refers to two types of offenses:

• A person is caught following money laundering.
• Financial companies and financial service providers, such as banks, check discounting firms, loan providers, currency conversion offices, etc.

Legal counseling and representation

Ronen Oren & Co. Law Firm specializes in counseling and representing suspects and defendants regarding money laundering offenses. Office staff offers an extensive experience in the field of money laundering offenses and provides a wide range of services, which includes the following:

• Legal representation for clients, while the state tries to arrest their property in Israel and abroad following a suspicion of money laundering.
• Representation for clients, while the state tries to confiscate their property as part of a criminal or civil proceeding.
• Legal representation for money laundering suspects with frozen bank account.
• Representation for clients dealing with financial sanctions imposed on them.
• Legal counseling and representation for money laundering suspects facing an investigation.

It should be noted that capital offense related suspect will be called for an investigation at the police and Tax Authority offices. In some cases, the police rushes to arrest the suspect in order to pressure him and try to prevent him from covering the tracks or coordinating positions with other offenders or entities. Therefore, it is important to contact Adv. Ronen Oren immediately in order to receive professional legal representation throughout the criminal proceedings.