Examples are buying real estate, luxury goods or a business, paying out a fake loan, or receiving a payment that looks like a legitimate sale. Once funds are integrated they are very hard to separate from legal money, which is why controls focus on earlier stages.
Example
A launderer repays a 'loan' from an offshore company and uses the money to buy an apartment.
Where it appears in the exams
This topic is relevant for CAMS, CFCS.
Related terms
- Placement: Placement is the first stage of money laundering, in which criminal cash or other proceeds are put into the financial system or converted into other assets.
- Layering: Layering is the second stage of money laundering: moving funds through many transactions, accounts, companies or countries to hide where they came from.
Source: Widely used three-stage model of money laundering (placement, layering, integration). Independent explanation for study purposes, not legal advice.