EXPERT MONEY LAUNDERING ATTORNEY IN MADRID
Specialized criminal defense in money laundering, money laundering and self-laundering. Criminal defense attorney in Madrid with experience in complex proceedings before the National Court.
Criminal defense in money laundering crimes
The crime of money laundering is regulated in article 301 of the Criminal Code. It consists of acquiring, possessing, using, converting or transmitting assets knowing that they originate from criminal activity, with the purpose of concealing or covering up their illicit origin or helping to evade the legal consequences of such activity.
The protected legal interest
Money laundering affects the socioeconomic order: the stability of the financial system, fair competition and market integrity. That is why it is considered a particularly serious crime and prosecuted rigorously by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and the Anti-Drug Prosecutor’s Office.
When do you need a money laundering attorney?
You need a criminal defense attorney specialized in money laundering as soon as any of these situations occurs:
- Investigation by SEPBLAC or UDEF: if you receive notice that your financial operations have been reported as suspicious to SEPBLAC or are being investigated by UDEF, act immediately.
- Report for suspicious movements: a bank, notary, tax advisor or other obligated subject has reported operations you performed to SEPBLAC.
- Indictment for self-laundering: you are being investigated for laundering assets from a crime you yourself committed — a particularly complex situation since the reform of art. 301 CP.
- Connection with drug trafficking or tax fraud: money laundering almost always appears accumulated with the crimes that generated the illicit funds, multiplying the penalties.
- Asset forfeiture: the Prosecutor’s Office requests forfeiture of bank accounts, real estate, vehicles or cryptocurrencies linked to illicit activity.
- Criminal compliance for companies: your company is being investigated or you want to implement a money laundering prevention program in accordance with Law 10/2010.
The three phases of money laundering
International organizations —including the FATF (Financial Action Task Force)— identify three phases in the money laundering process:
- Placement: introduction of illicit money into the financial system through fractional deposits, currency exchanges or high cash turnover businesses.
- Concealment or layering: carrying out successive operations to distance the money from its origin: international transfers, shell companies, acquisition of assets or cryptocurrencies.
- Integration: reintroduction of the now «clean» money into the legal economy as if it came from lawful activities: real estate investments, investment companies or apparently legal businesses.
Penalties provided in the Criminal Code
The basic type of art. 301 CP provides for penalties of 6 months to 6 years imprisonment and a fine of one to three times the value of the assets. When aggravating circumstances occur —criminal organization, membership in terrorist groups, or the subjects are public officials— the penalty is raised to 6 to 14 years according to art. 302 CP.
Legal framework for money laundering in Spain
The regulation of money laundering in Spain combines the Criminal Code with administrative prevention legislation of very broad scope:
- Art. 301 CP — Basic type: penalty of 6 months to 6 years imprisonment and a fine of one to three times the value of the assets. Covers all conduct of acquisition, conversion, transmission or concealment of assets of criminal origin.
- Art. 301.3 CP — Gross negligence: penalty of 6 months to 2 years. Applied when the perpetrator did not positively know the illicit origin but assumed the risk of not knowing it — relevant situation for financial professionals and advisors.
- Art. 302 CP — Aggravated types: penalty of 6 to 14 years when money laundering is committed within a criminal organization, or the perpetrator is a public official. Membership in a terrorist group raises the penalty even higher.
- Art. 302.2 CP — Corporate liability: the company can be sentenced with fines up to five times the value of the assets, in addition to dissolution, disqualification or closure of establishments.
- Law 10/2010, of April 28 — Money laundering prevention: regulates the obligations of obligated subjects (banks, notaries, lawyers, auditors, real estate agencies) regarding customer identification, due diligence, reporting of suspicious operations and document retention.
- SEPBLAC: the Executive Service for the Prevention of Money Laundering is the Spanish Financial Intelligence Unit, attached to the Bank of Spain. It receives, analyzes and transmits to judicial authorities the reports of suspicious operations made by obligated subjects.
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Areas of intervention in money laundering
As criminal defense attorneys specialized in economic crimes, we intervene in the main cases of money laundering:
Self-laundering
Defense when the defendant is also the perpetrator of the predicate offense. Since the 2010 reform, self-laundering is expressly punishable in Spain under article 301 of the Criminal Code.
Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering
Drug trafficking is the most frequent underlying offense in money laundering proceedings. Representation before the National Court in cases of great operational complexity.
Related Tax Fraud
Tax fraud as a predicate offense frequently generates money laundering charges. Coordinated defense strategy for both offenses before the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
Real Estate Money Laundering
Acquisition of real estate with funds of illicit origin: analysis of the chain of transfers, valuations, financing and purchase-sale operations to establish lawful provenance.
Cryptocurrencies
The use of Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies in money laundering operations generates investigations of high technical specialization. Defense against charges of fund mixing, anonymous wallets and unregulated exchanges.
Anti-Money Laundering Compliance
Design and implementation of money laundering prevention programs in accordance with Law 10/2010. They exempt or mitigate criminal liability of legal entities during an investigation.
Defense Strategies in Money Laundering Cases
ABSENCE OF KNOWLEDGE OF ILLICIT ORIGIN
Article 301 CP requires that the defendant act knowing that the assets have criminal origin. The subjective element of the offense is essential. The prosecution usually builds this knowledge through circumstantial evidence (disproportionate wealth, relationships with defendants, atypical transactions), but each piece of evidence is individually questionable. The defense must attack the sufficiency of the circumstantial evidence framework to create reasonable doubt.
CHALLENGING CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE
Most money laundering convictions are based on circumstantial evidence, not direct proof. Effective defense requires demonstrating that the assets have lawful origin: declared income, inheritances, asset sales, documented loans. If the defendant can justify each relevant asset movement, the prosecution’s circumstantial evidence loses the necessary coherence and unambiguous nature required by the Supreme Court.
COMPLIANCE AS MITIGATION OR EXEMPTION
For legal entities, an effective anti-money laundering compliance program, properly implemented and supervised, constitutes grounds for exemption from criminal liability under Article 31 bis CP. Although total exemption requires very strict requirements, the existence of a prevention model can operate as a highly qualified mitigating factor that significantly reduces sanctions.
UNDERLYING CRIME NOT PROVEN
Money laundering requires the prior commission of a crime that generates the illicit assets. Although it is not necessary for the predicate offense to be formally convicted, the prosecution must prove the reality of the preceding criminal activity. If the underlying crime cannot be sufficiently proven — or if it has prescribed — the money laundering charge loses its foundation and must fail.
CHALLENGING FORFEITURE
Asset forfeiture linked to money laundering can reach assets of equivalent value when the originals cannot be located (substitute forfeiture, Article 127 bis CP). The defense must prove the lawful origin of the affected assets, the disproportion between the forfeited value and the actual benefit from the crime, or the violation of third parties’ rights in good faith. Extended forfeiture requires proving unjustifiable disproportionate wealth.
STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS
The basic offense under Article 301 CP (maximum penalty 6 years) prescribes after 10 years (Article 131 CP). The aggravated offenses under Article 302 CP, with penalties up to 14 years, prescribe after 20 years. It is essential to correctly determine the dies a quo — which begins from the last money laundering conduct, not from the predicate offense — and verify whether any procedural action has validly interrupted it.
What to Do If You Are Under Investigation for Money Laundering?
If you are the subject of a money laundering investigation, act immediately and with caution:
- Do not testify without an attorney: the right against self-incrimination is fundamental. Any statement before the Police, SEPBLAC or the court without legal assistance can seriously compromise your defense.
- Document the lawful origin of your assets: gather income tax returns, purchase agreements, loan contracts, bank statements and any document that proves the legal origin of your assets and income.
- Do not move funds or alter assets: any patrimonial movement during the investigation can be interpreted as an act of concealment and generate new money laundering charges.
- Preserve all financial documentation: statements, contracts, invoices, emails and banking communications from the last ten years are essential to build your defense.
Is prior conviction for the predicate offense necessary to prosecute money laundering?
No. The Supreme Court has established that prior conviction for the underlying crime is not necessary to convict for money laundering. However, the prosecution must sufficiently prove the reality of the preceding criminal activity that generated the assets, even if circumstantially. The defense can attack this proof if the evidence of the predicate crime is insufficient.
What is the difference between intentional and negligent money laundering?
Intentional money laundering (Article 301.1 and 2 CP) requires that the defendant know that the assets come from a crime. Negligent money laundering (Article 301.3 CP) occurs when the defendant, through gross negligence, is unaware of the illicit origin when they should have known. Negligent money laundering is relevant for professionals subject to Law 10/2010 (advisors, notaries, managers) and carries a penalty of 6 months to 2 years versus 6 months to 6 years for the intentional offense.
Can a company be charged with money laundering?
Yes. Article 302.2 of the Criminal Code expressly establishes the criminal liability of legal entities for money laundering offenses. Sanctions include fines of up to five times the value of the laundered assets, dissolution of the company, suspension of activities, and disqualification from obtaining subsidies or public contracts. The existence of an effective anti-money laundering compliance program can exempt or significantly mitigate this liability.
What indicators does the Prosecutor's Office use to prove money laundering?
The most common indicators are: disproportionate wealth relative to declared income, atypical financial transactions without apparent justification, relationships with individuals under investigation for serious crimes, use of shell companies or nominees, fragmented cash transactions (smurfing), and acquisition of high-value assets in areas linked to illicit economy. Each indicator, individually, can be questioned and explained.
What is self-laundering and when does it apply?
Self-laundering occurs when the perpetrator of the predicate offense performs acts of concealment or conversion of assets that he himself obtained illicitly. Since the Criminal Code reform of 2010, article 301 expressly criminalizes it in Spain. It is particularly controversial because it involves punishing twice for the same facts—the predicate offense and the laundering—and generates doctrinal debates about violation of the non bis in idem principle. The defense can invoke this principle when the laundering conduct is inherent to the predicate offense.
When does the money laundering offense prescribe?
The basic offense under article 301 of the Criminal Code, whose maximum penalty is 6 years, has a statute of limitations of 10 years. The aggravated offenses under article 302 of the Criminal Code, with penalties of up to 14 years, have a statute of limitations of 20 years. The period begins from when the last act of money laundering was committed, not from the underlying offense. It is essential to review whether procedural measures have validly interrupted the statute of limitations, as a formal defect in notification may determine that the offense has prescribed.
Why choose a money laundering specialist attorney
The crime of money laundering is one of the most technical and complex in economic criminal law. Investigations last for years, involve multiple agencies —UDEF, SEPBLAC, Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, National Court— and can result in sentences of up to 14 years in prison and total forfeiture of assets.
An effective defense requires deep knowledge of economic criminal law, mastery of money laundering prevention regulations (Law 10/2010, European Directives), ability to analyze complex corporate and financial structures, and experience in proceedings before the National Court.
- Intervention from the investigation phase: the sooner the defense strategy is established, the lower the risks that statements or asset movements compromise the outcome.
- Forensic asset analysis: exhaustive review of all financial documentation to build the narrative of lawful origin.
- Asset forfeiture defense: technical challenge of asset forfeiture to protect wealth during and after the proceedings.
- Preventive compliance: for companies and obligated entities, design of prevention programs that reduce criminal risk in accordance with Law 10/2010 and FATF standards.
If you are facing an investigation or accusation for money laundering, contact our criminal defense law firm in Madrid. We will evaluate your asset situation and design a tailored defense strategy.
Request a consultation with a money laundering attorney in Madrid
We will study your case and tell you exactly what you are facing.
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