Colorado § 18-5-309 - Money laundering - illegal investments - penalty - definitions.

§ 18-5-309. Money laundering - illegal investments - penalty - definitions.

(1) A person commits money laundering if he or she:

(a) Conducts or attempts to conduct a financial transaction that involves money or any other thing of value that he or she knows or believes to be the proceeds, in any form, of a criminal offense:

(I) With the intent to promote the commission of a criminal offense; or

(II) With knowledge or a belief that the transaction is designed in whole or in part to:

(A) Conceal or disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, or control of the proceeds of a criminal offense; or

(B) Avoid a transaction reporting requirement under federal law;

(b) Transports, transmits, or transfers a monetary instrument or moneys:

(I) With the intent to promote the commission of a criminal offense; or

(II) With knowledge or a belief that the monetary instrument or moneys represent the proceeds of a criminal offense and that the transportation, transmission, or transfer is designed, in whole or in part, to:

(A) Conceal or disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, or control of the proceeds of a criminal offense; or

(B) Avoid a transaction reporting requirement under federal law; or

(c) Intentionally conducts a financial transaction involving property that is represented to be the proceeds of a criminal offense, or involving property that the person knows or believes to have been used to conduct or facilitate a criminal offense, to:

(I) Promote the commission of a criminal offense;

(II) Conceal or disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, or control of property that the person believes to be the proceeds of a criminal offense; or

(III) Avoid a transaction reporting requirement under federal law.

(2) Money laundering is a class 3 felony.

(3) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:

(a) "Conducts or attempts to conduct a financial transaction" includes, but is not limited to, initiating, concluding, or participating in the initiation or conclusion of a transaction.

(b) "Financial transaction" means a transaction involving:

(I) The movement of moneys by wire or other means;

(II) One or more monetary instruments;

(III) The transfer of title to any real property, vehicle, vessel, or aircraft; or

(IV) The use of a financial institution.

(c) "Monetary instrument" means:

(I) Coin or currency of the United States or any other country; a traveler's check; a personal check; a bank check; a cashier's check; a money order; a bank draft of any country; or gold, silver, or platinum bullion or coins;

(II) An investment security or negotiable instrument in bearer form or in other form such that title passes upon delivery; or

(III) A gift card or other device that is the equivalent of money and can be used to obtain cash, property, or services.

(d) "Represent" includes, but is not limited to, the making of a representation by a peace officer, a federal officer, or another person acting at the direction of, or with the approval of, a peace officer or federal officer.

(e) "Transaction" includes a purchase, sale, loan, pledge, gift, transfer, delivery, or other disposition and, with respect to a financial institution, includes a deposit; a withdrawal; a transfer between accounts; an exchange of currency; a loan; an extension of credit; a purchase or sale of any stock, bond, certificate of deposit, or other monetary instrument; the use of a safe deposit box; or any other payment, transfer, or delivery by, through, or to a financial institution by whatever means.

Source: L. 2010: Entire section added, (HB 10-1081), ch. 256, p. 1138, § 1, effective August 11.

ANNOTATION

A complicitor is liable for a principal's act of money laundering if the prosecution can prove that (1) the principal committed an act of money laundering; (2) the complicitor aided, abetted, advised, or encouraged that specific act of money laundering; (3) the complicitor intended to do so; (4) the complicitor was aware that the principal knew or believed that the property involved in the specific money laundering transaction represented the proceeds of a criminal offense; and (5) the complicitor was aware that the principal knew or believed that the transaction was designed in whole or in part to conceal or disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, or control of the proceeds of the criminal offense. Butler v. People, 2019 CO 87, 450 P.3d 714.

Prosecution's ultimate obligation is to prove defendant's complicity for the specific acts charged rather than participation in an overall plan or operation, which lowers the bar for prosecution. Butler v. People, 2019 CO 87, 450 P.3d 714.

Trial court did not err by omitting statutory definitions in the elemental jury instruction for money laundering. The instruction for money laundering substantially tracked the language of the statute, and the language is clear. Additionally, the definitions have not taken on any technical or particular meanings beyond their ordinary and common understandings and were unlikely to be misunderstood by the jury so as to require further definition. Because the statutory definitions do not diverge from the ordinary and plain understandings of the terms, there was no need to specially define those terms for the jury. People v. Butler, 2017 COA 98, 454 P.3d 280, aff'd on other grounds, 2019 CO 87, 450 P.3d 714.

Colorado lacked subject matter jurisdiction under § 18-1-201 over a defendant convicted of money laundering when the defendant opened a bank account in Texas, received and disbursed funds in Texas, and never solicited the Colorado victims to wire transfer funds to Texas. People v. Nevelik, 2021 COA 30, 491 P.3d 492.

To sustain a conviction under subsection (1)(b)(I), the defendant must have done the transferring and must have transferred "a monetary instrument or moneys", not something else in exchange for money. People v. Woodyard, 2023 COA 78, 540 P.3d 278.

Evidence insufficient to sustain conviction where the defendant received money and discussed the transfer of money but did not personally transfer money. People v. Woodyard, 2023 COA 78, 540 P.3d 278.

Subsection (1)(b)(I) does not require proof that the funds involved in the transaction or transfer were derived from an offense separate from the transaction or transfer charged. It is enough that the transaction or transfer promoted the "commission of a criminal offense". People v. Woodyard, 2023 COA 78, 540 P.3d 278.

PART 4

BRIBERY AND RIGGING OF CONTESTS