Unfortunately, some people have mastered the art of tricking others into doing things they are unaware of. And this may happen to you regarding money laundering. You may help someone disguise the source of illegal money through your business and won’t even know.
Here is how this can happen.
You get an investor
Getting investors is exciting, as it allows you to grow your business. Of course, you will do your due diligence to ensure you sign a deal with a reliable party. Nonetheless, one may use different tactics to hide their intentions.
If you enter into a partnership with them, they can channel illegally obtained money to your company and then the profits they get, according to your agreement, will seem like the source of their income. Basically, they use your business to clean the dirty money.
Money launderers mostly target cash-based businesses, such as restaurants, car washes, bars, beauty shops and so on. If your business is in this field, you should be careful about who you work with. Unfortunately, despite being careful, you may find yourself in this issue.
What will happen to you?
If the police investigate your investor, perhaps they committed another offense, and they link them to your business, you may be a person of interest. Thus, the company you worked hard to establish may close down for some time before the case is final.
Will you be in trouble?
Understandably, you were unaware of the illegal activities in your business. However, unwitting money laundering is still a serious crime. You need to defend yourself to avoid significant consequences.
It’s disappointing to get into legal trouble when you are trying to establish your company. If you find yourself in a money laundering case, you should get legal help sooner.