AMERICAN CRIMINAL LAW REVIEW [Vol. 32:823
legislation criminalizing the laundering of illicit proceeds, Congress was
responding to the spiraling growth and pervasiveness of money laundering in
the United States and the nexus between money laundering and organized
crime.3 Congress's primary intent was to criminalize the "process by which
one conceals the existence, illegal source, or illegal application of income,
and then disguises that income to make it appear legitimate."4 The MLCA
also aimed to stem the flow of illicit profits back to the criminal enterprise,
where profits provide the capital needed to expand criminal activity.5