Money Laundering
- Aryav Sharma
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
In our modern world, money means everything. It determines what house you buy, what car you own, what food you can and can not eat, the outfits you wear, and so much more. While not always the easiest way, there is a safe and legal way you can earn money, with a job. However, not everyone decides to follow this legal process. Some people decide to earn money illicitly and disguise their money as if they were earning it in some other, legal way. This, obviously, is extremely illegal, but it is a method by which many people get extremely rich without having to actually be honest about where their money comes from. This process, money laundering, has been used and still is used by criminals around the world to avoid honesty and jail time for their crimes, but currently, law enforcement officers, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI), have been working to solve this issue one criminal at a time. But how does this really work? Why do people actually do it? What are some cases in which money laundering has been used?
Money laundering falls under white-collar crime, or non-violent, non-violent-oriented crimes. White collar crimes include health care fraud, mortgage fraud, intellectual theft, and money laundering. On the other hand, blue-collar crimes include violent crimes such as assault, battery, murder, and more. As the FBI’s website defines it, money laundering takes ‘dirty cash’ and makes it clean through funneling the cash through legal income sources. The process allows criminals to keep a steady income through illicit means without a constant risk of getting caught on income statements, avoid getting fully taxed on all illicit income, and more.
How the process actually works, in theory, is simple, but in practice is incredibly hard. First and foremost, the dirty cash is collected. The money is then placed into the legal financial system and ‘layered’ with legal income streams. This money is now, in theory, ‘clean’. With this money, either investments are made towards the illicit business or luxury items that white-collar criminals often own are purchased. This is obviously not only breaking US laws but also International Laws, as outlined by the United Nations’ website. The total amount of laundered money is estimated at $800 billion to $20 trillion globally; this is only an estimate. In reality, it is hard to determine whether money was laundered.
While several cases exist, a more recent one occurred in 2025. In this case, a woman was found aiding a Chinese money laundering plan. Money laundering schemes often involve offshore accounts; this case is not unique in this sense. The Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI together were able to catch Rui Fang Yi in 2025. She had aided the ‘washing’ of drug money earned by the Mexican Cartel by selling illicit and controlled drugs. She had vitilized her account position to safely transfer the illicit money through accounts she had access to. Overall, she had laundered $20 millions dollars US. She was eventually found and pleaded guilty.
That's money laundering. However, I can not stress enough how illegal money laundering is. If you decide to engage in this illicit process, you will be found and will be arrested by our pohonoemial law enforcement administration.
*MONEY LAUNDERING IS EXTREMELY ILLEGAL. THIS BLOG IS MEANT ONLY FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES
“White-Collar Crime.” Federal Bureau of Investigation, Accessed 13 May 2026, https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/white-collar-crime.
“Money Laundering.” United Nations, Accessed 13 May 2026, https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/money-laundering/overview.html.
“Two Year Prison Sentence for Woman Who Laundered Over $20M Dollars.” Department of Justice, 2 Feb. 2026,
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