Part IV

Law No. 286/2009 adopted the new Criminal Code; however, the offense of money laundering is no longer provided for in Article 269, under Title IV (Offenses Against the Administration of Justice); upon the entry into force of the new Criminal Code, the provisions of Article 23 of Law No. 656/2002 will remain in force. In this context, we will offer some observations on the legislature’s choice, as well as some proposals for future legislation regarding the criminalization, prevention, and combating of money laundering offenses. We will also explain why the consequences of money laundering offenses should not be equated with those of concealment. We also aim to clarify another dispute regarding the possibility of charging the perpetrator or an accomplice in the commission of the principal offense from which the proceeds originate with the offense of money laundering; to critically analyze the definition adopted by the legislature in Article 269 of the new Criminal Code; and to revisit the controversy that persists in legal scholarship regarding the alleged terminological inconsistency presented by the phrase “money laundering.”

Keywords: money laundering, combating money laundering offenses