3 Offence of money laundering

(1) A person is guilty of money laundering if—
(A) he or she directly or indirectly acquires property from the proceeds of criminal conduct;
(B) knowing or believing that property is or represents the benefit of criminal conduct or being reckless as to whether the property is or represents such benefit, the person, without lawful authority or excuse (the proof of which shall lie on the person)—
(a) converts, transfers or handles the property, or removes the property from the Republic;

(b) conceals or disguises the true nature, source, location, disposition, movement or ownership of the property or any rights associated with the property; or
(c) acquires, possesses or uses the property.
(Substituted by Act 7 of 2021)
(2) Removing property from the Republic shall include references to removing it from another country or territory and moving property within the Republic or a country or territory in preparation for or for the purpose of removing it from the Republic or the country or territory in question.
(3) Any person who participates in such conduct as described in subsection
(1)(a), (1)(b) or (1)(c) of this section including but not limited to, aiding, abetting, assisting, attempting, counselling, conspiring, concealing or procuring the commission of such conduct commits the offence of money laundering as a principal offender and shall be liable to be tried and punished accordingly.
(4) (a) A person guilty of money laundering is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding SCR5,000,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 15 years or to both;
(b) a person other than a natural person guilty of money laundering is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding SCR10,000,000.
(5) Where a person—
(a) converts, transfers, handles or removes from the Republic any property which is or represents the benefit from criminal conduct;
(b) conceals or disguises the true nature, source, location, disposition, movement or ownership of the property or any rights with respect to it; or
(c) acquires, possesses or uses the property, in such circumstances that it is reasonable to conclude that the person—
(i) knew or believed that the property was or represented benefit of criminal conduct; or
(ii) was reckless as to whether it was or represented benefit from criminal conduct;
that person shall be taken to have so known or believed or to have been so reckless, unless the court is satisfied having regard to all the evidence that there is a reasonable doubt as to whether the person so knew or believed or was so reckless.
(6) For the purposes of this Act—
(a) a person is reckless if the person disregards a substantial risk that the property in question is or represents benefit of criminal conduct, and for those purposes “substantial risk” means a risk of such a nature and degree that having regard to the circumstances in which the person became involved with the property and the extent

of the information then available to the person, the disregard of that risk involves culpability of a high degree;
(b) references to converting, transferring, handling or removing property include references to the provision of any advice or assistance in relation to converting, transferring, handling or removing the property.
(7) This section does not apply to a person in respect of anything done by that person in connection with the enforcement of any law.
(8) This Act shall apply whether the criminal conduct in question occurred before or after the commencement of this Act and whether it was or is attributable to the person first mentioned in subsection (1) or another person.
(Amended by Act 9 of 2022)
(9) In this Act, “criminal conduct” means conduct which—
(a) constitutes any act or omission against any law of the Republic including the financing of terrorism as referred to in the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and for the avoidance of doubt includes the offence of money laundering established by section 3 of this Act and whether committed in the Republic or elsewhere;
(b) where the conduct occurs outside the Republic, would constitute such an offence if it occurred within the Republic and also constitutes an offence under the law of the country or territorial unit in which it occurs;
(c) includes any act or omission against any law of another country or territory whether committed in that other country or territory or elsewhere, unless the Attorney-General certifies in writing that it would not be in the public interest to take action in the Republic in relation to an act or omission as defined in this subsection; and
(d) includes participation in such conduct, including but not limited to, aiding, abetting, assisting, attempting, counselling, conspiring, concealing or procuring the commission of such conduct;
(10) For the purposes of this Act—
(a) references to believing that any property is or represents benefit of criminal conduct include references to having reasonable grounds to suspect that the property was probably, or probably represented, such benefit in whole or in part;
(b) references to any property representing benefit of criminal conduct include references to the property representing that benefit in whole or in part directly or indirectly, and cognate references shall be construed accordingly;
(c) the standard of proof to be applied in deciding whether property is the benefit of criminal conduct shall be the standard of proof applicable in civil proceedings;

(d) in determining whether property is or represents benefit of criminal conduct, a court shall have account of all the surrounding circumstances of the connection of the defendant and any other relevant person with the property including but not limited to the financial ability of the defendant or that other person to have or possess such property, the explanation, if any given by the defendant or that other person as to his or her connection with the property and the conduct of the defendant or that other person in relation to the property
(11) (a) As soon as the Court determines that the evidence adduced in the case gives rise to a reasonable inference that the property is or represents benefit of criminal conduct, the property shall be deemed to be benefit of criminal conduct unless the defendant by evidence establishes otherwise to the satisfaction of the Court. The burden of proof shall rest upon the defendant to prove that the property was not derived from criminal conduct.
(b) It shall not be necessary in any event for the prosecution to prove that the property in question is or represents the benefit of any particular criminal conduct or that any person was convicted of criminal conduct in relation to the property.
(c) Where it is necessary in the case of a money laundering offence alleged to have been committed by a body corporate, to establish the state of mind of the body corporate, it shall be sufficient to show that a director, officer, employee or agent of the body corporate, acting in the course of his directorship, office, employment or agency as the case may be, had the required state of mind to satisfy the element of mens rea required to ground a conviction.
(d) Where a body corporate commits an offence of money laundering, whether convicted of that offence or not, and where the offence is committed with the consent, connivance, or in any other way with the assistance or omission to act of any director, secretary, manager, auditor or accountant of the company or any person directing or person controlling such person, he or she shall be guilty of the offence and capable of being tried and punished as a principal offender.
(12) For the purposes of this Act—
(a) a person handles property if that person, without a claim of right made in good faith—
(i) receives such property;
(ii) undertakes or assists in its retention, removal, disposal or realisation by or for the benefit of another person; or
(iii) arranges to do any of the things specified in subparagraphs (i) or (ii).

(b) (i) a document purporting to be signed by an Attorney-at-Law practising in the country or territorial unit in which the criminal conduct concerned is alleged to have occurred and stating that such conduct is an offence under the law of that country or territorial unit; and
(ii) a document purporting to be a translation of a document mentioned in subparagraph (i) and certified as correct by a person appearing to be competent to so certify, shall be admissible in any proceedings, without further proof, as evidence of the matters mentioned in those documents, unless the contrary is shown.
(13) Where a person who has failed to comply with directions of the FIU in relation to property, is subsequently charged with a money laundering offence or another offence under this Act it shall be presumed—
(a) that the property is the benefit of criminal conduct;
(b) that the defendant knew or believed that the property was or represented benefit of criminal conduct or was reckless as to whether it was or represented such benefit, until the defendant proves otherwise to the satisfaction of the Court on the civil standard of proof.
(14) The offence of money laundering shall be an extraditable offence for the purposes of the Extradition Act (Cap.78). (Inserted by Act 7 of 2021)