Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 115 Part 1.djvu/359

 PUBLIC LAW 107-56—OCT. 26, 2001 115 STAT. 337 placed in a foreign financial institution or sold on the black market. (3) The transportation and smuggling of cash in bulk form may now be the most common form of money laundering, and the movement of large sums of cash is one of the most reliable warning signs of drug trafficking, terrorism, money laundering, racketeering, tax evasion and similar crimes. (4) The intentional transportation into or out of the United States of large amounts of currency or monetary instruments, in a manner designed to circumvent the mandatory reporting provisions of subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, United States Code,, is the equivalent of, and creates the same harm as, the smuggling of goods. (5) The arrest and prosecution of bulk cash smugglers are important parts of law enforcement's effort to stop the laundering of criminal proceeds, but the couriers who attempt to smuggle the cash out of the United States are typically low-level employees of large criminal organizations, and thus are easily replaced. Accordingly, only the confiscation of the smuggled bulk cash can effectively break the cycle of criminal activity of which the laundering of the bulk cash is a critical part. (6) The current penalties for violations of the currency reporting requirements are insufficient to provide a deterrent to the laundering of criminal proceeds. In particular, in cases where the only criminal violation under current law is a reporting offense, the law does not adequately provide for the confiscation of smuggled currency. In contrast, if the smuggling of bulk cash were itself an offense, the cash could be confiscated as the corpus delicti of the smuggling offense. (b) PURPOSES.— The purposes of this section are— 31 USC 5332 (1) to make the act of smuggling bulk cash itself a criminal note. offense; (2) to authorize forfeiture of any cash or instruments of the smuggling offense; and (3) to emphasize the seriousness of the act of bulk cash smuggling. (c) ENACTMENT OF BULK CASH SMUGGLING OFFENSE. — Subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: "§ 5332. Bulk cash smuggling into or out of the United States "(a) CRIMINAL OFFENSE. — "(1) IN GENERAL. — Whoever, with the intent to evade a currency reporting requirement under section 5316, knowingly conceals more than $10,000 in currency or other monetary instruments on the person of such individual or in any convey- ance, article of luggage, merchandise, or other container, and transports or transfers or attempts to transport or transfer such currency or monetary instruments from a place within the United States to a place outside of the United States, or from a place outside the United States to a place within the United States, shall be guilty of a currency smuggling offense and subject to punishment pursuant to subsection (b). "(2) CONCEALMENT ON PERSON.— For purposes of this section, the concealment of currency on the person of any individual includes concealment in any article of clothing worn

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