Comparative Study of Political and Social Fundamentals for Criminalization of Money Laundering

When the basic norms of the society are threatened, there are some reactions created by the government and sovereign power. One of these actions is criminalization of behaviors violating society values which are discussed as the latest strategy. One of these behaviors is money laundering which creates different adverse consequences in the society and the most countries of the world criminalize it. In this Paper, we attempt to analyze principles governing on criminalization of a criminal behavior and study of political and social effects of money laundering in legal systems of different countries around the world using descriptive method; and state that these effects may be regarded as the base for money laundering criminalization.