Of the 66,662 federal cases reported to the US Sentencing Commission for fiscal year 2025, 1,170 involved money laundering, 41 percent more than in fiscal year 2021. The average sentence was 69 months, and 90 percent of the people sentenced went to prison.
That average, under six years, sits against the 20 year ceiling of section 1956 of Title 18. The statute fixes how far a court may go. The court decides where the sentence lands. Whichever of the money laundering methods and typologies a case involved, from placement through layering to integration, the laws below reach it.
What is the penalty for money laundering?
The penalty for money laundering is prison up to a maximum the statute sets, a fine, or both. Most statutes in Table 1 set no minimum term, and many add higher tiers for organized, professional or large value laundering.
Prison and fine can stack. Section 1956 allows prison of up to 20 years, a fine of up to $500,000 or twice the value of the property in the transaction (if greater), or both. In section 334, the UK's Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 sets up to 14 years on indictment, a fine, or both, for the offenses in sections 327 to 329.
US federal laundering is a felony. Section 1957 carries up to 10 years. Section 3559 classes an offense that its own section does not grade by letter as a Class C felony when its maximum is ten years or more but under 25 years, which covers both sections.
One EU rule is often read as a four year minimum. Article 5(2) of Directive (EU) 2018/1673 requires each member state's maximum prison term for the core offenses to be "at least four years": a floor for the ceiling. Recital 14 leaves the sentence in each case to the court, and recitals 23 and 24 say Ireland and Denmark are not bound.
Any money laundering punishment follows a conviction on every element of the offense, as each statute defines money laundering.
Money laundering penalties by country in 2026
Each row gives the penalty a natural person faces under the country's main laundering statute, read in the official text in November 2026.
Table 1. Money laundering penalties by country (statutes as of November 2026)
| Country | Law and article | Maximum prison, basic offense | Minimum term | Fine for an individual | Other tiers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | Criminal Code Act 1995, Division 400 (compilation of 30 June 2026) | Graded by value: 25 years, 1,500 penalty units or both for A$1 million or more, believed to be crime proceeds (s. 400.3) | None stated | Penalty units, as beside each term | Life for A$10 million or more with that belief (s. 400.2B); reckless 15 years, negligent 6 years at that value |
| Brazil | Law 9,613/1998, art. 1 | 10 years | 3 years | A fine, no amount in the article | Plus one third to two thirds when repeated, through a criminal organization or by using a virtual asset (§ 4) |
| Canada | Criminal Code s. 462.31 | 10 years (indictable); summary conviction also possible | None stated | Not set in the section | 14 years where the offense is for the benefit of, at the direction of or in association with a criminal organization (s. 462.31(2.1)) |
| EU floor | 6AMLD, Directive (EU) 2018/1673, arts. 5 and 6 (member states other than Denmark and Ireland) | Each state's maximum must be at least 4 years | None required | Additional sanctions or measures where necessary (art. 5(3)) | Aggravating: a criminal organization, or an obliged entity offending in its professional activities (art. 6(1)) |
| France | Code pénal arts. 324-1 to 324-3 | 5 years | None stated | EUR 375,000, which can rise to half the value laundered | Habitual, professional or organized group laundering: 10 years and EUR 750,000 (art. 324-2) |
| Germany | Criminal Code (StGB) s. 261 | 5 years or a fine | None for the basic offense; 3 months for an obliged entity under the Money Laundering Act (s. 261(4)) | A fine, as the alternative to prison | 6 months to 10 years in especially serious cases, as a rule commercial or gang laundering (s. 261(5)) |
| India | PMLA 2002 s. 4 | 7 years, rigorous imprisonment | 3 years | A fine, no cap in the section | Up to 10 years if the proceeds come from an offense in Schedule Part A, paragraph 2 |
| Indonesia | Criminal Code (Law 1 of 2023) art. 607 | 15 years for placing, transferring or concealing | None stated | Up to IDR 5 billion (category VII) for placing or transferring; IDR 2 billion (category VI) for concealing | Receiving or controlling the property: 5 years and up to IDR 2 billion |
| Malaysia | Act 613 s. 4(1) (as at 1 March 2026) | 15 years; prison is mandatory | None stated for the term | At least five times the proceeds or instrumentalities, or RM5 million, whichever is higher | None stated |
| Netherlands | Criminal Code arts. 420bis to 420quater | 6 years or a fine | None stated | Fifth category: EUR 110,000 from 1 January 2026 | Habitual or professional laundering 8 years (art. 420ter); simple laundering, only acquiring or holding the direct proceeds of one's own crime, 6 months (art. 420bis.1) |
| Pakistan | AMLA 2010 s. 4 | 10 years, rigorous imprisonment | 1 year | Up to PKR 25 million, plus forfeiture | None stated |
| Philippines | Republic Act 9160 s. 14(a), as amended by Republic Act 10365 | 14 years (s. 4(a) to (d) offenses) | 7 years | From PHP 3,000,000 to twice the value of the instrument or property | None stated |
| Singapore | CDSA s. 54 | 10 years, a fine or both | None stated | Up to S$500,000 | Up to 12 strokes of the cane can be added where the property is a serious scam offense's benefits (s. 54(8), from 30 December 2025) |
| South Africa | Act 121 of 1998 (POCA) s. 8(1) | 30 years | None stated | Up to R100 million, as the alternative to prison | None stated |
| Spain | Criminal Code art. 301 | 6 years | 6 months | One to three times the value of the property | Gross negligence: 6 months to 2 years. Upper half of the range where the property comes from drug trafficking or other listed crimes |
| Switzerland | Criminal Code art. 305bis | 3 years or a monetary penalty | None stated | A monetary penalty, as the alternative | Serious cases 5 years: a criminal or terrorist organization, a laundering group, or large turnover or substantial profit |
| Türkiye | Penal Code art. 282 | 7 years, where the predicate carries a minimum of six months or more | 3 years | Up to 20,000 days of judicial fine | Knowingly acquiring or using 2 to 5 years; plus half for a public official or a professional at work; doubled within a criminal organization |
| UAE | Federal Decree Law No. 10 of 2025, art. 26 | 10 years | 1 year | AED 100,000 to AED 5,000,000, or the value of the criminal property if higher | Temporary imprisonment and a fine between AED 1,000,000 and AED 10,000,000, or twice the value if higher, for abuse of position, a nonprofit or an organized group, listed predicates, or a repeat offense (art. 26(2)) |
| United Kingdom | POCA s. 334 (offenses in ss. 327 to 329) | 14 years on indictment | None stated | A fine, no cap stated on indictment | Summary conviction also possible |
| United States | 18 U.S.C. 1956 | 20 years | None stated | $500,000 or twice the value, if greater | Section 1957 (monetary transactions): 10 years |
Read every cell as a ceiling or a floor set by statute. The section on sentences below shows how far courts usually stay under the maximum. The row that applies is the country of the conviction, not where the customer lives today, and until a court rules on a charge the row shows only what is at stake.
The table answers what a conviction can cost. Screening answers a different question: whether a customer, owner or director is on a sanctions, PEP or watch list today. complead, formerly Sanction Scanner, does that list check in its client screening and ongoing monitoring on data that counts 3,500+ sanctions, PEP and watchlists from 220+ jurisdictions, refreshed every 15 minutes, whichever Table 1 country a customer comes from.
Which countries set a minimum sentence, and which go higher?
Pakistan, India, Türkiye, Brazil and Spain set a minimum prison term for the basic offense; US section 1956 sets none. The floors are one year in Pakistan, three years in India under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, Türkiye and Brazil, and six months in Spain. Türkiye's offense covers only the proceeds of crimes that carry a minimum of six months or more. The UAE sets one year. The Philippines sets "imprisonment ranging from seven (7) to fourteen (14) years".
Germany sets no floor for the basic offense, three months when an obliged entity launders and six months in especially serious cases. Malaysia sets no shortest term, but since Act A1761 took effect on 1 March 2026, Act 613 reads "be punished with imprisonment" where it said "be liable to imprisonment". The fine cannot be lower than five times the proceeds or RM5 million, taking the higher figure.
Higher tiers turn on four things:
- Value. Australia sets 25 years at A$1 million or more and life at A$10 million or more, where the person believes the money is crime proceeds. Life dates from 17 February 2021, so a 25 year top for Australia is out of date.
- Organization. Canada rises from 10 to 14 years for laundering tied to a criminal organization. Türkiye doubles the term, and Brazil adds one third to two thirds.
- Habit or business. Germany sets six months to 10 years for commercial or gang laundering, the Netherlands eight years for habitual or professional laundering.
- Scam proceeds. Singapore can add up to 12 strokes of the cane where the property is a serious scam offense's benefits. An offender under subsection (2) or (3) escapes the cane by proving reasonable steps to check the property was not.
How many years in prison do people actually get for money laundering?
Take someone in England and Wales convicted of laundering £10 million or more. The Sentencing Council's money laundering guideline starts at 10 years' custody, within 8 to 13 years, when culpability is high, such as a leading role in a group. With lesser culpability, a limited function under direction, it starts at 4 years, within 3 to 6. Those starting points assume £30 million. The harm of the underlying offense can push the sentence up. Below £10,000 the grid starts at one year for high culpability and at a low level community order for lesser.
The offense range runs from a Band B fine to 13 years, one under the 14 year maximum. A court may go outside a category range where the value greatly exceeds the amount the starting point assumes, or where the underlying offense calls for it. For convictions on or after 22 March 2026, a court whose shortest fitting term is 12 months or less must suspend it unless an exception applies, such as an offender already in custody, under section 1 of the Sentencing Act 2026. Above 12 months and up to three years, the court weighs whether to suspend; before that date the limit was two years.
US federal sentences show the same gap. The fiscal year 2025 average was 69 months against a 20 year maximum, and 71 percent of those sentenced had little or no prior record (Criminal History Category I). Of those sentenced, 25 percent were convicted of an offense carrying a mandatory minimum. Section 1956 carries none, so that minimum came with another count, and 49 percent of them were relieved of it.
Table 2. Statutory maximum and what courts give
| System | Source and date | Maximum | Typical sentence | Custody share or range | What moves it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US federal | US Sentencing Commission, fiscal year 2025 (the Quick Facts edition current in November 2026) | 20 years (18 U.S.C. 1956) | 69 months on average | 90% sentenced to prison | Increases such as a leadership or supervisory role (19%) or sophisticated laundering (11%); mandatory minimum counts (25%, of whom 49% were relieved) |
| England and Wales | Sentencing Council guideline, in force since 1 October 2014, last updated 5 October 2026 | 14 years (POCA s. 334) | Starting points from a low level community order to 10 years | Band B fine to 13 years | Value laundered, culpability, the underlying offense; suspension presumed at 12 months or less from 22 March 2026 |
What does a laundering conviction or charge mean for onboarding?
It calls for a risk decision with a named owner. Picture an illustrative payments firm whose new merchant's director discloses a 2019 laundering conviction in Spain with a two year sentence: low in Spain's six month to six year range, and seven years old. The firm records it, weighs it and decides.
- Ask and record. Convictions and open charges of the customer, its owners and directors, as the policy defines them. Why: the file shows what was known at onboarding.
- Read the record against Table 1. Country, statute, sentence against range. Why: the same term weighs more under a low ceiling.
- Weigh it as one risk factor. Age, role, and whether the product touches the same activity. Why: the risk assessment sets the relationship, and the record is one input to it.
- Rescreen the connected parties. Start screening new owners and directors and stop it for those who leave; in complead an API trigger does this per name. Why: checks follow the people still connected.
- Keep every search. complead keeps a log line for every screening search: the user, the name searched, the moment and what came back, even when nothing matched. Why: a reviewer later sees the check ran.
- Apply EDD and get a sign off. Enhanced due diligence and a named approver. Why: the record shows who accepted the risk, and on what basis.
What does a compliance officer personally face?
A UK bank employee who suspects a customer and stays silent can be prosecuted without moving any money. Under section 330, failing to report is itself an offense for someone in the regulated sector who knows or suspects laundering, or has reasonable grounds to. The report goes as soon as practicable to the nominated officer, usually the AML compliance officer, or to the National Crime Agency, where the information came through that business and could help find the launderer or the property.
Section 331 makes it an offense for the nominated officer who receives such a report not to pass the knowledge or suspicion on to the National Crime Agency, in practice as a suspicious activity report. Each offense carries up to five years on indictment (section 334).
Tipping off, revealing that a report was made, where an investigation is likely to be prejudiced and the person learned of the report through regulated business, carries up to two years. Breaching a requirement the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 place on a person also carries up to two years under regulation 86. Taking all reasonable steps and exercising all due diligence is a defense.
Elsewhere:
- US. A willful violation of the Bank Secrecy Act carries $250,000, five years or both under 31 U.S.C. 5322, doubled for a violation committed while breaking another US law, or within a pattern of illegal activity worth over $100,000 in a 12 month period.
- EU. An obliged entity laundering in its professional activities is an aggravating circumstance (Article 6(1)(b)).
- Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Türkiye. Spain puts obliged entities at work in the upper half of its range and adds 3 to 10 years' disqualification for listed professionals (article 303). Germany punishes recklessly failing to see that property is tainted (up to two years or a fine), and the Netherlands sets two years for culpable laundering, where the person ought reasonably to suspect. Türkiye adds half to the prison term of a professional who launders at work.
- Switzerland. Up to one year or a monetary penalty for a professional handling outside assets who fails to establish the beneficial owner with due care (article 305ter).
- Singapore. Five years for rash and three for negligent laundering.
What do firms face?
Firms answer as legal persons in the criminal courts too, apart from the fines regulators impose. The EU directive requires sanctions for a liable legal person that "shall include criminal or non-criminal fines" and may include disqualification from commercial activities, judicial supervision or a judicial winding up (Article 8). Singapore fines any offender that is not an individual up to S$1 million or twice the benefits, taking the higher. Pakistan's cap for a legal person is PKR 100 million. Its directors, officers or employees found guilty are punished as individuals too. For legal persons the UAE sets a fine between AED 5,000,000 and AED 100,000,000, or the value of the criminal property if higher.
Which penalty rules changed in 2026?
Singapore's caning tier for laundered scam proceeds took effect on 30 December 2025, two days before the year began.
- 1 January 2026. The Netherlands' fifth category fine rose to EUR 110,000.
- 2 January 2026. Indonesia's new Criminal Code came into force; article 607 now carries the laundering offense, and references to articles 3 and 4 of Law 8 of 2010 point to it.
- 1 March 2026. Malaysia's Act A1761 made prison and the fine mandatory on conviction.
- 22 March 2026. England and Wales began presuming suspension for terms of 12 months or less, for convictions from that date.
- 29 April 2026. The European Commission sent letters of formal notice to Austria, France and Germany over the transposition of Directive (EU) 2018/1673, covering among other points its definitions and the liability of legal persons.
Your onboarding policy needs one line per country on what a laundering conviction or an open charge means for a customer, owner or director, and who signs that off. With it, the director's 2019 conviction in Spain gets the same answer whoever reviews the file.
