United States v. Lawrence Scialabba and Robert T. Cechini

EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judge.

A financial transaction involving the “proceeds” of crime, and designed to promote the carrying on of certain offenses, is unlawful money laundering. 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1). Neither the Supreme Court nor this circuit has defined the word “proceeds”, and there is no definition in the statute itself. This ease presents the question whether “proceeds” refers to the gross income from an offense, or only the net income. We conclude that, at least when the crime entails voluntary, businesslike operations, “proceeds” must be net income; otherwise the predicate crime merges…