Can you get in trouble for a friendly favour of storing funds in a bank account?

Article 299 § 1 of the Criminal Code, which introduces the offence of money laundering, indicates the actions that are prerequisites for committing such an offence. Among them are the acceptance and possession of goods originating from the proceeds of a criminal act.

So let us imagine a situation where a friend approaches us with an urgent need. For some reason, he asks to be able to deposit a large amount of cash into our bank account. Another example could be a ‘great’ online earning opportunity published on a social networking site.

This is where the saying that hell is paved with good intentions comes into play, as from the technical point of view of the offence it is sufficient to accept such funds into a bank account while the

• the financial mule does not have to aim at introducing dirty money into legal circulation at all
  (Judgment of the Supreme Court – Criminal Chamber of 28 February 2023 V KK 629/21).
• A finding of money laundering in this case does not even require concealing from law enforcement the criminal source of
  (Resolution of the Composition of Seven Judges of the Supreme Court – Criminal Chamber of 24 June 2015. I KZP 5/15).

Does the acceptance of criminal funds result in the ‘tainting’ of other funds legally in the bank account?

Continuing with the example of a colleague in need, let’s assume that he requests the ability to deposit/transfer funds in the amount of PLN 100,000 into an account we hold. There is already money set aside in the bank account for a black hour in the amount of PLN 50,000. Will the cash transfer/payment therefore result in the sum of PLN 150,000 qualifying as money laundering?

This question was resolved by the Supreme Court when it adopted a Resolution in 2015. The fact that criminal funds are accepted in a bank account does not automatically qualify the remaining money as laundered (Resolution of a panel of seven judges of the Supreme Court – Criminal Chamber of 24 June 2015. I KZP 5/15).

When they want to saddle us …

If we notice that someone is probably trying to draw us into money laundering it is worth considering reporting the crime, although this is not obligatory. As a rule, in Polish criminal proceedings there is only a so-called “social obligation”, and money laundering is not among the offences covered by the exception, i.e. for which there is criminal liability for failure to notify law enforcement authorities.

On the other hand, if our bank account has already been used as a laundering machine, then, following the maxim, the best defence is to attack – filing a criminal report is even necessary to be able to protect oneself from the negative consequences of allowing such a situation to occur.

Author: Michał Busz, Attorney at Law