Dismissed – Money Laundering

Money Laundering Charges

William Proetta represented a client arrested for third-degree money laundering in Middlesex County. The facts are ones William sees more and more often, and they can lead to innocent people being charged. Imagine you are a contractor who was just paid for a job, or you sold some old items for cash. If you are carrying that cash when police search you, your home or your car, it can become a problem. With credit cards and apps like Venmo and PayPal, fewer people carry large amounts of cash, and police have grown suspicious when they find it. William has seen many officers take a “charge now, ask questions later” approach, leaving the accused to prove their innocence after the fact.

How the Case Started

The client was pulled over in Middlesex Borough for a minor traffic violation, and the stop quickly turned into an interrogation. According to the police report, he seemed overly nervous, so officers called in a K-9 unit. The dog alerted to a bag in the back seat, but when officers opened it they found only cash, about $7,500. The client explained that he bought and sold used cars for a living, typically for cash, and had sold a car that day. He even showed his auction license, which allows him to bid at car auctions. Police charged him with money laundering anyway.

How William Got the Charge Dismissed

The prosecutor’s office was willing to let the client apply for Pre-Trial Intervention (PTI) but would not dismiss the case. PTI can be an excellent result in the right case, but here it would not have been a just outcome given the lack of evidence of money laundering and the problems with the search that led to the charge. William told the prosecutor the client would accept only a complete dismissal or take the case to litigation.

William gave the prosecutor’s office a copy of the client’s auction license and sales receipts for the cars he sold on the day of the arrest and the days before it. That meant the State would have to present this evidence to the grand jury if it pursued an indictment. The prosecutor assigned detectives to verify the documents. After several weeks of investigation everything checked out, and with no evidence of criminal activity the State dismissed all charges.

Result: All charges dismissed. The client walked out of Superior Court with no record, no fines and no probation, and the cash seized by police was returned to him.

State v. A.J.G., decided June 28, 2018.