Italy: Comment on the Money Laundering Section of the Italian Penal Code

The first legislative step undertaken by the Italian Parliament to detect money laundering dates back to Decree 59, issued in March 1978 and brought into force by Law 191/1978. The Decree introduced s. 648 bis into the Italian Penal Code; it was entitled ‘Substitution of money or funds deriving from armed robbery, racketeering or kidnapping for reward’. The new offence was based on the structure of s. 648 ‘Handling stolen goods’; the crime was punishable with a sentence of between four and ten years' imprisonment. The introduction of s. 648 bis was required for two reasons: on the one hand, to address the concern arising from the numerous terrorist kidnappings and blackmail occurring in Italy at that time; on the other, to strengthen the criminal repression of the ‘specified unlawful activities’.