Al Capone Was Anything But A Money Launderer.

There's no denying that Al Capone had loads of cash coming in from his bootlegging businesses, prostitution, gambling, and other avenues of "investments." But he didn't launder anything because he didn't have to. There was no such concept as money laundering back then. 

FOR VISUAL AID PURPOSES ONLY

There were no bank reporting requirements, and no one cared how much cash you shoved into your bank account(s). There was no crime of money laundering. 

Inland Bank at Irving Park Road, Cicero and Milwaukee Avenues (Six Corners), Chicago. / Yellow Cabs [Phone: Calumet 6000], Sign. Circa 1930

Capone would have never heard the phrase "money laundering." It wasn't until April 1973 that the term was actually coined. President Ronald Reagan signed the Money Laundering Control Act on October 27,1986, as part of his efforts to curb the illegal trade in narcotics and criminalize it.

People who claim Al Capone laundered money, or better yet, that he invented the term "money laundering," simply don't understand what money laundering is.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.