一般观点讲,洗钱被认为是一个独立的犯罪并且它属于有组织犯罪的分类,因为要施行洗钱活动必须存在一个有组织的结构。洗钱活动一般有两个目的:第一个目的是管理以前犯罪所产生的收益-也称为前犯罪或者上游犯罪。第二个目的是保护那一些非法获得收益-洗钱犯罪即是把这些非法收益表现为一般合法活动生产的收益,即使它们最初的真实资金来源是之前犯罪得到的。 In general terms, money-laundering is considered an independent crime and it falls into the category of organized crime because there must be an organized structure for laundering. Money laundering activities generally have two purposes: The first is to manage the proceeds of previous crimes - also known as ex-offenses or upstream offenses. The second purpose is to protect those illegitimate gains-money laundering crimes are the proceeds of these illicit profits represented by the production of generally lawful activity, even if their original true source of funding was previously committed.