[muawiyah]

Money laundering is a process whereby you move funds around to make it look like they were ordinary earned income. You might want some money laundering done if you get most of your income from prostitution, selling controlled substances, or stealing.

You end up getting prosecuted for money laundering because you cannot prove the legitimacy of your income.

Theft is a different matter ~ as is Mail Fraud.

I noticed the Italians didn't hit him with mail fraud ~ hence none of his checks were uttered in furtherance of any sort of unlawful process.

[Johnny B.]

You end up getting prosecuted for money laundering because you cannot prove the legitimacy of your income.

Yes, indeed. And the prosecutors found that the transactions Rossi and his cohorts had were not legitimate. They were money laundering. That doesn't require mail fraud, nor does it require writing checks.

Keep in mind that Rossi's company was only one of several that were all successfully prosecuted for collusion in this fraud.