The official name of Title III is the “International Money Laundering Abatement and Financial Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001.” In passing these provisions, Congress cited International Monetary Fund figures which estimate that between two and five percent of the global gross domestic product comes from money laundering with money from illegal drug and smuggling activities. The law called these gains from money laundering the “financial fuel” of terrorist operations. According to the Justice Department, money laundering provisions have been used to:

• Freeze $136 million in assets world-wide
• Charge 113 individuals with crimes related to terrorist financing, resulting in 57 convictions or guilty pleas to date
• Establish an FBI Terrorist Financing Operations Section (TFOS)
• “Identify, investigate, prosecute, disrupt, and dismantle terrorist-related financial and fundraising activities” through TFOS and the Joint Terrorism Task Forces