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Case Examples
State Jury Convicts Defendant of Structuring to Avoid BSAReporting Requirements
In an innovative use of money laundering statutes, a State successfully prosecuted a defendant for violations of the Federal Bank Secrecy Act. The State’s money laundering statute includes criminal penalties for anyone attempting to avoid BSA reporting requirements and prosecutors were able to…
Case Examples
Bank Secrecy Act Document Analysis Helpful in Fraud Case
In a case that highlights how thoughtful analysis of FinCEN records can aid in an investigation, Federal law enforcement agents asked for FinCEN’s assistance analyzing records associated with a lawyer, and to help trace stolen funds derived from insurance settlements. As a result, a personal injury…
Case Examples
Currency Transaction Reports Expose Drug Traffickers Laundering Profits Through Casinos
Nine members of a drug trafficking organization were exposed and convicted largely through evidence collected from CTRs.The defendant was known as the “money-man” of the drug trafficking organization because he was responsible for laundering the organization’s illegal proceeds from drug sales. The…
Case Examples
Reports Filed Under the BSA Critical to Largest Medicaid Fraud Case in the Nation
The Newark, New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney’s Office and the IRS utilized reports filed under the BSA to help build the largest Medicaid fraud case in the nation to date. This multi-agency investigation, also involving the FBI and the FDA, uncovered a New Jersey pharmacist who defrauded the Medicaid…
Case Examples
BSA Records Help Dismantle Oxycodone Ring
Members of a multi-state drug trafficking and money laundering organization have pled guilty to multiple counts of narcotics trafficking and money laundering. The organization trafficked in Oxycodone and the movement of large amounts of money between two states. The organization was identified over…
Case Examples
SAR Suspect Convicted of Forging U.S. Treasury Checks
A bank filed a SAR reporting the deposit of U.S. Treasury checks to an account held by a deceased customer (a retired government employee) receiving monthly retirement benefits. The bank determined that its customer died in 1998. For two and one half years following the customer’s death, her…
Case Examples
Three Individuals Convicted in Phantom Bank Scheme
The IRS-Criminal Investigation and the FBI conducted an investigation of several individuals involved in soliciting investments and deposits in a financial institution that falsely claimed Indian tribal authority and offshore-style banking privacy. The defendants used the Internet to solicit…
Case Examples
Local Municipality Case Example (Failure to Follow Reporting Requirements)
In early 2012, FinCEN conducted outreach to all of its state and local law enforcement partners, and asked for cases where FinCEN data played a useful role in their investigations. Below, in their own words, is an example of how FinCEN's stakeholders use FinCEN data. It has been edited only for…
Case Examples
Suspicious Activity Report Initiates Material Support of Terrorism Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation initiated a Material Support of Terrorism investigation based on a Suspicious Activity Report filed by a bank detailing a series of overseas financial transactions totaling millions of dollars. Two of the participants in these transactions were a United States…
Case Examples
Organized Crime Network Attacked With the Help of SARs
The U.S. Customs Service in Chicago conducted an investigation of a Russian and Lithuanian organized crime group that was heavily involved in the smuggling of stolen luxury vehicles out of the U.S. into Europe. Independent analysis of a SAR filing showed suspicious behavior that related to the…