In a case that started when a bank notified federal agents that it intended to file a SAR on two subjects, investigators utilized BSA records to uncover additional participants in a fraud scheme. The investigation determined that the participants used stolen account information to steal funds…
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Case summary: In 2010, a United States Attorney announced that a doctor pled guilty to conspiracy to impede the United States and to making a false statement. He was facing a maximum sentence of ten years in prison and a maximum fine of $500,000.
Case details: According to court…
In 2005, a U.S. Attorney announced the indictment of three individuals operating an under-the-table payroll scheme. Under the scheme, defendants allegedly paid hundreds of temporary employees tens of millions of dollars in unreported cash payroll over a ten-year period. The case, initiated and…
Operation Cheque Mate was initiated in June 2002, after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement source provided information about a United Kingdom-based organization defrauding United States futures and securities firms. This source led to the discovery of many Suspicious Activity Reports which…
A New Hampshire bank filed a SAR on a group of individuals who were cashing numerous checks from a local salvage company for amounts under $10,000. Based on this SAR, an investigation was initiated by IRS-CI. During the course of the investigation, it was discovered that the men cashing the…
In 2005, a federal judge sentenced an individual to two years in prison for structuring monetary transactions to avoid reporting requirements. The case started when a financial institution documented unusual financial activity on a series of SARs and notified the Internal Revenue Service, which…
In a case where political corruption led to bid rigging of public housing contracts in order to defraud the government, BSA records proved instrumental in understanding the scheme. In this case, perpetrators repeatedly structured financial transactions in order to hide business relationships and…
A federal investigator characterized BSA data as extremely important in determining how the defendant in a multi-million dollar fraud case spent the proceeds. FinCEN researchers recovered almost 400 Casino CTRs related to the defendant dating back more than 10 years. Although some of the casino…
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…