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Bank Secrecy Act Reports Instrumental in Investigation and Conviction of Attorney and Three Accomplices in Multi-Million Dollar Real Estate Fraud

In 2003, four individuals, previously convicted of charges related to a multi-million dollar real estate scheme, were ordered to pay over $1 million in restitution to reimburse victims of their crimes. According to court documents, a real estate investor and an attorney arranged for the proceeds…

Post 9/11 SAR Leads to Guilty Plea in Money Laundering and Illegal Transfer of Funds to Iran Investigation

One individual has pled guilty to multiple counts of money laundering, filing false tax returns, failing to file Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FinCEN Form TD F 90-22.) and illegally transferring funds to Iran. The plea agreement also requires forfeiture of over half a million…

SAR Reveals Bank Fraud and Money Laundering Violations by Rv Dealer

An Alaska motor home dealer was sentenced to 36 months in prison and 5 years probation after being found guilty of bank fraud and money laundering charges. The dealer was also ordered to pay restitution to the bank.

The motor home dealer obtained loans using trade-in motor homes as…

Suspicious Activity Reports Assist Telemarketing Fraud Investigation

Two partners were sentenced to prison as a result of their involvement in telemarketing fraud. According to the United States Attorney’s Office, the partners owned a telemarketing business and admitted that employees of that business used pre-text calling to obtain information from numerous…

SAR Initiates Case that Leads to Guilty Pleas for Hiring Illegal Aliens

In a case initiated from SARs, Federal agents uncovered two businesses that were hiring illegal aliens in order to provide skilled and unskilled labor services to area warehouses. The businesses then paid the illegal aliens in cash, with funds withdrawn by the president and office manager in…

SAR Review Team Identifies Gift Shop Operating as an Unregistered Money Services Business

A Suspicious Activity Report review team identified SARs filed by three different financial institutions within several months on the same subject, describing similar transactions involving structuring and the wire transfer of funds to an Eastern European country (Country A).

According to…

Local Municipality Case Example (Narcotics Trafficking, Money Laundering, and Mortgage Fraud)

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…

Business Owner Sentenced for Tax Evasion

A business owner was sentenced to several years in prison followed by three years supervised release and ordered to pay a fine of nearly $1 million. The defendant was convicted of three counts of tax evasion and one count of structuring a financial transaction to avoid federal currency…

Proactive SAR Query Leads to Structuring Conviction

In early 2006, a U.S. Attorney’s Office secured guilty pleas from two businesses for evading Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) reporting requirements by structuring deposits. The presiding judge sentenced the businesses to unsupervised probation, and as part of the agreement, the businesses agreed to…

SAR Unveils Network of Brazilians Involved in a Stolen Check Scheme

A SAR filed by a financial institution in Pennsylvania led to a joint investigation by the IRS/Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the FBI into a network of Brazilian nationals that used U.S. banks to launder the proceeds generated from stolen checks. Additional SARs…