Two SARs filed by a central Florida bank resulted in the initiation of a money laundering investigation of a fraudulent securities dealer operating a prime bank fraud scheme. The SARs reported unusual account activity and international wire transfers in the tens of millions of dollars. The case…
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In 2006, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia announced “Operation Rainmaker,” a major, multi-national federal drug and money laundering investigation initiated by ICE-Atlanta that culminated with 24 arrests in the United States and Colombia. The investigation…
A man with a compulsive gambling addiction embezzled millions of dollars from a public utility and lived the life of a “high roller” for several years before being caught. The defendant established several shell corporations to bilk a county for water well capacity rights.
As part of the…
An individual approached federal authorities and reported a story about drug smugglers. Agents questioned the individual's story and sought to authenticate his statements with queries in the BSA database. They instead found over a dozen CTRs and SARs that indicated the individual was involved in…
Case summary: A woman was sentenced in 2010 after pleading guilty to a structuring charge resulting from the theft of funds from her elderly mother. Although the defendant received a relatively light sentence, the assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the case noted that structuring was the only…
U.S. law enforcement and regulatory agencies give priority to detecting terrorist financing. In particular, they seek to identify individuals or businesses used as fundraising vehicles and to detail the movement of financial assets. Effectively implementing strategies that prevent, disrupt and…
A routine Suspicious Activity Report review by geographic zip codes led to the discovery of a retail store operator operating as a subagent for a licensed money services business. The preliminary investigation by the filing institution, along with a follow-up investigation by the Drug…
In February 2002, SAR information provided by an investment account firm revealed wire transfers in excess of $500,000 originated from an individual's account, through a trading company in Dubai, UAE, for transfer to Iran. Investigation disclosed the account holder had made comments to the…
A Suspicious Activity Report filed by a financial institution led to a bank fraud investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Office of Inspector General. The Suspicious Activity Report implicated a loan secretary in the misapplication of…
In a case where a corrupt politician extorted money from his constituents, investigators examining his financial records found numerous instances of structuring. In fact, three different banks filed SARs on the defendant detailing unusual transactions. Prosecutors charged the official with…