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Reporting Suspicious Activity - A Quick Reference Guide for MSBs
State Agency Case Example (Taxes)

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…

Bank Secrecy Act Records Lead to Funds for Restitution in Insurance Fraud

A series of CTRs proved crucial in identifying bank accounts used to hide proceeds obtained through insurance fraud. The fraud involved a contractor who misrepresented the number of workers in his temporary employment service. Authorities used BSA data to identify assets belonging to…

Operation Mule Train

On July 1, 1998, the Chief Financial Officer, President, and Vice-President of a check cashing company were arrested on money laundering charges stemming from a two-year investigation conducted by the Los Angeles office of the FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department. According to corporate…

SAR Leads to Former Deputy Sheriff Sentenced for Extortion and Title 31 Violations

A former California deputy sheriff pled guilty to extortion and Title 31 charges. He was sentenced to serve 60 months in prison followed by 5 years probation, and ordered to pay $300,000 in restitution to one of the victims. His wife received three years probation for related charges. The…

Suspicious Activity Report Leads to the Investigation and Conviction of Elected Official

A bank filed a SAR on an elected official from a suburban locality who structured transactions totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. The SAR triggered an investigation that confirmed the structuring and identified evidence that the elected official committed perjury while filing a…

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 The businesses then paid the illegal aliens in cash, with funds withdrawn by the president and office manager in…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…

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…