Money Transmitter Activity

SAR filings continue to reveal suspicious financial activity involving money transmitter businesses, often those offering funds transfers to Mexico. The SARs indicate that the suspect is either the money transmitter itself, or individuals or entities using the transmitter's financial services and transaction routing networks. The activity continues to be reported by banks located throughout the country. Typical observed activity includes multiple deposits (cash, checks), with occasional withdrawals, into bank accounts maintained by money transmitter businesses. Such deposits quickly accumulate into large balances. The suspicious nature of the activity is sometimes heightened by ambiguities surrounding the source of the funds, nature of the suspect's stated business(es), sudden influxes of funds, and varied multiple locations for the deposits.

Excerpted from SAR Activity Review Issue 2, page 18