Help solve a debate I'm having with a colleague - - -

John Doe Customer withdrawals $7,000 cash on Monday and another $7,000 cash on Tuesday. On Thursday he deposits $14,000 cash causing a CTR to be completed.

I say that structuring is structuring and that the two $7,000 cash withdrawals are structured and a SAR is necessary.

My colleague argues that it makes no sense to structure two transactions only to turn around and conduct a third transaction that is reported on a CTR. He argues that there must be some other reason for the two withdrawal amounts and that a SAR is not warranted.

Your opinions are appreciated.

I would not file a SAR for these transactions, but I would document that the transactions were seen and the decision was made not to file since there was a CTR filed the same week. Continue to monitor the account.

Does John Doe Customer have a history of large withdrawals followed by equal deposits? Is this type of activity usual for his account?

I see where you're going and I understand the need to review the totality of the account transaction history becuase the transactions may be suspicious and reportable for some reason beyond structuring.

At this point I am really just looking for opinons on the structuring issue.

Thanks for your input.

For me personally, as far as the structuring goes, I agree with devsfan, especially about documenting your reasoning NOT to file.

Can you determine the denominations of currency withdrawn and deposited? That could impact a decision as to whether a SAR might be warranted. I would include that documentation in my transaction notes.

Given the obvious lack of intent to avoid a CTR on Thursday, I lean towards some sort of legitimate need for two separate transactions on Monday and Tuesday. We've got someone who took out $40,000, then put it back in within 24 hours, three or four times in a single month, but he mentioned to employees that he was shopping for some type of large purchase. He actually requested a blank cashier's check, and when that was refused, he decided to bring cash since he thought he would for some reason get a better deal if he was able to show cash at the auction. They tried to make other arrangements with him, but he wanted cash. How about calling him? "Mr. Smith, in a review of accounts, your account was flagged with an alert, and I wanted to mention these three transactions to you, to make sure you were aware of them..." then see what Mr. Smith might volunteer, if anything, to help inform your decision.

Have you looked back at his account history and found any kind of pattern of this activity? If not there may be a reasonable explanation - In the attempts to curve defensive filings, I would try to obtain a reason for the transactions and then go from there. If you do get a reasonable explanation document and if you don't then maybe that will push more towards filing. JMHO

We are seeing a lot of this activity due to the houseing market. Many customers are going to foreclosure auctions and taking cash. If they are unsuccessful they bring it back.

*ditto* to BSA4LIFE.

We see this activity with cash & cashiers checks being purchased for home & car auctions all the time.


KYC