We have a customer who deposited 2 US postal money orders totalling around $1900 and the next day came in and withdrew half and paid the other half to her loans. The MO's came back as fraudulent so we charged them back to their account. The loan officer thinks they did this with clear knowledge that they were fraudulent. The officer and the President want me to file a SAR. These are my predicaments:
* It's past 30 days since this all occurred
* No other authorities have been contacted regarding this
* It's under the $2,000 minimum for SAR filing

Thoughts?

None of those reasons are reasons not to file. Making loan payments with fraudulent money orders is quite serious. That is an attempt to defraud the bank, not "just" laundering money.

As it is below $5,000, it's clearly "voluntary." So, it's a matter of opinion. The other two things simply should not be part of the decision making process.

The fact that the CEO and the lender want to file it indicate they believe that law enforcement will do something about it. That's far from likely.

If they really believe a crime has been attempted against the bank it would be a lot more efficient to just file a criminal complaint and run with it. There's nothing wrong with filing the SAR, it's simply a waste of time.

I see both sides of it. Can the SAR still be filed if it's after the 30 days timeframe? I've never filed a SAR before so I just want to make sure I'm not out of line. Thanks!

Is it just 30 days since it actually happened, or 30 days since you've become aware of it happening? That's your trigger, not the transaction date.

If you have a financial crimes division in your local PD, that's probably a more effective option than a SAR.

Even if late, a SAR can be filed. If it were a mandatory filing, it would have to be filed late.

Our local PD has maybe 5-7 officers total so I don't think there is a FI crimes division. I'll check though. The transaction happened 10/11/12. We figured out what happened maybe a day or two after so it's definitely after 30 days since we became aware of what happened.

Has the customer made her loan paymnets since then?

No, we charged off the checking account and added it back to the auto loan. The vehicle was then repo'd and has subsequently sold.

If you feel a SAR is needed: A late SAR is better than no SAR.

This would not be a mandatory filing. Thus,it cannot be "late."

In my experience, examiners apply the timing requirements to all SARs, voluntary or not. The bank is expected to have a process that will identify all potential situations and make decisions within the timeframes spelled out. Staff is expected to report potential SAR situations as soon as they happen, not let them lie around not telling BSA. Letting business units filter situations can lead to problems. BSA then conducts any investigation needed and makes a file/not file decision.

Regardless, if the bank wishes to file a SAR, "lateness" should not be a factor in that decision.

My opinion, of course, based upon my experience.

Understood, but mine is the opposite. I cannot be penalized for doing something "late" that I was never required to do...

This is one of those situations where I would use that argument to get out of a pinch, but I would not build my program on the premise.