Someone actually said that to me the other day. Consider that structuring is a lot easier to prove than the crime that produced the cash...
Massachusetts Man Sentenced for Structuring Cash TransactionsOn August 1, 2012, in Boston, Mass., Richard C. Souza, Jr, of South Dartmouth, was sentenced to 51 months in prison and three years of supervised following his conviction for structuring cash transactions. According to court documents, Souza befriended an elderly widower, whose mental health was declining, and persuaded him to use approximately a quarter of his retirement savings to purchase a property in Maine and take out a loan of over $85,000 using the property as collateral. Souza then took the loan proceeds for himself and in less than two hours, he withdrew the majority of the proceeds of the Maine property loan in six separate cash withdrawals of $9,000 each from five different Sovereign Bank branches in the New Bedford area. The withdrawals were structured to conceal his possession of the loan proceeds and to avoid currency reporting rules that require banks to report cash transactions of over $10,000 to the United States Treasury. At the sentencing hearing, the government also presented evidence that from 2004 to 2008, Souza caused the widower’s net worth to decline from over $750,000 to virtually nothing, while also causing the widower to incur liabilities of over $140,000 during the same period. The evidence also showed that Souza pawned the widower’s watch and other valuables after the widower had been placed into an assisted living facility.
Alabama Man Sentenced for Structuring Currency Transactions
On June 22, 2012, in Birmingham, Ala., Jerry Dwayne Lang, of Somerville, Ala., was sentenced to 36 months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $75,000. Lang was a scrap metal dealer who ran C&J Recycling in Somerville, Alabama. Lang was convicted in December 2011 on 70 counts of structuring cash transactions with two separate banks between April 2008 and October 2008. Lang’s transactions were designed to avoid the legal requirement for banks to report currency transactions in excess of $10,000 to the federal government. According to evidence at trial, he structured his transactions as follows: Lang bought wrecked vehicles at auction and hired American Recycling to crush the vehicles for scrap metal. American Recycling issued multiple checks made out to Lang, not to C&J Recycling, of less than $10,000, instead of one check of more than $10,000. Lang would cash the checks at different times.
Three South Florida Defendants Sentenced for Kickback Scheme in Hurricane Wilma FEMA FraudOn June 4, 2012, in Miami, Fla., Jeffrey Wayne Aunspaugh, a Port St. Lucie electrical contractor, his wife, Angela Aunspaugh, and Christopher Hale, his brother-in-law, were sentenced for their roles a kickback scheme involving Hurricane Wilma disaster relief FEMA payments. Jeffrey and Angela Aunspaugh were each sentenced to 63 months in prison and two years supervised release. Hale was sentenced to 30 months in prison and two years supervised release. In March 2012, the Aunspaughs were convicted of conspiracies to commit honest services mail fraud, money laundering and structuring financial transactions to evade currency reporting requirements. Hale pleaded guilty to receiving kickbacks. According to evidence presented at trial, Jeffrey and Angela Aunspaugh, owners of Ener-Phase Electric, Inc., obtained more than $1 million from subcontracts with Glades Utilities Services, Inc. for storm-related repairs following Hurricane Wilma in 2005. The Aunspaughs paid more than $200,000 in cash kickbacks to their brother-in-law, Christopher Hale, who was the general manager of Glades Utilities Services, Inc., to obtain the contracts.
Former Florida Bank Manager Sentenced for Structuring Financial Transactions
On May 25, 2012, in Miami, Fla., Carey Robinson, a former bank branch manager in West Palm Beach, was sentenced to 57 months in prison and two years of supervised release. Robinson pleaded guilty to one count of structuring financial transactions and causing the bank to fail to file required currency transaction reports. According to court documents, Robinson was employed as a bank manager from 2008 through May 2011. Beginning in approximately May 2009, Robinson started exchanging small bills for large bills for a bank customer. In a span of two years, Robinson exchanged almost $1 million for this customer. Most exchanges involved between $30,000 and $40,000. Although a bank is required to file currency transaction reports with the Department of Treasury for all cash transactions involving more than $10,000, Robinson ensured that the bank never filed a single currency transaction report for any of these exchanges.
Connecticut Woman Sentenced for Structuring Cash Transactions On May 14, 2012, in Hartford, Conn., Della Lien, of Cheshire, was sentenced to 24 months of in prison, three years of supervised release, fined $30,000 and ordered to forfeit $125,010 for structuring more than $400,000 in currency transactions to evade reporting requirements. According to court documents and statements made in court, from March 2007 through June 2009, Lien made 14 cash deposits in increments ranging from $8,000 to $9,750, and totaling $125,010, into various accounts she held. At the time, Lien knew that the bank was required to issue a report for a currency transaction in excess of $10,000, and that by conducting her financial transactions in amounts less than $10,001, she intended to evade the transaction reporting requirements. In addition, between April 2006 and October 2009, Lien structured an additional $281,763 in cash deposits at banks in New York.
Former Investment Advisor Sentenced to PrisonOn April 6, 2012, in Buffalo, N.Y., Timothy Geidel, of Hamburg, was sentenced to 42 months in prison and ordered to pay $1.3 million in restitution. Geidel pleaded guilty to wire fraud and structuring for defrauding more than 40 investors out of $1.3 million. According to court documents, while working as an investment adviser with Georgetown Capital Group, Inc., Geidel diverted investor funds to his own use. Between 1990 and 2010, Geidel gave victims the impression that he would be investing their money in high yield stocks, bonds, mutual funds and certificates of deposit. Instead of investing funds as he indicated to his victims, the defendant diverted some of the funds to his own use by depositing the money into his personal bank accounts. The defendant also used some of the funds to pay off earlier investors to perpetuate the scheme.
New York Woman Sentenced on Money Laundering Charge
On March 22, 2012, in New York, N.Y., Maribel Lopez was sentenced to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release for her role in a cocaine distribution conspiracy. In September 2011, Lopez pleaded guilty to one count of structuring. According to court documents, Lopez assisted a narcotics distribution organization by transporting and concealing narcotics proceeds. From October 2006 through June 2009, she made over 80 cash deposits in amounts under $10,000, totaling $155,120
Arizona Man Sentenced for Scheme to Defraud Investors
On March 14, 2012, in Tucson, Ariz., Philip Mark Cain, of Corona de Tucson, was sentenced to 51 months in prison, five years supervised release and was ordered to pay $1,272,943 in restitution. In December 2011, Cain pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud, one count of engaging in an illegal monetary transaction greater than $10,000 and one count of structuring a transaction to avoid a currency reporting requirement. According to the indictment, Cain solicited funds from his clients to be invested in structured notes from Deutsche Bank. Cain deposited over $1.4 million of client funds into his bank accounts at JPMorgan Chase and did not invest the funds with Deutsche Bank. Between June 2008 and May 2010, Cain withdrew $596,000 of client funds from his JPMorgan Chase accounts in the form of checks or cashier’s checks payable to himself or his family members. Additionally, from June 2008 to June 2010, Cain withdrew over $400,000 in currency from the same accounts with most withdrawals being less than $10,000, which is the currency transaction reporting limit. During the same time period, approximately 62 vehicles were registered to Cain with the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division and Cain paid by cash or cashier’s check for the repair of vehicles at various times. Cain then sold vehicles through classic car auctioneer Barrett-Jackson, receiving approximately $978,000 in wires from Barrett-Jackson between October 2010 through February 2011.
Texas Resident Sentenced for Structuring Financial TransactionsOn February 29, 2012, in Amarillo, Texas, Amy Fernandez was sentenced to 12 months in prison and ordered to pay a money judgment of $99,950 for structuring financial transactions to avoid the reporting requirements. According to court documents, Fernandez admitted that she purchased cashier’s checks from four separate financial institutions each day during the week of February 22, 2010 through February 26, 2010. In order to avoid federal reporting requirements, Fernandez purchased these cashier’s checks in either $3,000 or $2,950 amounts, for a combined total of $59,550. Fernandez tendered cash that she removed from large, gallon-sized plastic bags that she carried in her purse. During one transaction, Fernandez stated that she had to make certain that she stayed under the $3,000 threshold.
New Jersey Woman Sentenced for Role in Structuring and Bank Fraud
On January 23, 2012, in Newark, N.J., Kim S. Morris, of Belleville, N.J., was sentenced to 33 months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $708,855 for participating in a mortgage fraud scheme and structuring money orders to evade transaction reporting and identification requirements. Morris, a part-time court clerk at the Essex County Courthouse, pleaded guilty to an Information charging her with one count of bank fraud and one count of structuring. According to the court documents and statements made in court, Morris admitted that she applied for a mortgage loan from Wells Fargo Bank in January 2008 by completing a fraudulent Uniform Residential Loan Application to procure approximately $624,000 for a home loan. The loan application contained material misrepresentations, including inflating Morris’ personal income and falsifying the name of her employer. These fraudulent misrepresentations caused Wells Fargo to extend a home loan to Morris. Morris also admitted that from March 2008 through late June 2009, she structured approximately 110 money orders, totaling $84,855, for the purpose of evading the reporting and identification requirements.
New York Woman Sentenced for Structuring Millions in Currency Transactions
On January 4, 2012, in Syracuse, N.Y., Rosalie Jacobs, of Hogansburg, N.Y., was sentenced to five years probation, 12 months of home confinement, and ordered to forfeit $2,634,189 to the United States. As part of her plea, Jacobs admitted that she conspired with others to structure a series of cash deposits of U.S. currency in less than $10,000 increments to avoid federal reporting requirements. During the relevant 13 month period, Jacobs ran a business named Jacobs Tobacco on the Akwesasne Indian Reserve and received payments for tobacco products in U.S. currency. Jacobs was aware that any cash deposit into a domestic financial institution in excess of $10,000 caused the financial institution to generate a Currency Transaction Report. In an effort to avoid such reporting requirements, Jacobs caused $2,634,189 to be deposited in accounts held at two financial institutions with each deposit being intentionally in an amount less than $10,000. For each transaction, Jacobs or one of her employees packaged the cash in separate bags at Jacobs Tobacco and then gave it to a person, who was instructed to make the deposits.
More. (Good examples for employee training.)