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#2202565 - 01/10/19 04:04 PM Structuring- Not suspicious
sra724 Offline
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 46
We have a customer that took out 50K from a deposit account and received 5 cashier's checks for 10K each. Each check was made payable to a family member OR herself. The customer came in each week for 5 weeks and cashed each check herself. The customer is elderly said she wanted to give her family the money, but has since changed her mind. Should I file a SAR for structuring even though there is nothing suspicious about the funds?

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#2202569 - 01/10/19 04:12 PM Re: Structuring- Not suspicious sra724
bcompliance Offline
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Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 1,294
I would be having a conversation with the customer to ensure she's not caught up in a scam.
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#2202578 - 01/10/19 04:31 PM Re: Structuring- Not suspicious sra724
edAudit Offline
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edAudit
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You are here
If she changed her mind why didnt she just deposit the checks back in?
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#2202579 - 01/10/19 04:33 PM Re: Structuring- Not suspicious sra724
BrianC Offline
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Illinois
I would add that regardless of whether or not the source of the funds is not suspicious, if the use of the funds is suspicious, you still file. (For more information on suspicious use of legitimate funds, try an internet search using 'Dennis Hastert structuring.')
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#2202587 - 01/10/19 05:09 PM Re: Structuring- Not suspicious sra724
sra724 Offline
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 46
She is older but according to the bank employees she is sharp. She just said that one of her sister's was going to spend the money on something crazy and she decided not to give it to her. She said that she was going to give them each cash. Why she didn't just cash them all at once? I don't know. Her intent does not appear suspicious, just her handling of the whole process is what I find questionable.

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#2202597 - 01/10/19 05:35 PM Re: Structuring- Not suspicious sra724
ColoradoAML Offline
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Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 338
I'm afraid to ask this question because I feel like I may be missing something fundamental, but it sounds like she cashed all the checks together, meaning she left with a total of $50k, which should have been reported as a CTR. If she wasn't splitting these among different days or branches or something, I don't see how it would appear she was trying to avoid CTR reporting, so I don't understand how this could be considered structuring.

I agree with what others have said though and would be very concerned if an elderly customer out of the blue and out of pattern decided to carry around $50,000 in cash, and the potentials for fraud, money mule activity and elder abuse.

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#2202600 - 01/10/19 05:46 PM Re: Structuring- Not suspicious sra724
rlcarey Offline
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 83,219
Galveston, TX
ColoradoAML - original post: The customer came in each week for 5 weeks and cashed each check herself.
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#2202608 - 01/10/19 06:10 PM Re: Structuring- Not suspicious sra724
sra724 Offline
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 46
Would I be scrutinized for not filing it given the customer's explanation?

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#2202617 - 01/10/19 06:36 PM Re: Structuring- Not suspicious sra724
ColoradoAML Offline
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Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 338
Thanks Randy, I missed that.

sra - the exam manual generally instructs that a bank should not be criticized for individual SAR filing decisions, and if you don't believe it's suspicious or illegal then you don't need to file. What they could do is use this decision to determine if there's something systemic if they strongly disagree, or otherwise criticize your process. If you don't file you need to clearly document your decision, which I would think includes why you don't believe this to be structuring. Remember, the legitimacy of the source/use of funds can be independent of they're avoidance of reporting limits.

If you think your customer is doing this in this pattern for any reason other than to avoid BSA reporting, state that. Otherwise, structuring is a crime and you're required to report it. From the exam manual you must file on:

Transactions conducted or attempted by, at, or through the bank (or an affiliate) and aggregating $5,000 or more, if the bank or affiliate knows, suspects, or has reason to suspect that the transaction:
...
Is designed to evade the BSA or its implementing regulations.
Last edited by ColoradoAML; 01/10/19 06:49 PM.
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