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#2255382 - 06/16/21 02:44 PM Suspicious Activity Question
Comply Central Offline
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I am new to BSA and wondered if you could help me determine if this scenario is suspicious and if so what type of suspicious activity would you consider it? If a customer only cashes what looks to be checks from a contractor, which averages about $20,000 a month, and never deposits the funds, just keeping enough in the account to keep it open, would this be considered suspicious activity from a BSA standpoint? I think he is only keeping an account with us so we will cash his checks.

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#2255383 - 06/16/21 02:54 PM Re: Suspicious Activity Question Comply Central
rlcarey Offline
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That is a lot of cash without knowing more information about the customer. I would just file and close his account.
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#2255384 - 06/16/21 03:21 PM Re: Suspicious Activity Question Comply Central
lokes Offline
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Florida
I would consider some additional information like: 1. Are these checks from contractors a result of work he is doing? 2. If so, is this in line with what he states his employment is? 3. Does he question or avoid filing CTRs when he is cashing the check? 4. Does he travel to different branches to cash the checks? 5. Is there something about the activity that might give you a feeling he is laudering money or obtained the funds through illegal means? How long has the activity been going on and how long has he had an established account with you? Like you said, he might just be using your financial institution to cash the check so he has quicker access to funds (avoiding check holds). Is he cashing the check to pay employees in cash? I know this doesnt really give you an answer, but just trying to stimulate things to consider. It might not even hurt to give him a call and discuss the activity; a lot of times you get good information that way that will help steer what direction you decide to go with it. Good luck!

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#2255391 - 06/16/21 03:55 PM Re: Suspicious Activity Question Comply Central
Comply Central Offline
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1. He is a builder.
2. It is consistent with his line of work. The construction businesses are so busy in our area.
3. He does not question or try to avoid CTRs. Almost all check cashing totals are over the limit.
4. He always goes to the same branch and most of the time same teller.
5. I don't think there is any type of laundering going on. It just looks like he does a lot of work for one individual contractor. Usually referencing what lot or address the work is for.
He has had an account for a few years, but the increase in the cashed checks started around the fall of last year. Of course like I mentioned construction and housing has been crazy in our area and materials are much higher now. He mentioned that it is for materials and his pay to the teller one time as well. I had the teller make him start depositing the checks, he does then withdrawals most of it. I thought maybe he is paying some people who work for him in cash, but from my understanding that is legal to do so. It would be on the employees to report their earnings themselves. Like I mentioned I feel like he is just keeping an account with us to cash his checks.
Last edited by Lynzey Lambert; 06/16/21 03:57 PM.
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#2255394 - 06/16/21 04:03 PM Re: Suspicious Activity Question Comply Central
rlcarey Offline
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Galveston, TX
Then as I suggested - make your decision on this SAR and then remove any doubt about what you need to do in the future as unless you charge service fees for dispensing cash - he is a money losing customer.
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#2255395 - 06/16/21 04:19 PM Re: Suspicious Activity Question Comply Central
ACBbank Online
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So he is a builder. He could easily provide documentation supporting the cash activity. How do you know this customer isn't avoiding payroll taxes? You stated that it's the employees are responsible for reporting their cash income? How do you know that? Are they contractors?

Maybe you have answers but I hope your answers aren't based on responses from the customer without some type of verification. I don't know many legitimate contractors who don't have business accounts. This doesn't make sense to me.
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#2255397 - 06/16/21 04:27 PM Re: Suspicious Activity Question rlcarey
Comply Central Offline
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Thank you for your help.

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#2255398 - 06/16/21 04:34 PM Re: Suspicious Activity Question Comply Central
Amy S Offline
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You aren't his accountant as far as taxes and paying employees go, but, if he is purchasing materials and he is on the up and up, he would be paying with checks/debit to create a paper trail for his bookkeeping, not suddenly cash. If this is not how he has done business in the past, it wouldn't change just because he is busy. Sounds suspicious to me, especially with it being checks from one specific source. When in doubt on a SAR, follow your instincts.

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#2255402 - 06/16/21 04:47 PM Re: Suspicious Activity Question Amy S
Comply Central Offline
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Thank you for your help.

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#2255507 - 06/17/21 07:21 PM Re: Suspicious Activity Question Comply Central
CI@MBOC Offline
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OP - you could pose this scenario to a hundred different AML/BSA investigators, and you'd get a hundred different responses, opinions, thoughts, inquiries, follow-up questions.

"I think he is only keeping an account with us so we will cash his checks." If you charge a check-cashing fee, darn right he is. That's not a BSA issue.

Been to home depot lately to see the prices on a single sheet of plywood? No joke, raw materials for construction/contractor/handyman/craftsman jobs are crazy.

Always have to keep the perspective of while $20000 cash might be a lot to you and me, maybe it's entirely normal for them. Construction trade suppliers also offer cash pricing discount as opposed to plastic (just like gas stations). If he's not structuring, then I don't see any AML issue with what you've posted. Sounds like his checks cashed are right in line with what he stated his employment/occupation is.
His taxes are not your issue as AML/BSA investigator. That is most certainly not the purpose nor intent of a SAR.

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#2255569 - 06/18/21 01:28 PM Re: Suspicious Activity Question Comply Central
edAudit Offline
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$20,000 a month is $240,000 per year. Make your decision and if you do not file document document and document.

As for Home Depot and cash; there are incentives to using credit such as 1 year for returns, financing options and using self service registers (have you ever waited on the manned register while the self serve is open at HD.. Try putting $20,000 in cash into one of these.

While banks are not accounts or tax advisors, BSA risk can also add Reputational risk and Regulatory risk.

This is not a file or not to file post as there does not appear to be enough info. Did someone talk to the client and get a reasonable explanation?
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#2255578 - 06/18/21 02:24 PM Re: Suspicious Activity Question edAudit
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Originally Posted by edAudit
As for Home Depot and cash; there are incentives to using credit such as 1 year for returns, financing options and using self service registers (have you ever waited on the manned register while the self serve is open at HD.. Try putting $20,000 in cash into one of these.

To be fair, this doesn't really happen in practice. I worked construction for a year after law school before getting into compliance. Every contractor has an "account" with HD/Lowes - they never cash out, they order their stuff, pick it up, and are billed for it. So, spending cash there is actually odd to me. We have lumber yards, stone quarries, etc. here that deal almost exclusively in cash and give discounts for cash purchases, that seems much more likely to me. Sorry to sound argumentative, I don't mean too. You're right, we are not accountants or tax advisors, that's all his problem.

Here nor there, I don't think it's a lot of money in the industry, but you know your customer better than the rest of us. Get an explanation, if you believe him, document and no file. If you don't believe him, report it.

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#2255581 - 06/18/21 02:46 PM Re: Suspicious Activity Question Comply Central
edAudit Offline
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These checks should be payable to an individual and not a business. Is there a business? In my neck of the woods (may not be relevant in you location) all construction companies need to have a business license and insurance. If so why are the checks payable to an individual?

Sorry there is not enough information to make a decision. Someone needs to talk with the customer and have knowledge of the industry in your location. What is common in NYC may not be common in a small town.
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#2255604 - 06/18/21 04:37 PM Re: Suspicious Activity Question edAudit
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I completely disagree with communicating with the customer.
That is a slippery slope that defeats the point of having skilled, experienced, investigators. Might as well just call every single customer every single time you have an alert/investigation, then no one would ever have to file a SAR ever again. Impenetrable risk management!
I'm sure an auditor/regulator would love to read how that process is designed and implemented.

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#2255606 - 06/18/21 05:04 PM Re: Suspicious Activity Question Comply Central
rlcarey Offline
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Well, you either need to figure out what the customer is doing and be comfortable with it or get rid of them. I am at a loss about taking a stance as to not to talk to a customer in order to get comfortable with their business operations. AML/BSA does not pay the bills and just willy nilly cutting customer's loose because you do not want to talk to them is usually not the way to go.
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#2255610 - 06/18/21 05:50 PM Re: Suspicious Activity Question Comply Central
ColoradoAML Offline
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In my opinion, asking a customer what they do for a living, the purpose of certain transactions or why there's a change in activity is completely appropriate in many cases. I'm sure I'm not alone in having an investigation team that is certain that activity is suspicious, only to have a relationship manager inquire with a customer and return a completely reasonable explanation and supporting documentation. Without asking, we'd be inundating law enforcement with useless SARs. I also think there's plenty of activity we can view and conclude that regardless of the customer's explanation, a SAR is/is not warranted.

I don't believe that any bank investigation team has the tools to intuit the purpose behind all transactions while sitting in an office looking at account statements. If it were possible, what would be the purpose of CDD/EDD questionnaires?

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#2255612 - 06/18/21 05:58 PM Re: Suspicious Activity Question Comply Central
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What's there to get comfortable with? He's a builder/contractor cashing checks from construction co's.

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#2255617 - 06/18/21 06:31 PM Re: Suspicious Activity Question Comply Central
edAudit Offline
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If he is a builder why is he getting checks to cash payable (presumably) to a individual and not a business? Why is the checks not being deposited to a business account and then needed cash withdrawn?

Most banks will not cash a check payable to a business for a good reason.

Once again to determine if it is suspicious I would need additional information. There is enough information provided to institute an investigation.

If we tossed all customers that show up on an alert we will quickly be out of business.
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#2255620 - 06/18/21 06:41 PM Re: Suspicious Activity Question CI@MBOC
rlcarey Offline
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Originally Posted by CI@MBOC
What's there to get comfortable with? He's a builder/contractor cashing checks from construction co's.

No chance of money laundering there I suppose?
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#2255632 - 06/18/21 08:51 PM Re: Suspicious Activity Question CI@MBOC
HappyGilmore Offline
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Pulling people out of the ditc...
Originally Posted by CI@MBOC
What's there to get comfortable with? He's a builder/contractor cashing checks from construction co's.
so he says, but without having a conversation and getting more info about why he is getting checks like this and cashing, then yuo don't know. I'd hate to be the bank exec getting subpoena'd and going in front of the judge saying "talking to a customer is a slippery slope and not my job..."
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#2255641 - 06/18/21 10:48 PM Re: Suspicious Activity Question edAudit
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Originally Posted by HappyGilmore
so he says, but without having a conversation and getting more info about why he is getting checks like this and cashing, then yuo don't know.
He's getting checks like that because he's a builder/contractor/handyman/craftsman/carpenter. That's what he stated when he opened his account. What sort of checks would you expect him to be getting if not from a builder/contractor? I'd be more suspicious if the checks were from a liquor store or used car dealership or pants manufacturer, no?
There's no requirement he has to have a business account unless the checks are payable to a business.
Is your plan to call every customer who generates an alert/investigation because "you don't know"? Every alert/investigation I work I don't actually "know" what's happening, I can only assume. I know nothing of my customer's personal lives or business transactions/contracts/jobs/projects, I just ask myself if the activity makes sense for the customer profile. Maybe he does crown molding from exotic woods and not MDF? Maybe he installs travertine and Italian tile not just porcelain? Maybe he takes his career seriously like Mike Holmes and isn't some Craigslist hack? Maybe he does specialty carpentry work on handrails, kitchen cabinets, and entertainment centers and not just stairs? Maybe he plumbs, using only copper piping and no PVC?
I get your point, I do. But you're trying to find absolution rather than reasonableness.

Originally Posted by edAudit
If we tossed all customers that show up on an alert we will quickly be out of business.
Agreed. Exiting a customer for AML/BSA is fantastically subjective and puts all sorts of awkward between the customer and the branch employees. We don't only keep customers we make money from. Never in my career have I ever heard someone say we should exit a relationship because they're "a money losing customer".

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#2255644 - 06/19/21 12:15 PM Re: Suspicious Activity Question Comply Central
rlcarey Offline
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Galveston, TX
You are missing the point. I have been at this for 40 years now and a contractor cashing a quarter million dollars worth of these checks a year is not normal behavior, regardless of who is paying him. There basically is no "normal" excuse for such activity when the only banking relationship is a checking account that he does not use except to get in the bank door that allows this activity to continue without question (until now)..
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#2255646 - 06/19/21 01:05 PM Re: Suspicious Activity Question Comply Central
edAudit Offline
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Maybe he does crown molding from exotic woods and not MDF? Maybe he installs travertine and Italian tile not just porcelain? Maybe he takes his career seriously like Mike Holmes and isn't some Craigslist hack? Maybe he does specialty carpentry work on handrails, kitchen cabinets, and entertainment centers and not just stairs? Maybe he plumbs, using only copper piping and no PVC?

Maybe he launders money for a cartel, Maybe he is involved with human trafficking, Maybe tax evasion …

Who knows unless you find out. On the surface is does not seem normal

(sorry Randy I only have 39 years of this) lol
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#2255651 - 06/19/21 03:42 PM Re: Suspicious Activity Question Comply Central
Andy_Z Offline
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I'll add to the thread with an example. We had a downtown C-store owner start withdrawing larger than normal amounts of cash weekly. We couldn't figure it out and thought it was suspicious and reportable. The number of reasons we could imagine was greater than the threads would allow. In the end we asked. Guess what, she wrote a bad check to a supplier and was put on a cash only basis for 6 months. Being her bank we could verify the check issue was true.

I'm not saying that's the case here, but the point is, you don't know. You need to decide if it's abnormal enough. Randy's point is also very valid as he said above, it's likely this relationship is costing the bank money to operate. Add the risk to that you have for criticism over the transactions and you should have a good explanation or have taken action. Remember the "S" is not for guilty and what if when filed law enforcement puts your SAR and CTRs with any number of others on the same fellow? Conversely, what if they can't? Either way you're covered on the risk side, but still need to address the negative income account.
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#2255753 - 06/22/21 07:32 PM Re: Suspicious Activity Question Comply Central
Richard Insley Offline
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If a quarter of a million dollars is flowing through your bank each year, maybe this customer could use other bank services. I'd want to know more about his business to be sure the bank hasn't overlooked a business development opportunity. Has anyone taken the time to do a drive-by at one of his work sites?
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