I think I may already know the answer to this, but wanted to run it past the group....

We have a customer who took out a loan in her own name, put the proceeds from the loan into her checking account, and then took 28k in cash from the checking stating she intended to buy her adult son a vehicle. He is not joint owner on the checking account or the loan, however we do have his info in our system as a former customer.

1) would we mark that she is conducting the transaction on her own behalf or on the behalf of someone else since she stated the funds were for her son?

2) being that we have the information of the individual (the son) who will be benefiting from the funds, do we need to include him in the CTR as the person it was conducted on behalf of?

3) Do we just report on her?

Thanks so much!

I would just report on her.

I would too, but what was the stated purpose of the loan that she just took out, if I might ask?

So filing on just her, acting on her own behalf?

My understanding is the stated loan purpose was debt consolidation.

yes, acting on her own behalf. I was always taught you file on who is in front of you. The customer can say anything but we don't know for certain that is true.

"Debt consolidation" doesn't translate to "Gonna buy my son a car." And unless there are unlicensed creditors involved, debt consolidation is not typically done with cash.

I agree John, I would be wary of either elder abuse or she is involved in some sort of scam. If the stated loan purpose to get the loan was debt consolidation, then she also lied to you on the credit application and that is an immediate SAR situation.

Thank you all! Going to reach out to the lender from here -- I appreciate your input.

Hi! Our institution reached out to FinCEN about this exact situation. We were instructed to add the person (the son in your scenario) to the CTR. I can send you the email correspondence if you'd like.

That was crappy instructions IMHO - I can "say" anything I want to standing at the teller line. What the party actually does with the cash cannot be proved. You have nothing to go on for an actual CTR filing on the son.

Late add but I would file just on the mum. I would leave the son out of it. If the son was on the checking account that would be a different story but as inferred above hearsay is not file worthy.

I have a secondary question regarding this situation:

Would you mark the Cash Out in #27 as a) Withdrawal or b) Advance(s) on credit?

I would mark as Withdrawal.