I'm almost afraid to ask this question... should we file a SAR if we know our commercial customer is hiring people who are not eligible to work in the United States? The only reason we know about this is that they regularly deposit over $10,000 in currency and some of the folks who make the deposits have no Social Security Numbers.

We currently open accounts for undocumented individuals with no SSNs or ITINs using their Matricula Consular as a government number, and we've been told by the regulators that the fact that they're not in the country legally isn't our concern. My gut says that we don't have to file a SAR, for the same reasons that we don't file on nondocumented aliens (immigration isn't really our issue?) but is it possible that this is considered an entirely different issue?

I would say no.
But I tend to stay away from INS/ICE issues.

Why not? What's the downside to filing a SAR?

I would say no as well. Basing this on the fact that the transaction itself is not designed to evade any law or regulation. My read of SAR requirements is that the suspicious activity has to be somehow tied to the conduct of a particular transaction or series of transactions, not a blanket requirement to report any unlawful behavior. For example if one of your lenders visited the factory of a commercial client and noticed obvious OSHA violations, you would not file a SAR.

Prior thread. Since you already have your answer from your regulator, you might want to make your own call to FinCEN.

An employee was searching to find addresses for statements which were returned for no forwarding address. One thing led to another and we did a match with SS office and the names and SS#s do not match for three of these customers. One of the customers has deposited more than $5,000 in the past three months and electronically conducts transactions. The other two have not had activity for a while. One of these accounts has a balance of $70 and the other one $1500. Should I file a SAR? Would you file a SAR? If you file would you mark it as identiy theft? Would you close the accounts? Thanks for your help!

You have made an assumption that any of us knows more about these accounts than you do. You also haven't indicated whether you've done any digging, and you absolutely must have more information than you've given to justify filing a SAR (or not).

Start with the transaction histories of the accounts for the last year and compare each account's activity with what you might believe to be a norm. Seek out explanations of any apparent aberrations. Then ask yourself the questions you've put to us.

Bank Surfer - The downside is having to file supplemental reports for continued activity.

Customer 1: Customer date 1998. Last deposit June 2004. Balance $1500. Only interest payments for less than $10 show on the account this year.
Customer 2: Customer date 1998. Balance $70. Only one transaction this year, a deposit for $20. Interest was paid this year for less than $1.
Customer 3: I will do more research, since the name on checks is what we show as his middle name.
Should we just close account 1 & 2?

I still fail to see anything suspicious, other than than the apparent mismatch of SSNs. But you know your market and customers better than we do. If you believe that what you see is suspicious, there is no harm in filing except for the need to follow-up if the accounts are kept open. But before filing, I'd want to know a lot more. You need to have more than "SSNs don't match" in the narrative for the SAR.

I know that BSA has SAR thresholds. HOw many people are reporting SAR for activity that doesn't meet the $5000 or $25,000 threshold. If the activity is illegal..fraud, counterfeit cashier checks and money orders, skimming of debit cards, or phishing that worked...do you file a SAR if the $ doesn't total up to the threshold. Just to be clear, I am talking about numerous accounts, not one account that had all of that activity. Do I contact law enforcement and file a SAR, or just a SAR, or just law enforcement. AAHHHGGGHH

The $$ activity levels trigger the SAR - otherwise it's just a local law enforcement issue.

Today I receive back three cashier checks totalling $7350. They are written on three different banks but deposited by one of our customers into their checking account. All three checks are counterfeit. The customer says she got ajob on careerbuilder.com cashing checks. She keeps 10% and sends the balance to someplace in London in money orders.
Am I correct to assume since I don't know the suspect, and the checks don't total $25,000, I don't file a SAR? I will be filing a lawsuit against the customer because she says she doesn't have any money and feels she doesn't have to repay the bank since she was a "victim".

Victim or not, whether she realizes it or not, she's an accomplice. I'd consider her a suspect and file the SAR. Describe her "victimhood" in the narrative.