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IRS Agent Blabs SAR Filing to Customer

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Question: 
We have reason to believe that a member of the law enforcement community (IRS CID) informed a customer of a SAR which we filed. Is law enforcement prohibited from disclosing the existence of the SAR?
Answer: 

Yes. The law doesn't carve out an exception for the law enforcement community. In fact, there are a number of instances in which IRS agents have allegedly contacted the targets of SARs for crimes like structuring, supposedly to advise the customer to quit violating the law. Bankers have expressed frustration that this practice can cause problems for the banks that have filed SARs (it's easy for a customer to understand where a SAR comes from when someone says "a bank has filed a report that you appear to be structuring deposits to your accounts to avoid federal government reporting requirements"). There is a thread on just this topic on Bankers' Threads.

First published on BankersOnline.com 7/30/07

First published on 07/30/2007

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