Breaking the bank

FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin,The, July, 2006 by Edward Hendrie

(56) 18 U.S.C. [section] 981 (West 2005).

(57) 18 U.S.C. [section] 983(c)(1) (West 2005).

(58) 18 U.S.C. [section] 983(c)(3) (West 2005).

(59) 18 U.S.C. [section] 983(d)(2)(A) provides that with respect to a property interest in existence at the time the illegal conduct giving rise to forfeiture took place, the term innocent owner means an owner who did not know of the conduct giving rise to forfeiture, or upon learning of the conduct giving rise to the forfeiture, did all that reasonably could be expected under the circumstances to terminate such use of the property.

(60) 18 U.S.C. [section] 983(d)(1) (West 2005).

(61) 18 U.S.C. [section] 983(d) (West 2005).

(62) E.g., 31 U.S.C. [section] 5332 (West 2005) (bulk cash smuggling of more than $10,000 on person or conveyance into or out of the United States with intent to evade the Currency and Monetary Instrument Report (CMIR) requirement under 31 U.S.C. [section] 5316); 31 U.S.C. [section] 5316 (West 2005) (transporting currency or other monetary instrument of more than $10,000 into or out of the United States must be reported on a CMIR); 31 U.S.C. [section] 5321 (West 2005) (civil penalties for violating the CMIR requirement); 31 U.S.C. [section] 5324 (c) (West 2005) (criminal penalties for evading the CMIR reporting requirement); 31 U.S.C. [section] 5318 (g) (West 2005) (suspicious activity report (SAR)); 31 U.S.C. [section] 5321 (West 2005) (civil penalty for failing to file an SAR); 31 U.S.C. [section] 5322 (West 2005) (criminal penalties for failure to file an SAR); 31 U.S.C. [section] 5325 (West 2005) (record-keeping requirement for financial institutions that issue a note in a transaction involving coin or currency of $3,000 or more); 31 U.S.C. [section] 5324 (West 2005) (criminal penalties for evading the record-keeping requirement); 31 U.S.C. [section] 5313 (West 2005) (currency transaction report (CTR) required for financial institutions engaging in a currency transaction exceeding $10,000); 31 U.S.C. [section] 5321 (civil penalties for violating CTR requirement); 31 U.S.C. [section][section] 5322, 5324 (West 2005) (criminal penalties for failing to file or evading the CTR requirement); 31 U.S.C. [section] 5317(c)(1) (West 2005) (criminal forfeiture for CTR, CMIR, or structuring violation); 26 U.S.C. [section] 60501 (reporting cash payments of more than $10,000 in a trade or business (IRS Form 8300)); 26 U.S.C. [section] 7203 (criminal penalties for failing to file IRS Form 8300). Note that 31 U.S.C. [section] 5331 has a provision that parallels the requirements of 26 U.S.C. [section] 60501. Section 5331, however, uses the terms coins or currency in place of the term cash used in [section] 60501. The term currency in [section] 5331 has the same definition as the term cash in [section] 60501. 26 U.S.C. [section] 60501(c)(1)(A) provides that cash received in a transaction reported under title 31 (31 U.S.C. [section] 5331) need not be reported under [section] 60501 if the SOT determines that reporting the transaction under [section] 60501 would duplicate the reporting to the treasury under Title 31. The penalty for violating [section] 5331 is up to 5 years or a fine up to $250,000 (which is 10 times the maximum fine for an individual under [section] 60501). A person violating [section] 5331 while violating another federal law or as part of a pattern of illegal activity involving more than $100,000 in a 12-month period shall be fined up to $500,000, imprisoned up to 10 years, or both. 31 U.S.C. [section] 5324(b) contains a provision, similar to the provision at 26 U.S.C. [section] 60501(f), prohibiting a person from evading the reporting requirements of [section] 5331 by causing or attempting to cause a nonfinancial trade or business to fail to file a report or file a report that contains material omissions or misstatements or to structure a transaction. The above crimes could be object crimes of a conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. [section] 371, which prohibits a conspiracy to commit any offense against the United States.