As part of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s ongoing efforts to demonstrate that financial institutions’ Bank Secrecy Act reporting is read and used, FinCEN today spotlighted six law enforcement cases that made effective use of BSA data to prosecute successfully.
The cases included a financial adviser busted for defrauding an impaired adult by Suspicious Activity Reports and Currency Transaction Reports, a transnational weapons of mass destruction proliferator caught based on reports from several New York banks, the addition of several new individuals to terror watch lists based on suspicious money transfers, a criminal drug ring flagged by reports from five different financial institutions, a smuggling ring on the U.S.-Mexico border pinpointed through hundreds of SARs and CTRs and a collegiate drug trafficker caught through structured deposit reports.
“Without the valuable information that U.S. financial institutions provide, the significant cases recognized here today would likely never have seen the light of day,” said outgoing FinCEN Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery. “FinCEN is proud to act as the bridge between law enforcement and the financial industry, and we will continue to recognize and promote this important partnership.” Although FinCEN did not publicly identify the financial institutions involved in reporting the activity in these cases, it did share information about the successful cases with the institutions whose reports were used.
