Re: Question Re: Patriot Act

>>Yes, but in the case of money-laundering and such laws, it's illegal
>>to avoid them. You can also expect that anyone who approaches the
>>radar trap (or drunk checkpoint), then turns around (presumably
>>because his radar detector went off or he spotted the checkpoint)
>>is likely to get chased and stopped. However, as far as I know,
>>"structuring" your route to avoid radar traps is not illegal.
>>"structuring" your transaction to avoid reportability is.
>
>With all due respect... and while thanking you for your interest and
>input... this simply cannot be so. You are saying that it is illegal
>for me to make a decision *not* to do something reportable??? What

Yes, if the decision is made *to avoid the report being made*.

>sort of illogical, mind-reading government are we talking about
>here???

Tin-plated dictator with delusions of godhood?

(No, that's not a crack about Bush, it applies to any
President or Congress in the last few decades).

The government doesn't have to read your mind. You made the
mistake of posting about it.

>Besides... have I said here that I intend to do something
>reportable...

Yes!

>OR illegal???
No, except for possible ways around the reporting.
But you didn't say you were actually going to DO them.

>I don't think so. Quite to the contrary,
>and I have said this before, I am looking for LEGAL solutions only.

legal != non-reportable.

>>Within the next three months I will be laid off and will need to buy
>>down my home mortgage significantly, if not eliminate it entirely. It
>>will take almost all the money I've got in the bank... PLUS... nearly
>>3/4 of the emergency fund cash... well into five figures worth.

This quote from the original post certainly sounds like you intend to
engage in a large cash transaction, one large enough to be reportable.
(I did *NOT* say it was illegal. It seems perfectly legal, and sensible)

>Let me repeat that: LEGAL ONLY!!! If there are none, I do nothing and
>suffer the financial strain. End of story.

Not end of story.

What reason can you come up with for *NOT* paying down your mortgage?
(since you announced you were going to do it, then seem hesitant
about going through with it *BECAUSE OF THE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS*).
If you mention reportability in your answer, that probably makes
NOT paying down your mortgage illegal. And remember, the Feds
probably have copies of all your posts in this thread. Doing nothing
may be an option you don't have any more, unless you can come up
with a really good excuse not involving reporting, like the layoff
was cancelled.

>Please read my original post again. Please? And damn... I still
>believe my speed trap analogy is right on the money (no pun intended).

http://www.occ.treas.gov/handbook/bsa.pdf (quotes below from page 35).

31CFR103.63 states "a person structures a transaction if that person,
acting alone, in conjunction with or on behalf of others, conducts or
attempts to conduct one or more transactions in currency at one or
more financial institutions, on one or more days, in any manner, for
the purpose of evading the CTR filing requirements". "In any manner"
includes, but is not limited to breaking down a single currency sum
exceeding $10,000 dollars into smaller amounts, that may be conducted
as a series of transactions at or less than $10,000. The transaction(s)
need not exceed $10,000 at any one financial institution on a single day
in order to constitute structuring.

All attempts to evade the BSA CTR filing requirements for cash transactions
that exceed $10,000 (31CFR103.22) are civil and criminal violations
of the BSA regulations.

__________________________________________________________________
If a customer goes over the $10,000 limit, they get a CTR (Currency
Transaction Report) filed. If they structure their transactions to
avoid the reporting, and the bank notices it, they get both a CTR
*and* a SAR (Suspicious Activity Report) filed. And the banks aren't
allowed to ask the customers to quit doing that! (and one bank was
asking for permission to do that).


As far as I know, there are no laws that prohibit changing your
driving route to evade speed traps, sobriety checkpoints, etc.
However, you can be found guilty of a crime for things like
sitting in your car and *NOT* driving (if, for example, they
can make a credible case that you were the getaway car driver
for an attempted bank robbery).

Gordon L. Burditt
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Hypothetical
    ... Then why do you bring up reporting income and structuring transactions in ... The reporting I was talking about was not tax ... it is the reporting that a bank is required to do with large ... was told by the bank manager that the only required reporting is CASH ...
    (rec.gambling.poker)
  • Re: Hypothetical
    ... Let the bank report what it will and if you're properly ... reporting and paying taxes I wouldn't worry about it. ... will not report nor does he know to whom this "bank" might be reporting ... ... financial institutions to other accounts in other financial institutions ... ...
    (rec.gambling.poker)
  • Re: Theft at work by colleague
    ... few weeks several hundred pounds has been withdrawn from his bank account ... for reporting a theft. ... The cash was withdrawn from a cash point using the correct PIN obviously ...
    (uk.legal)
  • Goldman Sachs, another sign that banks are turning themselves around. It beat Wall Street expectatio
    ... beat Wall Street's earnings expectations as it ... The bank, long considered one of the strongest players in the industry ... When Goldman became a bank holding company last fall amid the ... To adjust its reporting schedule, Goldman began fiscal 2009 on Jan. 1 ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Re: Cable TV News badly misreported Gov. Spitzers case
    ... Transaction reporting: The requirement for banks to report routine ... transactions over $10,000 applies to CASH only. ... That law applied to forced transport, ... I would suggest anyone interesting in the actual facts, ...
    (rec.arts.tv)