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State Agency Case Example (Money Services)

In early 2012, FinCEN conducted outreach to all of its state and local law enforcement partners, and asked for cases where FinCEN data played a useful role in their investigations. Below, in their own words, is an example of how FinCEN's stakeholders use FinCEN data. It has been edited only for…

Bank Secrecy Act Records Help Initiate Case and Lead to Networking of Separate Investigations

In 2005, a U.S. Attorney announced the indictment of three individuals operating an under-the-table payroll scheme. Under the scheme, defendants allegedly paid hundreds of temporary employees tens of millions of dollars in unreported cash payroll over a ten-year period. The case, initiated and…

Operation Cheque Mate

Operation Cheque Mate was initiated in June 2002, after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement source provided information about a United Kingdom-based organization defrauding United States futures and securities firms. This source led to the discovery of many Suspicious Activity Reports which…

SAR Leads to Convictions of Members of Computer Chip Theft Ring

A New Hampshire bank filed a SAR on a group of individuals who were cashing numerous checks from a local salvage company for amounts under $10,000. Based on this SAR, an investigation was initiated by IRS-CI. During the course of the investigation, it was discovered that the men cashing the…

Suspicious Activity Report Leads to Structuring Conviction and Links to Drug Investigation

In 2005, a federal judge sentenced an individual to two years in prison for structuring monetary transactions to avoid reporting requirements. The case started when a financial institution documented unusual financial activity on a series of SARs and notified the Internal Revenue Service, which…

FinCEN Data Proves to be Instrumental in Fraud Case

In a case propelled by information found in BSA records, an individual pleaded guilty to numerous charges, including the production of false identification documents. Notably, as soon as investigators became aware of the suspect's activity they queried BSA records and found details related to…

Proactive SAR Review Leads to Guilty Plea on Conspiracy and Money Laundering Charges

A Suspicious Activity Report detailing more than $4.6 million worth of fraudulent activity associated with electronics sales over the Internet prompted a SAR review team to initiate a case on a subject known to have been previously identified with fraudulent activity. The filer reported that the…

Reporting Suspicious Activity - A Quick Reference Guide for MSBs
Local Municipality Case Example (Failure to Follow Reporting Requirements)

In early 2012, FinCEN conducted outreach to all of its state and local law enforcement partners, and asked for cases where FinCEN data played a useful role in their investigations. Below, in their own words, is an example of how FinCEN's stakeholders use FinCEN data. It has been edited only for…

Bank Secrecy Act Records “Extremely Helpful” in Tracing Proceeds from Fraudulent Venture Capital Scheme

In late 2005, two individuals pleaded guilty to running a scheme to defraud hundreds of investors out of millions of dollars through phony pre-initial public offering stock sales. The pair claimed they worked for a venture capital firm that was underwriting a public stock offering for a company…