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Federal- Evading Currency Transaction Reporting Requirement

Statute
31 USC 5313(a). Reports on domestic coins and currency transactions

(a) When a domestic financial institution is involved in a transaction for the payment, receipt, or transfer of United States coins or currency (or other monetary instruments the Secretary of the Treasury prescribes), in an amount, denomination, or amount and denomination, or under circumstances the Secretary prescribes by regulation, the institution and any other participant in the transaction the Secretary may prescribe shall file a report on the transaction at the time and in the way the Secretary prescribes. A participant acting for another person shall make the report as the agent or bailee of the person and identify the person for whom the transaction is being made.

31 USC 5322. Criminal penalties

  1. A person willfully violating this subchapter or a regulation prescribed or order issued under this subchapter (except section 5315 or 5324 of this title or a regulation prescribed under section 5315 or 5324), or willfully violating a regulation prescribed under section 21 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act or section 123 of Public Law 91-508, shall be fined not more than $250,000, or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both.
  2. A person willfully violating this subchapter or a regulation prescribed or order issued under this subchapter (except section 5315 or 5324 of this title or a regulation prescribed under section 5315 or 5324), or willfully violating a regulation prescribed under section 21 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act or section 123 of Public Law 91-508, while violating another law of the United States or as part of a pattern of any illegal activity involving more than $100,000 in a 12-month period, shall be fined not more than $500,000, imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both.
  3. For a violation of section 5318(a)(2) of this title or a regulation prescribed under section 5318(a)(2), a separate violation occurs for each day the violation continues and at each office, branch, or place of business at which a violation occurs or continues.
  4. A financial institution or agency that violates any provision of subsection (i) or (j) of section 5318, or any special measures imposed under section 5318A, or any regulation prescribed under subsection (i) or (j) of section 5318 or section 5318A, shall be fined in an amount equal to not less than 2 times the amount of the transaction, but not more than $1,000,000.

31 USC 5324. Structuring transactions to evade reporting requirement prohibited.

  1. Domestic Coin and Currency Transactions Involving Financial Institutions.— No person shall, for the purpose of evading the reporting requirements of section 5313 (a) or 5325 or any regulation prescribed under any such section, the reporting or recordkeeping requirements imposed by any order issued under section 5326, or the recordkeeping requirements imposed by any regulation prescribed under section 21 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act or section 123 of Public Law 91–508—
    1. cause or attempt to cause a domestic financial institution to fail to file a report required under section 5313 (a) or 5325 or any regulation prescribed under any such section, to file a report or to maintain a record required by an order issued under section 5326, or to maintain a record required pursuant to any regulation prescribed under section 21 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act or section 123 of Public Law 91–508;
    2. cause or attempt to cause a domestic financial institution to file a report required under section 5313 (a) or 5325 or any regulation prescribed under any such section, to file a report or to maintain a record required by any order issued under section 5326, or to maintain a record required pursuant to any regulation prescribed under section 5326, or to maintain a record required pursuant to any regulation prescribed under section 21 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act or section 123 of Public Law 91–508, that contains a material omission or misstatement of fact; or
    3. structure or assist in structuring, or attempt to structure or assist in structuring, any transaction with one or more domestic financial institutions.
  2. Domestic Coin and Currency Transactions Involving Nonfinancial Trades or Businesses.— No person shall, for the purpose of evading the report requirements of section 5331 or any regulation prescribed under such section—
    1. cause or attempt to cause a nonfinancial trade or business to fail to file a report required under section 5331 or any regulation prescribed under such section;
    2. cause or attempt to cause a nonfinancial trade or business to file a report required under section 5331 or any regulation prescribed under such section that contains a material omission or misstatement of fact; or
    3. structure or assist in structuring, or attempt to structure or assist in structuring, any transaction with 1 or more nonfinancial trades or businesses.
  3. International Monetary Instrument Transactions.— No person shall, for the purpose of evading the reporting requirements of section 5316—
    1. fail to file a report required by section 5316, or cause or attempt to cause a person to fail to file such a report;
    2. file or cause or attempt to cause a person to file a report required under section 5316 that contains a material omission or misstatement of fact; or
    3. structure or assist in structuring, or attempt to structure or assist in structuring, any importation or exportation of monetary instruments.
  4. Criminal Penalty.—
    1. In general.— Whoever violates this section shall be fined in accordance with title 18, United States Code, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.
    2. Enhanced penalty for aggravated cases.— Whoever violates this section while violating another law of the United States or as part of a pattern of any illegal activity involving more than $100,000 in a 12-month period shall be fined twice the amount provided in subsection (b)(3) or (c)(3) (as the case may be) of section 3571 of title 18, United States Code, imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both.

Jury Instruction
The Defendant can be found guilty of that offense only if all of the following facts are proved beyond a reasonable doubt:

  1. That the Defendant had knowledge of the currency transaction reporting requirements;
  2. That with such knowledge, the Defendant knowingly structured or assisted in structuring a currency transaction;
  3. That the purpose of the structured transaction was to evade the transaction reporting requirements; {and}
  4. That the structured transaction involved one or more domestic financial institutions; {and}
  5. That the currency transaction with the domestic financial institutions was in furtherance of another violation of federal law.

To “structure” a transaction means to deposit or withdraw or otherwise participate in the transfer of a total of more than $10,000 in cash or currency by or through a financial institution or bank by setting up or arranging a series of separate of separate transactions, each involving less than $10,000 individually, thereby intentionally evading the currency reporting requirements that would have applied if the transaction had not been so structured.