Suspicious Activity Reports | Fraud | Brett Wilson LLP (2024)

FAQs

What happens after a suspicious activity report is filed? ›

At this point, if there is enough evidence of fraud, money laundering, or terrorist funding, the case will be handed over to the appropriate law enforcement agency. At no point is the individual who owns the account under investigation notified of the proceeding, unless it gets to the point of legal action being taken.

Dollar Amount Thresholds – Banks are required to file a SAR in the following circ*mstances: insider abuse involving any amount; transactions aggregating $5,000 or more where a suspect can be identified; transactions aggregating $25,000 or more regardless of potential suspects; and transactions aggregating $5,000 or ...

Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) are crucial documents filed by financial institutions to report potentially illicit activities. Triggers for filing SARs include unusual transactions, patterns, or behaviors that raise suspicions of money laundering, fraud, or terrorist financing.

SAR filings can be triggered by a variety of activities that appear suspicious such as large cash deposits or withdrawals, frequent wire transfers to high-risk countries, structuring transactions to avoid reporting requirements, and any transaction that doesn't seem to have a legitimate business purpose.

Suspicious activity is any observed behavior that could indicate a person may be involved in a crime or about to commit a crime.

Depending on the situation, deposits smaller than $10,000 can also get the attention of the IRS. For example, if you usually have less than $1,000 in a checking account or savings account, and all of a sudden, you make bank deposits worth $5,000, the bank will likely file a suspicious activity report on your deposit.

Depositing a big amount of cash that is $10,000 or more means your bank or credit union will report it to the federal government. The $10,000 threshold was created as part of the Bank Secrecy Act, passed by Congress in 1970, and adjusted with the Patriot Act in 2002.

At the same time, tipping off or telling the subject of the SAR that an SAR has been filed is forbidden and prevents them from being alerted that a law enforcement investigation action will start or is underway. The concept of tipping-off differs from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and within different institutions.

law enforcement officials throughout the United States. Under the system, FinCEN is designated as the single filing point for suspicious activity reports and is responsible for distributing the information within the government.

Confidentiality of SARs:

A FinCEN Suspicious Activity Report (FinCEN SAR), and any information that would reveal the existence of the FinCEN SAR (collectively, “SAR information”), are confidential, and may not be disclosed except as specified in 31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(2) and in FinCEN's regulations (31 CFR Chapter X).

What are three suspicious activities? ›

Using binoculars or other devices to peer into apartment and home windows. Driving a vehicle slowly and aimlessly around campus. Sitting in a vehicle for extended periods of time or conducting transactions from a vehicle. Abruptly changing behavior when seen.

A financial institution is required to file a suspicious activity report no later than 30 calendar days after the date of initial detection of facts that may constitute a basis for filing a suspicious activity report.

A report made under section 29 of the FIC Act must be sent to the FIC as soon as possible, but not later than 15 days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, after a natural person or any of his or her employees, or any of the employees or officers of a legal person or other entity, has become aware of a ...

Determine Risk: Based on the investigation, the bank will determine the level of risk associated with the suspicious activity and determine the appropriate response. This may include closing the account, freezing assets, or reporting the activity to law enforcement.

Specifically, the act requires financial institutions to keep records of cash purchases of negotiable instruments, file reports of cash transactions exceeding $10,000 (daily aggregate amount), and to report suspicious activity that might signify money laundering, tax evasion, or other criminal activities.