Originally Posted by
andyandy
Intent to do something. Intent to structure, though? Nah, CTRs aren't triggered by MO deposits. And you can't structure to avoid SARs, per statute.
But yeah, I get your point, Alcibiades. Even if I did intentionally avoid large MO deposits, I wouldn't go around saying that I intentionally avoided large MO deposits.
As for me, I'll take this opportunity to opine that notoriety is your friend in this field. One trigger of SARs is activity that is out of the norm for a particular customer. So make large deposits normal. Another trigger is activity involving funds that may be the product of criminal activity. Never try to hide anything, because ultimately you can't. And trying to obfuscate what you are doing will probably just make you look suspicious and possibly criminal. YMMV, but I've had great success with the MS cycle years. I am always honest and friendly, and most of the tellers, CSRs and managers at all stages of my MS cycle know what I'm doing and are fine with it.
Andyandy
But wouldn't you concede that if a customer who was not known by the bank to be in "cash business" continuously deposited $4-$5 K in cash every few days, he would get SARs filed? If the solution was for him to continuously purchase money orders with 1K in cash on a continuous basis, it would be a very simple way for him to avoid SARs from the bank as a result of depositing 4-5k of cash on a continuous basis (although the money order seller should be doing SARs). But the bank is instructed to consider filing SARs for significant money order deposits in the various non-authoritative guidance, presumably because the government recognizes that money orders are available for purchase in most cities at locations every few blocks. So the bank is made a significant penalty target for failing to file SARs for money order deposits, as they are the perceived as the easiest target to keep folks from being able to successfully avoid CTRs (and SARs) from doing a cash - money order - deposit of money order scheme to get cash in the banking system. Sure the bank can be informed that the money orders were purchased with prepaid cards that were purchased with credit cards for reward points / cash back. But it is impossible for the bank to truly verify this just by looking at the money order. So we see a lot of bank account closures for money order deposits, which are likely accompanied by the filing of SARs.
I know I am still in the minority on this, but I prefer to mail each money order in a separate envelope to the credit card company used for MSing. While it might increase the chance of a credit card closure since it lays out the MS activity, it also seems to minimize the chance of SARs. There is nothing suspicious. I used the credit card to buy money orders (via prepaid debit cards) and I used the money orders to pay the credit card bills. No rational reason for a SAR to be filed since there is nothing suspicious.
It also minimizes the hassles upon an IRS audit. The standard technique for IRS audits of individual returns is for the agent to gain an understanding of all bank deposits. It would be a pain to take them through the process, including substantiation, of possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars of bank deposits over a possible three year period. It is rare, unless they are conducting a lifestyle analysis, for an IRS agent to request credit card statements.
The difference between the two approaches is really just stamps and completing an envelope. Of course, MSing has declined in profitability over the years, so it is largely a theoretical discussion now.