Buying MO's?
 

I've been reading all the information about buying MO's and still not sure. I live and bank in a small town in Nebraska and want to deposit 2-3 thousand a month. Will I get thrown in jail for this? I could deposit part in a different bank. Thanks for any information.

Yes, the police will come find you. Depositing money orders is listed as a federal crime in section 5-A of the Federal AML handbook, so the best you can hope for if caught is a 1-3 year slap on the wrist. I think in Nebraska they have one of the harshest laws out there, so it may be worse.

I have a Nebraskin cousin so I can attest to toxicity's penal code citing being legit

Your MO options will be limited in Nigeraska! Beware of the scammers too.

Wait-a-sec here. Your profile says you are in Omaha. Omaha is Nebraska's biggest city. Therefore you say you live in a big city. But then you say you live in a small town. A small town is not a big city. Therefore you say you do not live in Omaha, because Omaha is a big city. If you say you live in one place then say you live in another you are being evasive. If you are being evasive the police will be suspicious. If you are suspicious then the police consider you a suspect.

Logic says you are already doomed since police put suspects under observation. I'd start bodybuilding and get a few nasty looking tattoos. Else, go ask Saul and see if you can hire Jimmy In-'N-Out to serve your time. :D

I just got back from the gym. It didn't help much. I live in Oakland NE not Omaha, since I fly out of Omaha I used Omaha.
Had been using our Serve accounts to MS but that was shut down. Was looking at using some MO's but worried about the structuring issue. Didn't think a couple thousand a month would be a problem. Sorry about the question I asked.

Your question was fine, the getting thrown in jail part just made the humor police come out in full force. :)

I have a few rental properties, many of my college tenants pay with MO, my bank has not problems.

The jail part was my poor attempt at humor... Waiting for a snow storm here in Nigeraska!

I laughed when I read it the first time, regardless of whether I thought you were serious or not. :)

drawn and quartered most likely

Will try to answer in a straightforward manner.

It really depends on your banking relationship. If you have a strong one and sit down with your manager prior to starting anything and outline what you would like to do (deposit several thousand dollars a month into your checking account using MOs), then he/she will tell you whether this will be acceptable to the bank. If he says no, time to move on to another bank. My banker had no problem with my arrangement with them.

I don't do MS but I do use the technique to pay bills that ordinarily wil not be covered by a credit card (for example, insurance, taxes, etc.). This turns out to be a large amount of money each year. While I did not go into any detail with my bank manger about how I was obtaining the MOs, I made certain that they understood that the checking account would be funded primarily with various MO deposits. Once I got the approval, all has been quiet.
(It helps to have a strong banking relationship prior to doing this, but it does not mean you cannot try without one). I also never pay pay CC bills with this account, nor transfer money out to another account (except perhaps to the other accounts at the same bank). In other words, I don't do traditional MS techniques.

However, I will also admit that I don't come close to the amount of money being bandied about by some in the MS forum.

I thought the problem with this is that often shutdowns come from other parts of the bank (those units specializing in compliance and AML), so even if the manager says it's fine, it may well not be.

The alternative is almost the opposite, set up accounts you don't care about with local banks. Don't ask, just do the deposits, and if they shut you down, not great loss (providing there is no chexsystems action). Just avoid structuring as best as you can.

The first line of eyes in a bank is the local one. While it is true that specialized units may inquire about various banking transactions, the query will first go to the manager of the branch. If the manager knows that customer X (who is well know, does a lot of business with the bank and keeps substantial assets with them as well) has made known that some of his business activity includes MO deposits, the inquiry will usually stop at that point.
On the other hand, customer Y who just opened his account is putting $10K a week in MOs through the account, I suspect that person may get more scrutiny.

But every bank is different. That is why you check with the local managers first. They will generally know what is kosher and what is not.

This is definitely not accurate when dealing with large, national banks. Specialized units do not first, nor ever, contact or consult with branch managers at all about such situations.