The USA’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) recently honored the recipients of the 2021 FinCEN Director’s Law Enforcement Awards Program in a virtual ceremony. This annual program recognizes law enforcement agencies that employed Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) data to successfully conduct and prosecute criminal investigations. Examples of a few of the awardees are discussed below.
In one case, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated a COVID-19-related fraud. This fraud involved the submission of fraudulent 5 Paycheck Protection Program loan applications for over $800,000 each. The FBI used BSA data to find leads on the conspirators and detect the flow of fraudulent money.
Another awardee, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), conducted a long-term investigation into a cartel-related drug trafficking and ML organization. The DEA utilized BSA data to conduct money pickups across the US, sharing leads with other DEA offices. It seized over $47 million dollars in drug trafficking proceeds and 289 kilograms of drugs. Moreover, the authority made 70 arrests and successfully identified the drug organizations involved.
In yet another case, the US Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) led a multi-agency investigation that arose from information from a BSA filing. The information was that people were using cryptocurrency accounts to fund a terrorist organization. Using this information, the HSI successfully identified the US-based co-conspirators and how the funds were flowing.
Source: FinCEN, USA