Posted on 07/06/2006 4:06:16 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
The next time you do your banking, be sure you don't do anything out of the ordinary. If you do, you may end up caught in the crosshairs of a government program designed to target terrorists and money launderers.
According to critics, innocent American bank customers who are doing nothing more than conducting their honest financial transactions are being vicitimized by Suspicious Activity Reports, or SARs.
A SAR is a secret filing, triggered by any financial activity the government deems unusual. Specifically, any group of transactions totaling $5,000 or more that "is not the sort in which the particular customer would normally be expected to engage."
According to Bankrate.com, the reports are filed with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, a division of the Department of the Treasury, and shared with law enforcement.
If your transaction is declared suspicious, your funds could be held up for weeks. But get this: You are never told if a SAR has been filed against you - it's against the law for that information to be revealed.
The program has led to the prosecution of crooks, but it has inundated federal agencies with secret reports of dubious value, on ordinary citizens - at a cost of billions of dollars.
About 1 million SARs will be filed in 2006 by depository institutions, money-services businesses, casinos, card clubs, and the securities and futures industries, says Bankrate.
The SAR was developed in 1996 as a way for banking organizations to report "suspected criminal violations of federal law or a suspicious transaction related to money laundering activity, or a violation of the BSA (Bank Secrecy Act)," according to Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, or FFIEC, documents.
Financial instituions have reported more and more SARs over the years to protect themselves from any potential legal liability that stems from illegal financial activity conducted through their institutions.
According to Bankrate, SARs filed by banks or other institutions simply to avoid the risk of penalty are referred to as "defensive filings." Banks are under pressure to file, not only from the government but from their attorneys. John Hall, spokesman for the American Bankers' Association, was quoted in the National Law Journal in May 2005 as saying, "Our bank counsel are saying if it smells just the least bit, file. File early and file often."
A major concern regarding the overabundance of SARs is the fear that the government will spy on legitimate private financial business of Americans.
Former Republican Rep. Bob Barr is the chairman of Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances, a group that monitors the government's use of the Patriot Act, and president and CEO of Liberty Strategies, a consulting and public relations firm.
"The government has an insatiable appetite for getting more information even though they may never get through it," Barr told Bankrate. "Congress ought to be asking how much money is being spent on this, how much time and resources? What are we getting? How many prosecutions have there been? I suspect it's minuscule in relation to the number of reports filed.
"Something is out of whack," Barr stated.
PING!
Why complain, it's not your money anyway.
Everything is on but a temporary loan from the government.
SWIFT - 2000s, Pres Bush = bad for terrorists
SAR - 1990s, Toon = bad for freedom
Why am I not surprised? And where the fish is the New York Treason with their big yaps?
http://www.irs.gov/irm/part4/ch57s01.html
Instituted in 1970. Amended in 1995 to lower the limits to where they are today. Banks seem to fall into two classes with this: those covering their butts in case of litigation and those using it to delay transactions to reap the use of the money for a longer period. I believe that the hold on funds in the part of this I find objectionable.
Nobody wants to do paperwork, so it's self-limiting to some degree - but basically the 10k limit is too arbitrary lots of legitimate people deal with large sums - it's just a means of identifying those with limited income whose finances don't jibe with their reported income? Stupid crooks driving maserattis on the side etc. etc.
Wrong. Banks do this because if they don't the FDIC will shut them down. The FDIC comes in annually and makes sure a SAR was filed on any and everything that has the potential of being money laundering.
Also, banks can't hold a deposit of cash (which is exactly what this law applies to). They must give you immediate credit.
Money launderers? The government is going to crack down on money launderers?
Perhaps they can turn the microscope on themselves. You know, how they designate a certain percentage of lottery money "to the schools".......and then deduct that same amount out of the schools' budgets to use for, well, who the hell knows? If that ain't money laundering what is?
Don'tcha love how our ever loving government is there for us to "crack down" on those who privately do THE SAME DAMN THING that they're doing.....like gambling (no gambling, unless it's a state lottery), like stealing (no stealing, unless the legislature has okayed it in the form of tax hikes), like money laundering (as explained above), taking other people's property (eminent domain), etc.
If they want to check my accounts, they're welcome to, probably haven't had a good laugh in awhile.
Get this "Former Republican Rep. Bob Barr is the chairman of Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances, a group that monitors the government's use of the Patriot Act, and president and CEO of Liberty Strategies, a consulting and public relations firm."
Give me a break and get a REAL job!
Reg. CC - The Expedited Funds Availability Act.
You've got it!
It's getting to the point where it's almost a good idea to pull the cash out and keep it under your floor. I'm not comfortable with all of these spying programs.
What ever the heck happened to Bob BARR? Seems to me that since the day he left Congress he's been on one wacky ride. Guess it's just a story of follow the money with him.
Where do you live?
What does that have to do with it?
Well, if you are going to hide your money under the floor, I was asking where you lived.
It was a joke. Sorry if it wasn't very funny! I meant no harm.
"This is not the same as the program recently revealed by the New York Times."
Yeah, this program includes every financial transaction, not just the SWIFT wire types.
Totally insane... just like in NAZI GERMANY.... Heil Bush!!
Disgusting!
Perhaps you missed this one.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1651178/posts
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