PORTLAND, Maine — A 51-year-old Portland man was found guilty Wednesday of structuring more than $530,000 in cash transactions in an effort to evade federal cash transaction reporting requirements in U.S. District Court in Portland.
Habib Munye’s conviction followed a three-day bench trial before Judge George Z. Singal, according to U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II.
Under federal law, financial institutions that receive more than $10,000 in cash from a customer are required to report the transaction to the Internal Revenue Service.
Financial institutions also must record certain information and verify the identity of anyone who uses cash to purchase $3,000 or more worth of money orders on the same day.
Structuring occurs when customers break up their cash transactions into multiple increments of less than $10,000 or $3,000 to avoid these cash transaction reporting requirements.
According to court records and trial evidence, Munye was a licensed money transmitter who served as the local agent for Dahabshil, an international money transfer company.
Between April 2009 and February 2010, Munye structured 39 cash deposits into his bank account to avoid the bank’s currency transaction reporting requirement by converting some of his cash into money orders before he made his deposits.
On 16 occasions, Munye also structured the purchase of money orders by purchasing several $500 or $1,000 money orders at multiple locations but never purchasing more than $2,000 at the same location during the same transaction.
Court documents show that Munye conducted these money transfer activities out of the African Style Store, a retail business that he owned and operated in Portland. He reportedly purchased money orders from the U.S. Postal Service and from local businesses that issue MoneyGram money orders.
The offenses occurred from April 3, 2009, through Feb. 19, 2010.
Munye faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000 on each count. He will be sentenced after completion of a presentence report by the United States Probation Office.
This case was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation Division and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, with assistance from the respective Offices of Inspector General of the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Agriculture and Health and Human Services.
Where did he break the law? His transactions were not large enough to be reported, so what?
Re: “Where did he break the law?”
See paragraph five: “Structuring occurs when customers break up their cash transactions into multiple increments of less than $10,000 or $3,000 to avoid these cash transaction reporting requirements.”
Mr. Habib Munye’s 55 counts of violating the law stem not from the size of the transactions he made, but because he “structured” them to avoid having them reported by those who are legally required to do so.
Basically, he was moving a lot of money around and didn’t want Uncle Sam to know about it, because Uncle Sam would tell the IRS, and the IRS would… well, you can figure out the rest.
Note that the US Postal Service’s investigative arm, the Postal Inspection Service, was also involved; when you purchase or redeem a US postal money order at a post office, the postmaster/postal agents are required to adhere to the same standards as banks and other financial institutions.
Big Brother is watching, and *will* have his share.
Or else.
Ar they upset because he didn’t pay taxes on the money? I can understand why one would want to “structure” their deposits—as large amounts take much longer to clear but if he paid taxes on his money I’m not sure why the government would want to waste time and money to bring a case against him.
They must be convinced that either A) He wasn’t paying taxes or B) the money came from illegal origins or was being used for illegal purposes
They were CASH deposits. Cash doesn’t have to ‘clear’.
The purpose of the law is to have people declare the movement of monies in excess of ten thousand dollars. This is to keep abreast of those movements of money to thwart funding for terrorists and drug dealers. It has nothing to do with taxes.
Habib Munye. Yep, sounds like a real Yankee name to me! LOL
Like the sound of Bernie Madoff better?
I like the sound of Bernie Madoff combined with 150 years much better, really has a good solid ring to it. “Bernie One-Fifty Madoff” Also think the name “Habib 3 to 5 Munye” has some potential…