March 12th, 2008 @ 7:51 am
The Banks Caught Spitzer
How an information system helped nail Eliot Spitzer and a prostitution ring | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com
But what really snared Spitzer was a money laundering investigation that was flagged by suspicious activity reports (SARs) that banks have to file with the Treasury to surface everything from money laundering to terrorist activity. This network has been around for a while, but its importance escalated following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. According to the FBI’s charges the prostitution ring that counted Spitzer as a customer was investigated due to some shady bank accounts, checks and wire transfers with big totals ($39,000, $400,000 and others).
Apparently even trying to avoid the “$10,000 max” will eventually trigger the system. 150 transactions that are almost 10K will get you caught, even though none of the transactions are over 10K and therefore don’t need to be reported. They are obviously not ninjas, or their attempts at avoiding detection would not have failed.
The obvious way not to get caught in a prostitution ring? Not be involved in a prostitution ring.
