The Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City agreed earlier this month to a $10 million civil penalty for “willful and repeated violations of the Bank Secrecy Act,” according to FinCEN, but little actual money is expected to be paid.
Even though it had received a previous fine and specific and numerous warnings about its lack of compliance with the anti-money laundering components of the BSA, the casino had continued to violate AML requirements regarding reporting obligations and recordkeeping requirements.
“Trump Taj Mahal received many warnings about its deficiencies,” said FinCEN Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery. “Like all casinos in this country, Trump Taj Mahal has a duty to help protect our financial system from being exploited by criminals, terrorists, and other bad actors. Far from meeting these expectations, poor compliance practices, over many years, left the casino and our financial system unacceptably exposed.”
Casinos are required to have systems in place to recognize and report suspicious activity disguised as coming from a legitimate source. This includes casino customers moving money even though they engage in very little gambling, avoiding currency-tracking, or structuring payment markers, according to the Wall Street Journal. During an examination period in 2010, the casino failed to file more than half of the required SARs, and during an examination period in 2012, it failed to filed 44 percent of required SARs, according to the Journal.
A Reuters report noted that the actual amount paid to the government likely would be less than $50,000 because the agreement was that the fine was a general unsecured claim in the bankruptcy proceedings of the casino.
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