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The limit is $10k, and has been for some time, all transactions that size or higher are reported to the UST/IRS.
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But don't assume that if you transact under $10k, you are flying under the radar. There are two forms... one for ALL transactions over $10k:
http://www.fincen.gov/fin103_ctrc.pdf
And one for "suspicious" transactions, in aggregate, over $5k:
http://www.fincen.gov/fin102_form_only.pdf
Note that both are casino-specific. Casinos and card clubs are targetted. You might want to read the instructions to this form to educate yourself about the rules for filing Suspicious Activity Reports:
http://www.fincen.gov/fin102a_instructions_only.pdf
Also note that the feds are leaning on casinos to file these SARCs, and it's somewhat common to be questioned at the cage when cashing out even a few grand.
Also, what you called smurfing, the documents officially term "structuring." Just so you know what that term means if you see it.
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Actually, they are two similar but seperate crimes [agreed on the reporting of lower amounts if suspicious]:
"Smurfing"
The Emerald Snow indictment says that on February 12, 1997, defendant Francisco Diaz deposited 13 money orders totaling $5,732 in an account at City National Bank of Florida controlled by Ciro Martinez, a Miami businessman. Later the same day Diaz deposited 12 money orders totaling $5,563 in that account. It is alleged that the money orders were purchased with drug proceeds.
Multiple deposits of low-value monetary instruments purchased from banks or money services businesses with criminal proceeds constitute a money laundering scheme known as "smurfing." <font color="blue"> Smurfing can be conducted through your institution by one or more persons making deposits to one or more accounts during several visits. </font>
Several persons arriving at an institution together and going to different tellers, or several going to different branches, to make deposits to one or more related accounts is a tell-tale sign of smurfing.
Smurfing can also involve the deposit of multiple monetary instruments into accounts at several different financial institutions. The Emerald Snow indictment charges Eddy Marin with depositing five money orders totaling $2,500 into a NationsBank account one week prior to the deposits made by Francisco Diaz at City National Bank. It also says that on March 12, 1997, Suyapa Elmady deposited 160 Travelers Express international money orders totaling $79,320 in an account at International Bank of Miami. The U.S. alleges that the deposits of Diaz, Marin and Elmady, all of which were made to accounts controlled by Martinez, were part of the same money laundering scheme.
The U.S. Suspicious Activity Reporting regulations, among other things, require U.S. banks and other depository institutions to report "suspicious transactions," which include any transaction involving $5,000 or more that is Aconducted or attempted by, at, or through the bank... and the bank knows, suspects, or has reason to suspect" involves "funds derived from illegal activities or is intended or conducted in order to hide or disguise funds or assets derived from illegal activities… as part of a plan to violate or evade any federal law or regulation or to avoid any transaction reporting requirement under federal law or regulation" (31 CFR 103.21). Smurfing falls under this definition of suspicious activity.
Keep in mind that multiple deposits of low denomination monetary instruments or small amounts of cash are not always a sign of money laundering. Some businesses, including rental management companies that accept money orders for rent payments and restaurants that do a high volume of cash business, have a legitimate reason for conducting such transactions.
A tell-tale sign of smurfing is the deposit of multiple monetary instruments with consecutive serial numbers, signifying that the instruments were purchased by one person at one time. Similarly, the deposit of cash wrapped in currency straps stamped by other banks can be a sign of smurfing.
Structuring
The Emerald Snow indictment says that on February 12, 1997, Martin del Barrio laundered $9,500 in cash by depositing it in an account at Citibank Federal Savings Bank. del Barrio allegedly returned to the bank twice in the next two days to deposit $9,600 in drug cash in the same account.
The U.S. Bank Secrecy Act, under which the Suspicious Activity Reporting regulations are issued, makes it a crime to "structure" currency transactions "for the purpose of evading the reporting requirements" of the BSA (Title 31, USC Sec. 5322 and 5324). Structuring normally involves multiple cash deposits or withdrawals at amounts below the $10,000 currency transaction reporting threshold prescribed by BSA regulations (31 CFR 103.22). Structuring can also involve conducting a transaction in a way that causes the filing of a report that contains "a material omission or misstatement of fact."
"Bank Secrecy Act/Structuring/Money laundering" is one of the 17 crimes listed on the U.S. Suspicious Activity Report form as a type of suspicious activity that must be reported.
Structuring transactions and smurfing are similar types of suspicious activity.'