 |
Department of Justice Acting United States Attorney Candace G. Hill Contact: Dawn Masden |
Return to the Press Release Index
August 7, 2009
LOUISVILLE MAN SENTENCED FOR STRUCTURING BANK DEPOSITS
– Forfeits $162,000
LOUISVILLE, KY - Murchison Thomas, age 64, of Louisville, Kentucky, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Charles R. Simpson, III, to two years’ probation. Thomas pled guilty to structuring charges on May 28, 2009.
During his plea hearing in May, Thomas admitted that he structured U.S. currency deposits into his National City Bank business account in an attempt to evade the filing of a currency transaction report. As a basis of his guilty plea, Thomas admitted to breaking up his currency deposits of $18,250 into two small deposits of $9,250 and $9,000 on February 14, 2007. He admitted that the reason he made the deposits in this manner was to evade the federal currency transaction reporting requirement.
As part of his plea, Thomas agreed to forfeit approximately $162,000 as money involved in structuring currency deposits during 2006 and 2007. Additionally, he agreed to cooperate with the IRS in the determination of his individual and business taxable income for the tax years 2005, 2006 and 2007. He owns Indi’s Fast Food Restaurants.
Federal law requires every domestic financial institution to file a currency transaction report with the Internal Revenue Service when that institution is involved in a transaction for the payment, receipt, or transfer of over $10,000 in cash. “Structuring” a transaction to evade the federal reporting requirements is illegal. Structuring refers to the breaking up of a single transaction above the reporting threshold into two or more separate transactions for the purpose of evading a financial institution’s reporting requirement.
The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Khalid A. Kahloon and it was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service.
#####
Return to the Press Release Index