PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release May 14, 2003 Jim Letten ,United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Michael J. Nelson, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division,, and Charles Cunningham, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced today that local attorney Curtis J. Coney, Jr., 58, 4816 David Drive, Kenner, Louisiana and his wife, Barbara S. Coney, 48, 4816 David Drive, Kenner, Louisiana, pled guilty before the Honorable Eldon E. Fallon, United States District Judge, to charges contained in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in October 2002. Curtis J. Coney, Jr. was charged with one count of violating Title 18, United States Code, Section 371, conspiracy to structure financial transactions and ten counts of violating Title 31, United States Code, Section 5324(a)(3), structuring financial transactions. The maximum potential penalties as to each count are five years (5) imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. Additionally, Coney and his wife, Barbara S. Coney, were each
charged with one count of obstruction of justice in violation
of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1503(a). The maximum
penalties on this count are ten (10) years imprisonment and a
$250,000 fine. According to the indictment, from on or about January 1, 1997,
until on or about October 31, 2002, Curtis J. Coney, Jr. structured
nearly $200,000 at area banks. Title 31, United States Code, Section
5313 and Title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 103.22
require that all cash transactions in excess of $10,000 conducted
at or through a domestic financial institution be reported by
said financial institution to the United States Department of
Treasury, Internal Revenue Service. It is unlawful, therefore,
for a person to "structure," that is to conduct cash
transactions for the purpose of evading the reporting requirements
under Title 31, United States Code, Section 5313 and Title 31,
Code of Federal Regulations, Section 103.22. The indictment further charged that on April 18, 2002, Coney
and his wife, Barbara Coney, attempted to influence the testimony
of a witness who had been subpoenaed to testify before a federal
grand jury investigating matters relating to the Coneys' indictment.
The investigation preceding the indictment was conducted by special
agents of the IRS and the FBI. The indictment was prosecuted by
Assistant United States Attorney Irene González and Trial
Attorney Barry Jonas of the Department of Justice's Tax Division. This prosecution is part of the U. S. Attorney's Office's continuing effort to eliminate fraud in the legal profession, and the health care and insurance industries.
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