David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DELLA LIEN, 70, of Cheshire, was sentenced today by Chief United States District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 24 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for structuring more than $400,000 in currency transactions to evade reporting requirements.  LIEN also was ordered to pay a fine of $30,000 and to forfeit $125,010.
           
Federal law requires all financial institutions to file a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) for currency transactions that exceed $10,000.  To evade the filing of a CTR, individuals will often structure their currency transactions so that no single transaction exceeds $10,000.  Structuring involves the repeated depositing or withdrawal of amounts of cash less than the $10,000 limit, or the splitting of a cash transaction that exceeds $10,000 into smaller cash transactions in an effort to avoid the reporting requirements.  Even if the deposited funds are derived from a legitimate means, financial transactions conducted in this manner are still in violation of federal criminal law.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from March 2007 through June 2009, LIEN made 14 cash deposits in increments ranging from $8,000 to $9,750, and totaling $125,010, into various accounts she held at Webster Bank.  At the time, LIEN knew that the bank was required to issue a report for a currency transaction in excess of $10,000, and that by conducting her financial transactions in amounts less than $10,001, she intended to evade the transaction reporting requirements.

In addition, between April 2006 and October 2009, LIEN structured an additional $281,763 in cash deposits at banks in New York.

As part of this case, LIEN has forfeited $125,010, which had been seized by the Internal Revenue Service pursuant to a court order.

On October 7, 2011, LIEN pleaded guilty to one count of structuring currency transactions to evade reporting requirements.

This matter was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Peter S. Jongbloed.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov

 

 

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