August 7, 2012

GREENEVILLE, Tenn.- Larry Mark Mangum, 56, of Morristown, Tenn., was sentenced on August 6, 2012, in U.S. District Court in Greeneville, to serve 60 days in prison, five years probation, pay a $50,000 fine and perform 350 hours of community service. Mangum pleaded guilty on March 21, 2012, to an information charging him with structuring currency transactions to evade reporting requirements.

Mangum, a veterinarian practicing in Morristown, Tenn., from January to June 2009 structured $182,500 in cash payments to a home equity line of credit (HELOC) at Regions Bank in Morristown. He made 33 cash payments in amounts ranging from $1,400 to $9,900 over the five-month period. After he received a letter from Regions in June 2009 warning him of the requirement for banks to file currency transaction reports on cash transactions over $10,000 and their obligation to report "structured" transactions, Mangum stopped making substantial cash payments through Regions Bank, instead making cash deposits through accounts at Community National Bank, Jefferson Federal Bank, and First Tennessee Bank. Court records reflect that Mangum structured over $400,000 in cash transactions over a two-year period.

During an interview with an Internal Revenue Service (IRS)-Criminal Investigation Special Agent on May 19, 2011, Mangum admitted that he had deposited large sums of cash under the $10,000 threshold because he did not want the bank to fill out “the form” (currency transaction report). He said that the cash represented his “life savings” and he had intentionally broken the deposits of the cash to increments of under $10,000, although he did not offer any further explanation as to the source of the funds.

Federal law requires financial institutions to report currency transactions with a customer, to include deposits, withdrawals, or payments, in excess of $10,000 on a Currency Transaction Report ("CTR"). Breaking up cash transactions for the purpose of evading the reporting requirement is called “structuring” and is prohibited under federal law. The laws are intended to help identify persons and businesses engaged in large cash transactions, which often point to illegal activities or income tax evasion.

The indictment and subsequent conviction of Mangum was the result of an investigation conducted by the IRS- Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Smith represented the government in this case.