Louisville Physician Pleads Guilty To Structuring Financial Transactions To Evade Reportin

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A Louisville physician pleaded guilty in U.S. Federal Court, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dave Whalin, on May 31, 2013, to four felony counts of structuring transactions with a financial institution in order to evade reporting requirements announced David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.

Dr. Ronald J. Hamm, age 61, who owned and operated Hameron Weight Loss Center, Inc., was charged with making ten cash deposits on ten different days, all in amounts under $10,000 and totaling $66,980, in order to evade the reporting requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act. (Financial institutions have a legal obligation to report transactions in excess of $10,000.)

Dr. Hamm's plea agreement includes the forfeiture of $66,980 as proceeds of the crime, including over $30,000 seized by the Internal Revenue Service and over $35,000 to be paid to satisfy a money judgment, representing the remainder of the proceeds of the criminal conduct.

The structuring charges, to which Dr. Hamm pleaded guilty, each carry a penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The defendant is scheduled to appear for sentencing before Judge John G. Heyburn on August 19, 2013, in Louisville.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jason Snyder and is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division's Financial Crimes Task Force and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.