WASHINGTON–A high number of credit unions have not filed Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) or Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) with the Treasury in some time.
The reason isn’t known, and Jennifer Shasky-Calvery of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said that lack of those reports could be due to a data error. It is now investigating.
In remarks to NAFCU’s Congressional Caucus, Shasky-Calvery urged credit unions to ensure the problem isn’t at their end, especially since criminals often target smaller institutions.
“Bad money and money launderers are like water in a bucket—it always finds the hole, always finds the weakest link,” she said.
She reminded credit unions of the $300,000 fine assessed to the former North Dade FCU, which at one point was doing business with 56 money service businesses operating in South America and countries such as Egypt. It also did not file any CTRs or SARs.
“That’s what we call in our business a ‘clue,’” said Shasky-Calvery.