At airports throughout the United States, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officers are seizing travelers’ cash when coming into and leaving the country for failure to report the cash. Regular international travelers may be familiar with the Customs forms airlines hand out just prior to arrival in the United States. On the form you must declare goods purchased during your international travel, as well as any cash in excess of $10,000. Most people do not realize, however, that you must also declare any cash in excess of $10,000 before you leave the United States, as well.

If travelers are carrying cash in excess of $10,000 and fail to disclose the exact amount, they risk violation of a little-known anti-money laundering law, the Bank Secrecy Act. Their money, if found, is therefore subject to seizure and forfeiture, unless the traveler contests the forfeiture. At times, even when the cash is declared, it is seized anyway as suspected drug funds.

The U.S. government, to put it bluntly, assumes that anyone traveling with a large amount of cash is a criminal. This completely ignores the reality of currency and banking restrictions in other countries, sometimes costly wire transfer fees, personal or business use, and a host of other legitimate reasons people travel with cash.

We have handled a number of cases where business people from Nigeria and various Middle Eastern countries have traveled to the U.S. to buy merchandise or automobiles for sale in their home country. Our clients declared the cash, were stopped by CBP, and then questioned about the source and purpose of the funds. They were eventually allowed to continue with their money, only to be stopped as they exited passport control by DEA agents, who then seized their cash as suspected drug proceeds.

When this happens, the traveler has a crucial decision to make. They must decide whether to formally contest the seizure administratively or through the court system. Both methods are time consuming and can be expensive, as the individual must prove the legitimate source and use of the funds. This often involves acquiring bank records, currency exchange documents, and proper declarations from their country of origin – a sometimes costly – and complicated proposition.

On a typical day, CBP seizes over $300,000 in undeclared or illicit currency. Last year, the total seizures amounted to more than $65 million in cash from international travelers. At times, it seems that the government simply takes advantage of a foreign traveler’s limited time, ignorance of U.S. law, and limited resources to contest the seizure and simply keeps the funds without any substantive evidence of criminal activity.

Stahl Gasiorowski Criminal Defense Lawyers aggressively defend individuals charged with complex federal and state crimes. Founder Robert G. Stahl is recognized as one of the top criminal defense attorneys in the NY/NJ area for his skills, knowledge and success. To contact the firm, call 908.301.9001 for the NJ office and 212.755.3300 for the NYC office, or email Mr. Stahl at rgs@sgdefenselaw.com.

Budget cuts and a significant drop in Special Agents that investigate criminal tax crimes has led the IRS to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to uncover criminal tax activities. In a recent webcast hosted by the American Bar Association, the IRS revealed that research and investigative techniques that used to take weeks or months may now be accomplished in minutes with technology the IRS is rolling out to detect taxpayer noncompliance.

These computer tools are able to detect fraud, identity theft, money laundering and hidden assets that Revenue Agents and Special Agents typically look for manually. The speed and sophistication of these computer data mining programs has greatly increased the IRS’ efficiency.

The program started with the signing of a seven-year, $99 million deal with Palantir Technologies this past September. The project uses machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence to examine and analyze filed tax returns, bank reports, property records and social media posts. It analyzes various patterns of conduct and activities that might indicate noncompliance.

Since 2010, the IRS has suffered budget cuts totaling $1 billion and loses about 150 agents every year to attrition. That leaves around 2,100 Special Agents working on a population of 250 million taxpayers.

On the administrative/civil enforcement side, the IRS is also beginning to use AI to detect noncompliance. In-house development of these techniques is supported by a Compliance Data Warehouse. CDW was built in the 1990s to collect data from several databases and using forward-looking data analysis to uncover or prevent fraud. CDW has approximately 40 data sets on taxpayers going back more than 30 years. Using algorithms, like those used by online retailers, the IRS can use predictive software to examine gaps in data or tax returns that may reveal noncompliance. That translates to an enormous amount of data collected on taxpayers for decades.

As technology continues to advance, computer driven analysis will lead to increased discovery of potential fraud and noncompliance. Revenue and Special agents will still be needed to complete the investigations, but the IRS’ limited manpower will become significantly more efficient. Of course, with the advance of technology to analyze disparate data points, the margin for error and false conclusions can increase as well leading to enhanced scrutiny of potentially innocent taxpayers.

Robert Stahl, and his firm, Stahl Gasiorowski Criminal Defense Lawyers aggressively defend individuals charged with complex federal and state crimes. Founder Robert G. Stahl is recognized as one of the top criminal defense attorneys in the NY/NJ area for his skills, knowledge and success. To contact the firm, call 908.301.9001 for the NJ office and 212.755.3300 for the NYC office, or email Mr. Stahl at rgs@sgdefenselaw.com.

With Tuesday’s convictions in the criminal trial of President Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III, has garnered five guilty pleas and 32 indicted individuals still pending. In addition, yesterday’s guilty plea in the S.D.N.Y., by Michael Cohen, the president’s former lawyer and self-styled fixer, admitting to making payments to two women who allegedly had affairs with President Trump in violation of campaign finance laws at the direction of the President along with other charges, demonstrate that our system of justice is working as it should.

The President’s repeated irresponsible tweets attacking the system, calling it a witch hunt – before, during and after the jury deliberations in the Manafort trial – is a sad commentary on the President’s attempt to obfuscate and confuse the public. Rather than focusing on his stated defense – that these prosecutions are not based on Russian collusion, that the Manafort charges pre-date his role in the campaign and that the President did not violate the law – the President continues to slander our entire system of justice. And by tweeting during the Manafort trial and during the jury deliberations, he risked affecting the outcome.

The day after the jury convicted Manafort based on overwhelming documentary evidence, the President tweeted that he felt bad for Manafort being convicted on an “old tax case”, and lauded Manafort’s courage in not “breaking” or making up stories to get a deal, an obvious referral to Trump’s former lawyer Cohen who may be looking to cooperate with the Special Counsel. Trump also added that since Manafort’s jury couldn’t reach a verdict on 10 of the 18 counts in the indictment, it was a witch hunt.

The charges against Manafort, however, were no different than those brought against any one that commits the types of crimes he was convicted of. Every day across the country the Department of Justice investigates and charges individuals who blatantly failed to report their full income, materially lied to obtain bank loans or failed to report monies held in overseas bank accounts. The charges against Manafort were run-of-the-mill, only sensationalized by his connection to the President and the President’s own continuing comments on the case. The fact that the jury could not unanimously agree on some charges is meaningless as it happens in many cases for a variety of reasons. The important fact is that the jury unanimously agreed that Manafort was guilty on 8 serious counts that potentially expose him to decades in prison.

While my colleagues and I on the defense side fight hard every day for our clients accused of similar offenses, we do so based upon the facts and the law. We vigorously attack the charges through the evidence, pretrial motions and trial. It pains those of us involved in the criminal justice system to see the President attack the rule of law and falsely accuse the system of being a rigged witch hunt. These oft-repeated and highly publicized statements unfortunately have the ability to undermine the average citizen’s faith in our system of justice. And while it is certainly not perfect, it is on balance a fair system of laws and procedures that protect the rights of the accused in the United States – whether they are a celebrity, a politician, a friend or foe of the President, or just an “average citizen”.

Robert Stahl, and his firm, Stahl Gasiorowski Criminal Defense Lawyers aggressively defend individuals charged with complex federal and state crimes. Founder Robert G. Stahl is recognized as one of the top criminal defense attorneys in the NY/NJ area for his skills, knowledge and success. To contact the firm, call 908.301.9001 for the NJ office and 212.755.3300 for the NYC office, or email Mr. Stahl at rgs@sgdefenselaw.com.

Video Clip: Spiritual Leader of U.S. Syrian Jews Sentenced
to Two Years’ House Arrest; Originally Charged with
Money Laundering in New Jersey’s Biggest Corruption Case,
He Pleads to Unlicensed Money Transmitting

TRENTON, NJ – The spiritual leader of Syrian Jews in the United States, Brooklyn, New York was sentenced to two years’ house arrest in June 2011. They were one of 46 defendants, including three rabbis, charged as a result of a federal sting in New Jersey’s biggest corruption case.

Originally charged with money laundering, the defendant pled guilty to a reduced charge of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.

Read the Sentencing Article from WCBS TV in New York City

NJ Star-Ledger on the Big Sting and the Big Lawyers:
Money-Laundering Defendants and their Attorneys

More News on Stahl Gasiorowski Criminal Defense Lawyers

Utah introduces first white collar criminal registry

In March of 2016, Utah became the first state in the country to introduce a White Collar Criminal Registry. While criminal registries are not new, for example sex offender registries have been around for over 20 years, this is the first time a state has established a public registry for white-collar offenders. This registry is now added to a growing list of registries that include arson, domestic violence, drug offenses and even an animal abuse registry in Tennessee.

Why does Utah need the registry?

One may ask, why does Utah need a white collar criminal registry? In 2010, the FBI named Utah one of the top five locations for white collar fraud. Utah citizens are swindled out of hundreds of millions of dollars a year. White collar crime and fraud in Utah is significant for its relative economic and population size.

Utah residents are particularly vulnerable to a specific crime, “affinity fraud.” Affinity fraud involves criminals ingratiating themselves into a religious or minority community by posing as a member of the group. Once accepted into the group, the swindler is able to utilize the natural trust that these communities hold for fellow members. The swindler then manipulates members of the community into fraudulent schemes – Ponzi schemes are a popular choice.

Purpose of the white crime registry

Utah justifies this new database on two grounds:

1. It raises awareness of white collar crime and potential perpetrators.
2. It deters crime.

Utah insists that most white collar criminals are repeat offenders. It is believed that a tool that identifies them will reduce their ability to reoffend. Moreover, people now have a tool to double check their potential investment partners. Greater public awareness of these criminals and their actions empowers the public.

Utah further argues that the registry deters crime through public shaming. Anyone can access these registries to review the personal information of those registered. It impacts their ability to find work and run future scams. In fact, the public shaming can last, for first time offenders, up to ten years. A second offense adds another ten years and a third offense lands criminals on the registry for the rest of their lives.

Those listed can get their names off the registry early if they fully comply with all court requirements and pay restitution to all victims.

Who appears on the registry?

The registry provides information on individuals convicted since 2006. It covers a wide variety of crimes from multi-million dollar Ponzi schemes, to tax fraud, credit card fraud and insurance scams. So far, about 100 names appear on the registry.

Privacy concerns

Privacy and civil rights advocates do challenge the validity of the registry. Public shaming as an official punishment went out of style centuries ago and it is inhumane to bring it back. They argue that publishing this information in easy to read formats endangers these individuals who have already served their sentences and paid their fines. This registry only serves to punish them more after paying their debt to society. Utah argues, as stated above, that until these criminals pay back all of the restitution owed to victims, these criminals have not yet fulfilled their debt to society.

The dangers of the white crime registry

The problem with such a registry, and many other registries, is that the person listed is labeled for all to see. It doesn’t list the details of the offense, whether it was a onetime mistake, whether there were mitigating circumstances, whether the person repaid the money or other extenuating factors. It doesn’t afford someone the opportunity to explain.

Moreover, such registries may prevent people from reintegrating into the workforce, label them for the future and ultimately lead to the potential for future criminal activities because they are prevented from obtaining legitimate employment and moving forward. These registries, rather than deter crime, can in fact encourage it by forcing the people on them back into criminal behavior. One of the best ways to mitigate repeat offenses is to give people the opportunity to reintegrate into society.

Stahl Gasiorowski Criminal Defense Lawyers aggressively defend individuals charged with complex federal and state crimes. Founder Robert G. Stahl is recognized as one of the top criminal defense attorneys in the NY/NJ area for his skills, knowledge and success. To contact us to discuss your case, call908.301.9001 for our NJ office and 212.755.3300 for our NYC office, or email us atrstahl@stahlesq.com.