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IRS-CI Chief Outlines New Policy for SARs Citing ‘Legal Source’ Structuring
By Brian Orsak
printThe Internal Revenue Service will no longer move to quickly seize funds linked solely in suspicious activity reports to potential structuring of legally derived money, an agency leader said Sunday. The policy shift follows a lengthy review of how the IRS uses the reports, known as SARs, in structuring cases that lead to forfeitures, according to Richard Weber, the chief of the agency's Criminal Investigations division. Under U.S. law, bank accountholders can commit a felony when depositing either legally- or illicitly-earned money in a way that appears to intentionally circumvent regulatory reporting thresholds. Under the amended policy, disclosed in part...
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