英达在美国被控偷税漏税和洗钱

choi

林坪, 英达在美国被控偷税漏税和洗钱. Radio Free Asia, Feb 24, 2017.
www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/yl-02242017161758.html

My comment:
(a) "洗钱" in the title is simply wrong. It is not money laundering, but structuring. And I do not believe he was charged with 偷税漏税.

(b) Structuring
(i) Press release: Chinese Citizen Pleads Guilty to Structuring Cash Transactions. Department of Justice (through US Attorney's office for the District of Connecticut), Feb 16, 2018
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ct/ ... g-cash-transactions
("DA YING, 56, of Beijing, China, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today * * * between April 2011 and March 2012, while he was a resident of Farmington, Conn., YING structured or caused to be structured 50 cash deposits in amounts less than $10,000.01 into his and his wife’s six accounts at four banks in Connecticut. The cash deposits, which totaled $464,400, were frequently made on the same day at different banks or on sequential days at the same or different banks. YING knew that banks were required to issue a report for a currency transaction in excess of $10,000, and his structuring activity was intended to evade the transaction reporting requirements")

(ii) The press release does not mention the federal statutes concerning his offenses or penalties. But his plea agreement, as confirmed by a letter from prosecutors to Mr Ying's attorneys did.

王煜, 曾金秋 and 王巍, 英达涉嫌洗钱在美被指控 已签认罪协议. 新京报, Feb 25, 2017.
www.bjnews.com.cn/news/2017/02/25/434408.html
(A) Take notice that image of two pages is taken from page 1 and 13 (the first and last pages) of docket No 4 (in United States v Ying) where prosecutors wrote defense attorneys about the plea, setting out the offense and penalties.

The offense is 31 USC § 5324(a)(3). That is, Title 31, section 5324 of United States Code. (A "title" in federal statute is similar to a "chapter" of a book.)  

The same section also spells out penalty in subsection (d)(2): "[Criminal Penalty.-] Enhanced penalty for aggravated cases.-Whoever violates this section while violating another law of the United States or as part of a pattern of any illegal activity involving more than $100,000 in a 12-month period shall be fined twice the amount provided in subsection (b)(3) or (c)(3) (as the case may be) of section 3571 of title 18, United States Code, imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both.

* His defense counsel is a small law form, Silverstein & Osach, PC
http://www.silversteinosach.com/nathan-m-silverstein/

, consisting of two named partners and an associate (Leonard K Atkinson, Jr). The practice of the law firm is tax, not criminal defense. The address of the law firm is "234 Church Street, Suite 903, New Haven, Connecticut 06507" -- in other words, just a room in a nice downtown building.

So Mr Ying is not super-rich.
(B) To read 31 USC § 5324, one may go to a website set up by United States House of Representatives
http://uscode.house.gov/

, and enter title and section numbers.
(C) The prosecutors' letter to defense counsel also mentioned 31 CFR § 103.11.  That is, section 103.11 of Title 31 in Code of Federal Regulations. (Congress makes laws, and then the executive branch makes CFR according to laws.)

This is the web page for 31 CFR Part 103:
https://www.ffiec.gov/bsa_aml_in ... ations/31cfr103.htm

, where § 103.11 ("Meaning of terms") is at the very top of the Web page. What is relevant is § 103.11(gg): "(gg) Structure (structuring). For purposes of section 103.53, a person structures a transaction if that person, acting alone, or in conjunction with, or on behalf of, other persons, conducts or attempts to conduct one or more transactions in currency, in any amount, at one or more financial institutions, on one or more days, in any manner, for the purpose of evading the reporting requirements under section 103.22 of this part. “In any manner” includes, but is not limited to, the breaking down of a single sum of currency exceeding $10,000 into smaller sums, including sums at or below $10,000, or the conduct of a transaction, or series of currency transactions, including transactions at or below $10,000. The transaction or transactions need not exceed the $10,000 reporting threshold at any single financial institution on any single day in order to constitute structuring within the meaning of this definition."

This is just a definition, having nothing to do with the offense or penalty.

Incidentally, in the URL FFIEC stands for Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council.
(D) For legislative history of 31 USC § 5324, see

2033. Structuring. Criminal Resources Manual, in US Attorneys' Manual, undated
https://www.justice.gov/usam/cri ... al-2033-structuring
(To counteract/ overcome a US Supreme Court decision (Ratzlaf v United States, 510 US 135 (1994) ), "Congress amended § 5324 effective September 23, 1994, by deleting the statutory 'willfulness' requirement * * * under 31 USC 5324" which had had the requirement)

* United States Attorneys' Manual
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Attorneys'_Manual
(a looseleaf text; an internal document of the Department of Justice, and as such, does not have the force of law)

(c)
(i) Money laundering involves several federal statutes, and, as you can imagine, the money laundered MUST be ill gotten. See

2101. Money Laundering Overview. Criminal Resources Manual, undated.
https://www.justice.gov/usam/cri ... laundering-overview
(ii) The RFA report states "英达本人经常在美国和中国之间往来，并在2010年3月到2011年12月期间，通过每次随身携带3万到7万美元的方式，把共计63万260元美元带入美国境内。在2010年3月之前，英达对携带美元入境的行为没有申报过。"

This is irrelevant to this prosecution. (Most likely because statute of limitations has lapsed, see 18 USC § 3282: "five years" for felonies).
(iii) Currency and Monetary Instruments - Amount that can be brought into or leave the US.

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), undated.
https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers ... ought-into-or-leave

The law that requires the report is 31 USC § 5316.