Money Laundering on Auction Sites

[cliffrod]

Nope.  For 2 reasons.

1.  Any time you take a cash payment of over $10,000, you are required by the IRS to report it and who paid it to you.

2. The bank will not take the $20,000 cash deposit without reporting YOU to the IRS.  You can only make cash deposits less than $10,0000.

Don't ask me how I know.

Add to these points that current regulations track the amount of money deposited/withdrawn within a given time period.  Years ago, to avoid the $10k single transaction reporting requirement, you could simply withdraw $9999.00 or do multiple smaller amounts to procure the same quantity of funds.  Now the bank will flag & report transactions- whether deposits or withdrawals- amounting to the reporting amount within a finite time period. 

Lots of this is throwing rocks in glass houses.  How many here make extra money (like flipping a bike...) then report it as a capital gain or regular income like the law requires, pay their fair share of taxes and thus be part of the solution instead of part of the problem.   If it's only wrong when the other guy does it, the complaints ring kinda hollow.

[Tom]

Y'ep.  I'm looking at the legal way to pay on my capital gains tax.     After some research it went from 35% to 15% tax.     20% is a significant drop.   

[ozarquebus]

Somewhat related to topic:
If you haven't heard, there is a big international criminal sting operation led by our friends in Australia happening right now that appears to involve money laundering as well as biker clubs.

"Sports cars including a McLaren and Lamborghini, Ducati and Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Rolex watches, sniper rifles, bullet-proof vests, ammunition and even memorabilia from the Hollywood classic The Godfather were seized from safe houses." UK NEWS

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/08/hundreds-arrested-globally-after-joint-us-australian-crime-sting.html

https://live.newsbookmarks.com/uk-news/fake-encrypted-app-cooked-up-over-beers-by-aussie-cops-and-the-fbi-leads-to-global-sting/

[berniebee]

Somewhat related to topic:
If you haven't heard, there is a big international criminal sting operation led by our friends in Australia happening right now that appears to involve money laundering as well as biker clubs.

Amazing read. It's the flip side of the argument that we need privacy to protect us from government. This article is evidence that the criminal world is the main customer for most of these so called privacy apps.

[LowRyter]

You ever notice on all these car shows like Gas Monkey, the cars are bought and sold with cash.  I wonder how those guys get around it?

And mentioning cash, the cannabis business is fully a cash business with federal restrictions using banks.  That would appear to be counterproductive. 

[Stretch]

Add to these points that current regulations track the amount of money deposited/withdrawn within a given time period.  Years ago, to avoid the $10k single transaction reporting requirement, you could simply withdraw $9999.00 or do multiple smaller amounts to procure the same quantity of funds.  Now the bank will flag & report transactions- whether deposits or withdrawals- amounting to the reporting amount within a finite time period. 

My understanding is that this was originally supposed to stop drug dealers from buying fancy cars and the like with cash.

Of course, it also taxed the law-abiding citizen, and also made it more difficult for the little guy to buy, say -  a house -  for cash.

And there are waivers for the rich and connected.

Big PITA for most of us.......

                                                                   -Stretch

[rocker59]

My understanding is that this was originally supposed to stop drug dealers from buying fancy cars and the like with cash.

Of course, it also taxed the law-abiding citizen, and also made it more difficult for the little guy to buy, say -  a house -  for cash.

And there are waivers for the rich and connected.

Big PITA for most of us.......

                                                                   -Stretch

It was about more than cars.  It was intended to reduce illicit money laundering by drug dealers.

It's not a PITA.  As a consumer, you don't see any of the processes working. 

You can absolutely pay cash for a house.  People do it every day.

After 9/11, banks were encouraged to report any suspicious transaction of any amount below $10,000.  So, the old $9999 trick hasn't been a thing since then.  You could make a $999 transaction that raised red flags and gets reported by your bank.  You'll never know it happens unless it's a suspicious transaction and IRS wants more info.  A rare occasion for a law-abiding citizen.

If it's your money and you can account for it, then there is nothing to worry about.

[blackcat]

Real Estate is where large funds are transferred for laundering purposes.

"Money laundering through real estate transactions integrates black funds into the legal economy while providing a safe investment. It allows criminals to enjoy assets and derived funds having camouflaged the origin of the money used for payment.
A number of techniques are used, namely cash or opaque financing schemes, overvalued or undervalued prices, and non-transparent companies and trusts or third parties that act as legal owners. Among the possible indicators are geographical features (such as the distance between the property and the buyer and their actual geographical centre of interest). In order to assess the existence of a money-laundering risk, concrete assessments of transactions and a customer's situation provide indications that help raise red flags and trigger reporting obligations."

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/cmsdata/161094/7%20-%2001%20EPRS_Understanding%20money%20laundering%20through%20real%20estate%20transactions.pdf

[Shorty]

I'm watching a fictional series on Netflix about money laundering, the dark web and drugs etc. " Startup"   Pretty fun cast of characters:    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5028002/fullcredits

[Chuck in Indiana]

I've been watching a real one for some time..