COMPLIANCE
The warrants are obtained and the agent assem-
bles execution and search teams. The agent
knows that various aspects of this enforcement
plan will need to be delegated. If anything
should go wrong in this plan the agent will be
delegated the full responsibility of any and all
failures. The agent’s entire reputation and cred-
ibility will be on the line again, as it has been
before. The reputation and credibility of the SAR
writer will never face such a test.
Thankfully all goes well. The warrants are safely
executed, valuable evidence is collected and
better yet, the subject is there and makes
incriminating admissions. The agent did pause
a bit over the “messy” way the assisting agents
conducted their searches and left the place. Not
as professionally handled as hoped, but no
actual damage. Although an arrest could be
made, the agent knows that the subject obtain-
ing a defense attorney is the smoother, albeit
less exciting, path to closure in the case. The
agent advises the subject to seek an attorney.
The prosecutor is pleased.
Confidential and congratulations do not
work and play well together in AML
Within a few days a boisterous attorney is call-
ing the prosecutor’s office professing the inno-
cence of the client and this misunderstanding
and possible miscarriage of justice. A proffer
session for a formal discussion on the investiga-
tion is eventually agreed to. Of course this is “at
the earliest possible opportunity,” as insisted by
the defense attorney.
At the proffer session, the prosecutor meticu-
lously lays out the case. The defense lawyer
becomes more quiet and deflated as all precon-
ceived viable defense plans crumble as each
piece of evidence and the elements of the crime
56
are presented. The attorney’s client was far from forthcoming during their
initial consultation. The attorney now asks for indulgence and some time to
speak more with the client. The prosecutor advises that a potential plea
agreement will be drafted for the lawyer’s review in the next couple weeks.
The defense attorney no longer wants to rush things.
During the next couple of weeks, the agent fields multiple calls and
requests from the prosecutor. The financial documents are repeatedly scru-
tinized and various clarifications, additions and corrections are requested.
Additional interviews and re-interviews are requested as new questions
constantly and seemingly endlessly come up. Either an outright or a per-
ceived urgency is part of every request. Nothing is normal about the work-
ing hours associated with accomplishing these tasks. The agent and
prosecutors know that the better they prepare for a trial the better chance
there will not be one. The agent also knows that the prosecutor’s demands
may seem nonsensical at times but even the perception weakness with the
case will be excessively exaggerated by the defense attorney. Each task is
accomplished “forthwith.”
The case becomes rock solid; the defense attorney knows that. Neither
side wants a trial at this point but both threaten the consequences of that
possibility until a plea is formally agreed to.
On the scheduled day of the plea, the agent, prosecutor, the accused and
the defense attorney appear in court. Things are amicable between all.
After about an hour before a judge explains to the defendant all the rights,
nuances and procedures in the acceptance of a plea such as this, the defen-
dant utters that magic word “guilty” to the charges.
Although the case might be considered closed, the agent cannot mark it as
such until the official sentencing a couple months down the road. There
are also fines, forfeitures and processing to be finalized. The agent does
breathe a sigh of relief. The press release of the conviction is printed in the
local paper.
While you attribute your SAR for all this, the agent attributes dog-hearted
persistence in navigating all the obstacles in putting the case together.
Your financial institution contributed to those obstacles. However, the
agent now looks back fondly on all those frustrations. The accolades from
cohorts for a successful investigation somehow always seems to do that.
You, along with the agent, now could get into criminal legal trouble to even
mention or seek validation that the investigation had any relationship to a
SAR. Not even a double secret thank you is allowed, nor has the agent con-
sidered this as a potential oversight. Confidential and congratulations do
not work and play well together in AML.
Steve Gurdak, CAMS, group supervisor, Northern Virginia Financial
Initiative, Annandale, VA, USA, [email protected]