Why Donald Trump Should Be Nervous

The post Why Donald Trump Should Be Nervous appeared first on WhoWhatWhy.

Editor’s note: Martin J. Sheil is a retired branch chief of the IRS Criminal Investigation division.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has apparently expanded his investigation of the Trump campaign’s connections to Russia to include examination of suspicious financial transactions of White House-connected individuals.

Recent media reports have indicated that the finances of Trump campaign associates Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Carter Paige, Roger Stone and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are coming under Mueller’s microscope.

This raises important questions: Will President Donald Trump’s finances — and his tax returns — be next? What might such a financial inquiry of Trump himself find? What led Mueller to broaden his investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 US election to now include the finances of Trump associates?

WhoWhatWhy recently discussed how following the money might turn out with regard to Flynn. WhoWhatWhy has also recently looked into possible illegal dealings with Russian officials by Kushner.

Answers to these questions might well be found in the vast financial repository of the US Treasury organization, the Financial Criminal Enforcement Network, also known as FinCEN.

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The Trump administration has reason to be worried: Financial shenanigans have tripped up notable political figures in the past.

In 2008, Eliot Spitzer resigned as Governor of New York after embarrassing revelations that he had engaged an escort service while he was married.

The Spitzer investigation was triggered by a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) issued by a New York bank and filed with the IRS. Special Agents with the IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) reviewed the SAR, which indicated suspicious financial dealings by two shell companies.

Upon drilling down, the IRS agents found that someone by the name of Spitzer was making wire transfers totaling just under $10,000; the money ultimately ended up at the escort service supplying Spitzer with companions for his scandalous soirees at the Mayflower Hotel.

Ex-Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert was indicted in May of 2015 for violating bank reporting requirements. The indictment accused Hastert of structuring withdrawals to avoid these reporting requirements, and lying to the FBI about the nature of the withdrawals.

It came out that Hastert had agreed to pay $3.5M in hush money to keep someone quiet about his “prior misconduct.” The banks that Hastert frequented, the indictment stated, were required to “prepare and file with FinCEN, a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) for any transaction or series of transactions involving currency of more than $10,000.”

From 2010 to 2012, Hastert made 15 withdrawals of $50,000 from multiple bank accounts in order to make the hush money payments, according to the indictment. The Huffington Post, among other media, reported that one or more of the banks flagged the transactions as suspicious.

Spitzer and Hastert are only two of the well-known politicians ensnared by the Bank Secrecy Act and the Patriot Act, which together form the substantive efforts of the Federal Government to ensure that the American banking system is not willy nilly manipulated to facilitate financial transactions involving proceeds derived from unlawful activities.   

Read more https://whowhatwhy.org/2017/06/26/trumps-suspicious-financial-transactions-scrutinized/