Forensics Journal - Stevenson University 2013 | Page 17

STEVENSON UNIVERSITY

Act and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), are specific in their
application and use. The U.S. successfully utilized financial forensic
investigations to impact North Korean counterfeiting in a number of
cases. To understand these successes, one must first understand the
basic principles of their use. The following will detail some of the
financial forensic tools, either by statute or other agreements, used to
combat crimes. This is not meant to be an all-inclusive list, but rather
to explore several tools that have been successfully used to combat
North Korean counterfeiting.

tifies a number of its requirements, “…the act requires financial institutions to keep records of cash purchases of negotiable instruments,
file reports of cash transactions exceeding $10,000 (daily aggregate
amount), and to report suspicious activity that might signify money
laundering, tax evasion, or other criminal activities.” (“Bank Secrecy
Act”). Financial institutions (and certain other entities such as
casinos) must file reports with FinCEN under the BSA; these include
Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs), which identify cash transactions over $10,000, and Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), which
are used to report suspicions of money laundering or other criminal
activity (U.S., Internal Revenue Manual, 9.5.5.3.3.1). These filings
are available to U.S. government agencies to assist with law enforcement investigations into money laundering (“Bank Secrecy Act”).

Title Eighteen (Crimes and Criminal Procedure) of the U.S