What Happens If You Structure Cash Deposits Under $10,000

What Happens If You Structure Cash Deposits Under $10,000

The money is completely legal. You earned it from your business. You paid every penny of taxes on it. You have nothing to hide. But you made the mistake of depositing it in amounts just under $10,000 to avoid “hassle” with the bank – and now you’re facing federal felony charges that could send you to prison for five years and cost you everything you own.

This is structuring. And it’s one of the most counterintuitive federal crimes that exists. The crime isn’t the money. The crime isn’t tax evasion. The crime isn’t money laundering. The crime is the pattern of deposits itself – breaking up cash transactions specifically to avoid triggering bank reporting requirements. You can be prosecuted for structuring even when every dollar is legitimate, even when you owed no additional taxes, even when you did nothing else wrong.

Most people who get caught structuring had no idea it was illegal. They thought they were just avoiding paperwork. They thought deposit limits were meant to catch criminals, and since they weren’t criminals, the rules didn’t really apply to them. They were wrong. The rules apply to everyone. And the consequences are devastating.

The $10,000 Reporting Threshold

Under the Bank Secrecy Act, financial institutions must file a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) for any cash transaction exceeding $10,000. This includes deposits, withdrawals, exchanges, and other cash transactions. The report goes to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and becomes part of a federal database.

The purpose is money laundering detection. Large cash transactions can indicate drug trafficking, tax evasion, terrorism financing, or other criminal activity. The government wants to know about them.

Most people are vaguely aware of this threshold. Theyve heard you cant deposit more then $10,000 without the bank reporting it. What they dont understand is that avoiding that report through deliberate patterns is itself a crime – regardless of were the money came from.

What Makes It Structuring

Structuring isnt just making deposits under $10,000. Its making deposits under $10,000 with the intent to evade the reporting requirement. The crime requires both the pattern and the intent.

A cash-heavy business that routinely deposits $8,000 becuase thats what they take in isnt structuring. A business that takes in $25,000 in cash and deposits it as three transactions of $8,333 to avoid a CTR filing is structuring.

The intent element is what prosecutors must prove. But intent can be inferred from patterns. If you consistently deposit amounts just below $10,000 – especially amounts like $9,000 or $9,500 that suggest deliberate calibration – prosecutors will argue you knew about the threshold and deliberately avoided it.

Other evidence of intent includes:

• Asking bank tellers about reporting requirements
• Making multiple deposits at different branches on the same day
• Statements to others about avoiding bank reports
• Prior knowledge of BSA requirements from business experience or professional training

The Penalties Are Severe

Structuring is a federal felony under 31 USC 5324 carrying up to five years in federal prison. If the structured transactions involve more then $100,000 in a twelve-month period or are connected to other illegal activity, the maximum sentence increases to ten years.

But prison isnt the worst part. Asset forfeiture often accompanies structuring charges. The government can seize the money you structured – all of it – plus any property or accounts connected to the structured funds. Ive seen cases were people lost hundreds of thousands of dollars that was entirely legitimate income, simply becuase of how they deposited it.

Civil asset forfeiture is particularly brutal. The government can seize your money without ever charging you criminally. You have to prove the money wasnt connected to illegal activity to get it back. The burden of proof flips. Many people lose everything without ever seeing the inside of a courtroom.

How Banks Detect Structuring

Banks are trained to spot structuring patterns. They dont just look at individual transactions – they analyze customer behavior over time. Multiple deposits just below $10,000. Transactions at different branches. Cash deposits followed by immediate transfers. Patterns that suggest deliberate threshold avoidance.

When banks suspect structuring, they file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs). Unlike CTRs, which are automatic for transactions over $10,000, SARs are discretionary – the bank files them when something seems suspicious. And SARs dont have a dollar threshold. A series of $5,000 deposits can trigger a SAR if the pattern suggests structuring.

SARs are confidential. Banks cant tell customers when theyve filed one. So you might have no idea that your deposits triggered a report until federal investigators show up asking questions.

The Innocent Structurer Problem

Heres the tragedy of structuring prosecutions. Many defendants are ordinary people with legitimate money who made a terrible mistake out of ignorance.

The small business owner who heard about the $10,000 rule and thought they were just avoiding unnecessary paperwork. The restaurant owner depositing cash receipts in amounts their insurance limit covers. The person who read online that deposits over $10,000 trigger audits and wanted to avoid scrutiny.

None of these people intended to launder money. None of them were hiding criminal proceeds. They just didnt want to deal with what they perceived as government hassle – and they had no idea that avoiding that hassle was itself a crime.

Courts have consistently held that the money doesnt have to be illegal for structuring charges to apply. You can be convicted of structuring perfectly legal income. The crime is the conduct, not the source of funds.

Real Cases That Show How This Works

A convenience store owner in Michigan was investigated after making years of deposits averaging around $8,000. The money came from store sales. He paid all taxes. His only crime was trying to avoid the “inconvenience” of CTR filings. He lost over $100,000 to civil forfeiture before fighting to get some of it back.

A restaurant owner deposited her daily cash receipts in amounts that typically fell under $10,000 – not to avoid reporting, but becuase thats what she took in. But there were a few days were she deliberately held back some cash to keep deposits under the threshold. Those few instances of intentional structuring led to federal investigation.

A retired couple sold a vehicle for cash and deposited the proceeds in three transactions over three days to avoid “drawing attention.” Neither had any criminal background. Both faced structuring charges.

What To Do If Youve Been Structuring

If your reading this becuase youve been depositing cash in patterns designed to avoid the $10,000 threshold, heres the reality of your situation.

First, stop immediately. Every additional structured deposit adds to your potential exposure. The pattern stops now.

Second, do not destroy any records. Obstruction charges can be worse then structuring charges.

Third, consult a federal criminal defense attorney before doing anything else. Dont talk to the bank. Dont call the IRS. Dont try to fix anything on your own. An attorney can assess your exposure and advise on next steps.

Fourth, understand that investigation may or may not come. Many people have structured without getting caught. Banks may not have filed SARs. Federal investigators may never look at your accounts. But there is no statute of limitations on civil forfeiture, and criminal structuring has a five-year limitations period. The risk persists for years.

Fifth, if federal agents do contact you, exercise your right to remain silent and request an attorney. Statements about why you made deposits the way you did can confirm the intent element prosecutors need.

What To Do Going Forward

For cash-heavy businesses or anyone who regularly handles significant amounts of cash, the answer is simple: deposit your money in whatever amounts reflect your actual transactions, and let the banks file whatever reports they need to file.

CTRs are routine. Banks file millions of them. Having a CTR filed on your account dosent trigger an audit or investigation automatically. Its just paperwork. The government collects the data in case they need it later for legitimate investigations.

What does trigger investigation is structuring. The pattern designed to avoid reports draws far more attention then the reports themselves would have. You are literally creating suspicion where none needed to exist.

If you have legitimate cash income, deposit it honestly. If the deposits exceed $10,000, let the bank file the CTR. If anyone asks, you have documentation showing were the money came from. This is how legal cash is supposed to flow through the banking system.

The Broader Lesson

The structuring laws exist to catch money launderers, but they catch ordinary people who make a stupid mistake out of ignorance. The lesson is that avoiding government reporting requirements is often worse then whatever the report might have revealed.

This pattern repeats across federal criminal law. People destroy documents to avoid subpoenas and get charged with obstruction. People lie to investigators about minor matters and get charged with false statements. People structure deposits to avoid CTRs and get charged with structuring. In each case, the cover-up becomes worse then the underlying conduct would have been.

Transparency is almost always safer then evasion. Report your income. Deposit your cash. File your taxes. Let the government have the information they require. The consequences of honest disclosure are almost always less severe then the consequences of getting caught trying to hide something – even something that wasnt illegal in the first place.

The money wasnt the crime. The pattern was the crime. Dont make deposits designed to avoid reporting. Dont structure your transactions. And if youve already done it, get a lawyer before it catches up with you.