Compliance Blog

Written by Shari R. Pogach, Regulatory Paralegal

The fraudsters, they keep on a-coming

A former SunTrust Bank teller was sentenced to 18 months in prison due to her cashing fraudulently obtained tax refund checks for a fee as part of a stolen identity tax refund fraud conspiracy.  Court documents indicate that between February 2013 and May 2014, Vicky Wheeler, 55, worked as a teller at a SunTrust Bank branch in Columbus, Georgia.  According to the Department of Justice news release, Wheeler was approached by several co-conspirators and asked to cash fraudulently obtained tax refund checks.  She was told the refund checks were generated from tax returns that were filed using stolen identities.  For her part, Wheeler made false entries on the faces of the checks to appear as though she had received proper identification to cash the checks.  But Wheeler never got any identification to cash the checks.  She received and cashed approximately 361 fraudulent tax refund checks.  These included U.S. Treasury checks and refund checks issued by financial institutions claiming $780,760.17 in tax refunds.  Wheeler was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

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The FBI has issued a notice indicating a dramatic rise in the business email compromise scam or B.E.C. scheme that targets businesses.  This is where company email is spoofed or social engineering is used to assume the identity of the CEO, a company attorney or trusted vendor. The perpetrators research employees who manage money and use language specific to the company they are targeting and then request a wire fraud transfer using dollar amounts that lend legitimacy to the request. Globally, law enforcement has received victim complaints from every U.S. state and in at least 79 countries.  The FBI has seen a 270 percent increase in identified victims and exposed loss since January 2015. 

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BSA Blast.  It's out!  The April 2016 issue of the BSA Blast is available (NAFCU login required).  Articles in this issue include: a review of the FinCEN's enforcement actions during first quarter 2016 and its guidance on the anti-money laundering (AML) compliance obligations for a money services business (MSB) and its agents. The guidance can be helpful for those credit unions wishing to provide services to MSBs. And, the issue contains a new BSA quiz that covers BSA fundamentals and can be used for staff training.

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NAFCU's Credit Union Compliance GPS.  The 2016 edition of the Credit Union Compliance GPS (GPS) is here! This must-have electronic compliance reference tool has been updated with the 2015 regulatory changes impacting the credit union industry.  It includes over 40 pages on important new regulatory compliance requirements that credit union compliance professionals need to incorporate into a credit union's day-to-day operations. At just $399 for NAFCU members and $499 for non-members, and over 600 pages, this electronic compliance reference tool is a bargain!