31 U.S.C. § 5322

Criminal penalties

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(a) A person willfully violating this subchapter or a regulation prescribed or order issued under this subchapter (except section 5315, 5324, or 5336 of this title or a regulation prescribed under section 5315, 5324, or 5336), or willfully violating a regulation prescribed under section 21 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act or section 123 of Public Law 91–508, shall be fined not more than $250,000, or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both.(b) A person willfully violating this subchapter or a regulation prescribed or order issued under this subchapter (except section 5315, 5324, or 5336 of this title or a regulation prescribed under section 5315, 5324, or 5336), or willfully violating a regulation prescribed under section 21 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act or section 123 of Public Law 91–508, while violating another law of the United States or as part of a pattern of any illegal activity involving more than $100,000 in a 12-month period, shall be fined not more than $500,000, imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both.(c) For a violation of section 5318(a)(2) of this title or a regulation prescribed under section 5318(a)(2), a separate violation occurs for each day the violation continues and at each office, branch, or place of business at which a violation occurs or continues.(d) A financial institution or agency that violates any provision of subsection (i) or (j) of section 5318, or any special measures imposed under section 5318A, or any regulation prescribed under subsection (i) or (j) of section 5318 or section 5318A, shall be fined in an amount equal to not less than 2 times the amount of the transaction, but not more than $1,000,000.(e) A person convicted of violating a provision of (or rule issued under) the Bank Secrecy Act, as defined in section 6003 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, shall—(1) in addition to any other fine under this section, be fined in an amount that is equal to the profit gained by such person by reason of such violation, as determined by the court; and(2) if the person is an individual who was a partner, director, officer, or employee of a financial institution at the time the violation occurred, repay to such financial institution any bonus paid to the individual during the calendar year in which the violation occurred or the calendar year after which the violation occurred.(Pub. L. 97–258, Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 1000; Pub. L. 98–473, title II, § 901(b), Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2135; Pub. L. 99–570, title I, §§ 1356(c)(1), 1357(g), Oct. 27, 1986, 100 Stat. 3207–24, 3207–26; Pub. L. 102–550, title XV, § 1504(d)(2), Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 4055; Pub. L. 103–325, title IV, § 411(c)(1), Sept. 23, 1994, 108 Stat. 2253; Pub. L. 107–56, title III, §§ 353(b), 363(b), Oct. 26, 2001, 115 Stat. 323, 332; Pub. L. 116–283, div. F, title LXIII, § 6312(a), title LXIV, § 6403(b)(2), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 4596, 4623.)

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised Section

Source (U.S. Code)

Source (Statutes at Large)

5322(a)

31:1058.

Oct. 26, 1970, Pub. L. 91–508, §§ 205(b)(last sentence related to criminal penalties), 209, 210, 84 Stat. 1120, 1121.

5322(b)

31:1059.

5322(c)

31:1054(b)(last sentence related to criminal penalties).

In subsections (a) and (b), the words “(except section 5315 of this title or a regulation prescribed under section 5315)” are added because 31:1141–1143 was not enacted as part of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act that is restated in the subchapter.

In subsection (a), the word “prescribed” is added for consistency.

In subsection (b), the words “or a regulation prescribed under this subchapter” are added because of the restatement. The words “committed” and “the commission of” are omitted as surplus. The words “United States” are substituted for “Federal” for consistency in the revised title and with other titles of the United States Code.

In subsection (c), the words “the purposes of both civil and criminal penalties for” are omitted because of the restatement. The word “separate” before “office” is omitted as surplus.

Editorial NotesReferences in Text

Section 21 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, referred to in subsecs. (a) and (b), is classified to section 1829b of Title 12, Banks and Banking.

Section 123 of Public Law 91–508, referred to in subsecs. (a) and (b), is classified to section 1953 of Title 12, Banks and Banking.

Section 6003 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, referred to in subsec. (e), is section 6003 of div. F of Pub. L. 116–283, which is set out as a note under section 5311 of this title. Such section 6003 defines terms, including the Bank Secrecy Act, as used in div. F of Pub. L. 116–283.

Amendments

2021—Subsecs. (a), (b). Pub. L. 116–283, § 6403(b)(2), substituted “section 5315, 5324, or 5336” for “section 5315 or 5324” in two places.

Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 116–283, § 6312(a), added subsec. (e).

2001—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 107–56, § 353(b)(1), inserted “or order issued” after “willfully violating this subchapter or a regulation prescribed” and “, or willfully violating a regulation prescribed under section 21 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act or section 123 of Public Law 91–508,” after “under section 5315 or 5324)”.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 107–56, § 353(b)(2), inserted “or order issued” after “willfully violating this subchapter or a regulation prescribed” and “or willfully violating a regulation prescribed under section 21 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act or section 123 of Public Law 91–508,” after “under section 5315 or 5324),”.

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 107–56, § 363(b), added subsec. (d).

1994—Subsecs. (a), (b). Pub. L. 103–325 inserted “or 5324” after “section 5315” wherever appearing.

1992—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 102–550 substituted “imprisoned for” for “imprisonment”.

1986—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 99–570, § 1357(g), substituted “any illegal activity involving” for “illegal activity involving transactions of” and “10 years” for “5 years”.

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 99–570, § 1356(c)(1), substituted “5318(a)(2)” for “5318(2)” in two places.

1984—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 98–473, which directed the substitution of “$250,000, or imprisonment not more than five years, or both” for “$1,000, or imprisonment not more than one year, or both”, was executed by substituting the quoted wording for “$1,000, imprisoned for not more than one year, or both” to reflect the probable intent of Congress.

Statutory Notes and Related SubsidiariesEffective Date of 1986 Amendment

Amendment by section 1357(g) of Pub. L. 99–570 applicable with respect to violations committed after Oct. 27, 1986, see section 1364(c) of Pub. L. 99–570, set out as a note under section 5321 of this title.

Construction of 2021 Amendment

Pub. L. 116–283, div. F, title LXIII, § 6312(b), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 4596, provided that: “The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] may not be construed to prohibit a financial institution from requiring the repayment of a bonus paid to a partner, director, officer, or employee if the financial institution determines that the partner, director, officer, or employee engaged in unethical, but non-criminal, activities.”

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 334 cases (21 in the last 5 years), 1983–2026 · leading case: Ratzlaf v. United States
Ratzlaf v. United States (1994) scotus · cites it 11× “Based on this endeavor, Ratzlaf was charged with "structuring transactions" to evade the banks' obligation to report cash transactions exceeding $10,000; this conduct, the indictment alleged, violated 31 U. S. C. §§ 5322 (a) and 5324(3). The trial judge instructed the jury that…”
United States v. Bajakajian (1998) scotus · cites it 8× “31 U. S. C. § 5322 (a); 18 U. S. C. § 982 (a)(1).”
United States v. Usama Sadik Ahmed Abdel Whab (2004) ca2 · cites it 6× “In discussing the boundaries of criminal liability under § 1001, we noted: Arguably, to violate Section 1001, a person must know that it is unlawful to make such a false statement.”
United States v. St. Michael's Credit Union and Janice Sacharczyk (1989) ca1 · cites it 9× “A failure to file a CTR may be prosecuted as a felony when the omission occurs “while [the defendant is] violating another law of the United States, or as part of a pattern of illegal activity involving transactions of more than $100,000 in a 12-month period.”
United States v. Michael David Alston (1996) ca3 · cites it 13× “At all times relevant to this appeal, 31 U.S.C. § 5322 (a) provided criminal penalties only for "willful” violations of § 5313 or 5324.”
United States v. Connie Walker, Antoinette Lloyd, Ronald Jackson, Also Known as Cuzzo, Mario H. Lloyd, and Charles Lloyd (1994) ca7 · cites it 9× “31 U.S.C. §§ 5322 (a), 5324(3). Two days pri- or to oral argument in this case, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Ratzlaf v.”
United States v. Steven C. Griffin, Marvin M. Rux, and Andrae Scurlock (1996) ca7 · cites it 6× “§ 5313 in violation of 31 U.S.C. §§ 5322 (a), 5324. The final, unnum *917 bered count alleged the basis for criminal forfeiture under 21 U.”
United States v. Daniel F. Aversa, United States of America v. Vincent Mento, United States of America v. William J. Don (1993) ca1 · cites it 8× “Subchapter IPs criminal penalty provision, 31 U.S.C. § 5322 (a), proscribes only “willful” violations of the sub-chapter’s provisions.”
United States v. Bank of New England, N.A. (1987) ca1 · cites it 6× “3 The Act imposes felony liability when a bank willfully fails to file such reports “as part of a pattern of illegal activity involving transactions of more than $100,000 in a twelve-month period____” 31 U.S.C. § 5322 (b). I. THE ISSUES The Bank was found guilty of having failed…”
United States v. Estate of Schoenfeld (2018) flmd · cites it 5× “See Section 5321 ; 31 U.S.C. § 5322 . The Secretary delegated authority to the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") to impose criminal penalties, and to the Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN"), a bureau of the Treasury, to impose civil penalties.”
Sandra Cortez v. Trans Union (2010) ca3 · cites it 2× “§ 1906 (maximum fine of $10,000,000 for willful violation of laws governing international narcotics trafficking); see also 31 U.S.C. § 5322 (maximum fine of $250,000 for willful violation of the USA PATRIOT Act, including 31 U.”
Aversa v. United States (1996) ca1 · cites it 3× “a memorandum opinion ruling on Aversa’s and Mento’s post-conviction motions, 3 the judge noted that the government had admitted that Aversa and Mentó were “not involved in drugs and not laundering ill-gotten gains and not keeping information from the United States,” and found…”
— 31 U.S.C. § 5322(a) — 1 case
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.