FinCEN Penalizes Compliance Officer
On December 18, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced that it had assessed a $1 million penalty against the former compliance officer of MoneyGram for several Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) compliance violations. Thomas E. Haider, the chief compliance officer for MoneyGram between 2003 and 2008, was the head of MoneyGram’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance department and in charge of BSA compliance.
According to FinCEN, Mr. Haider was well aware of a multitude of fraudulent schemes and illicit activity where MoneyGram customers were taken advantage of. Mr. Haider failed to file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) based on money laundering, fraud, and other criminal activity and therefore a lot of information was not shared with law enforcement who could have combated the illegal activity. In addition to the $1m dollar penalty, Mr. Haider is barred from working in the financial industry.
CLA’s financial institution regulatory compliance team assists banks and credit unions nationwide in establishing regulatory compliance programs, conducting compliance testing, and training staff on regulations. Justin Robinson is a member of CLA’s regulatory compliance team and can be reached at justin.robinson@CLAconnect.com.
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