Edwardsville Woman Sentenced To 6 Months’ Home Confinement And 5 Years’ Probation For Structuring Currency Transactions

An Edwardsville woman, after pleading guilty to Structuring Currency Transactions to Avoid a Currency Transaction Report, was sentenced to six months’ home confinement and five years’ probation today, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, James L. Porter, announced today. Son Chong Fulton, 57, of Edwardsville, Illinois, received the sentence for structuring currency deposits to avoid IRS reporting requirements. The judge also ordered Fulton to forfeit $191,800, and ordered Fulton to pay a fine of $34,185 and a special assessment of $100. The charge relates to sixty-four currency deposits that Fulton made into a bank account between January 22, 2014, and August 11, 2015. Under federal law, financial institutions are required to report to the IRS any currency transaction, such as deposits, exceeding $10,000. It is federal crime to structure financial transactions in such a way as to avoid this reporting requirement. Documents filed with the court indicate that the total amount of deposits made by Fulton during the above period was over $191,800.

Fulton pled guilty to the charge on December 11, 2015.

The case was investigated by members of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stephen Clark.