{"slug":"trump-pre-presidency-nye-casino-illegal-chips","title":"Trump Taj Mahal: $10M Money Laundering Fine — Largest in Casino History at the Time","date":"2015-03-06","lastUpdated":"2015-03-06","description":"In March 2015, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) fined Trump Taj Mahal casino $10 million for willful and repeated violations of the Bank Secrecy Act — anti-money laundering requirements mandating casinos to report large currency transactions and file suspicious activity reports. The $10 million fine was the largest ever assessed against a casino by FinCEN at that time. The violations spanned years and included failure to report tens of millions of dollars in transactions and structural deficiencies in the casino's anti-money laundering program that regulators said were intentional.","summary":"The Bank Secrecy Act requires casinos to file Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) for cash transactions over $10,000 and Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) for transactions that appear to involve money laundering. FinCEN found that Trump Taj Mahal had willfully failed to file CTRs and SARs, allowed transactions structured to avoid reporting thresholds (known as structuring — itself a federal crime), and maintained an anti-money laundering program with known deficiencies for years without correction. The settlement required payment of $10 million and an admission that violations occurred. The casino had also received a previous warning from regulators in the 1990s about similar violations — meaning the failures were repeated over more than two decades.","category":"corruption","severity":"major","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-fines-trump-taj-mahal-casino-resort-10-million-significant-and-longstanding","title":"FinCEN Fines Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort $10 Million","publisher":"Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)"},{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/07/business/trump-taj-mahal-casino-fined-10-million-for-money-laundering-violations.html","title":"Trump Taj Mahal Casino Fined $10 Million in Money-Laundering Case","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/03/06/trump-taj-mahal-fined-10-million-for-money-laundering-violations/","title":"Trump Taj Mahal fined $10 million for anti-money laundering violations","publisher":"The Washington Post"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/trump-casino-money-laundering-fincen-fine","title":"Trump's Atlantic City casino fined $10M for money laundering violations","publisher":"The Associated Press"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["money-laundering","FinCEN","casino","pre-presidency","corruption","Bank-Secrecy-Act","Atlantic-City"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"1990-01-01","title":"Early anti-money laundering deficiencies cited — NJ regulators","summary":"New Jersey casino regulators cite Trump Taj Mahal for anti-money laundering compliance deficiencies in the early 1990s. The casino is put on notice about the reporting requirements it is not meeting. The violations continue for more than two decades without adequate correction."},{"date":"2015-03-06","title":"FinCEN fines Trump Taj Mahal $10M — largest casino AML fine in U.S. history","summary":"FinCEN issues a $10 million consent order against Trump Taj Mahal for willful and repeated Bank Secrecy Act violations spanning years. The fine is the largest ever assessed against a casino. The settlement documents that regulators had previously warned the casino about identical deficiencies."},{"date":"2016-10-10","title":"Trump Taj Mahal closes — end of operations","summary":"The Trump Taj Mahal casino closes permanently after decades of operation, multiple bankruptcies, and eventual loss of Trump control to creditors. The casino that paid the largest anti-money laundering fine in U.S. casino history closes without having remediated all of its compliance failures."}],"location":{"name":"Atlantic City, NJ","lat":39.364,"lng":-74.4229},"custom":{"era":"pre-presidency","posture":"judicial-finding","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"Financial system integrity undermined by failure to report suspicious transactions that could facilitate money laundering; law enforcement effectiveness impaired by absence of legally-required reporting; investors and creditors in a casino with compliance failures enabling potential criminal transactions","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"Owner of Trump Taj Mahal casino through Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts; the casino operated under his name and branding throughout the period of violations; Trump personally controlled the Trump Organization entities holding the casino","institution":"Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts / Trump Organization"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2015-03-06","summary":"Based on FinCEN consent order and contemporary reporting."}]}}