{"slug":"trump-taj-mahal-casino-finCEN-money-laundering-fine","title":"Trump Taj Mahal: $10 Million FinCEN Fine for Willful Anti-Money-Laundering Violations","date":"2015-03-06","lastUpdated":"2015-03-06","description":"In March 2015, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) — the U.S. Treasury's financial intelligence unit — fined the Trump Taj Mahal casino $10 million for 'willful and repeated' violations of the Bank Secrecy Act's anti-money-laundering requirements. The Taj Mahal had failed to file required reports on suspicious cash transactions, failed to maintain adequate anti-money-laundering programs, and allowed high-roller gamblers to move cash through the casino without proper documentation for years. It was FinCEN's largest casino-sector fine at the time.","summary":"FinCEN found that the Trump Taj Mahal had, over the course of years, failed to file Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) on large cash transactions as required under the Bank Secrecy Act, failed to maintain adequate Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) programs, and failed to maintain basic anti-money-laundering controls. The violations were documented across thousands of transactions. FinCEN described the violations as 'willful' — meaning the casino knew what was required and did not comply. The $10 million fine was FinCEN's largest-ever against a casino; the previous Trump casinos had also faced regulatory action.","category":"corruption","severity":"major","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-fines-trump-taj-mahal-casino-resort-10-million-anti-money-laundering","title":"FinCEN Fines Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort $10 Million for Anti-Money-Laundering Violations","publisher":"Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)"},{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/07/business/trump-taj-mahal-in-atlantic-city-fined-10-million-for-money-laundering-lapses.html","title":"Trump Taj Mahal Fined $10 Million for Failing to Report Suspicious Transactions","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/05/20/donald-trumps-casino-was-a-money-laundering-concern-for-years-says-federal-financial-crimes-unit/","title":"Donald Trump's casino was a money laundering concern for years","publisher":"The Washington Post"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/trump-taj-mahal-fine-money-laundering","title":"Trump Taj Mahal fined $10M for money laundering violations","publisher":"The Associated Press"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["casino","money-laundering","FinCEN","pre-presidency","Atlantic-City","fraud"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"1998-01-01","title":"Plaza Hotel — prior FinCEN AML fine","summary":"The Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino is assessed an earlier FinCEN fine for Bank Secrecy Act violations. The prior action is cited in the 2015 Taj Mahal penalty."},{"date":"2015-03-06","title":"FinCEN issues $10 million fine — Trump Taj Mahal","summary":"FinCEN issues a $10 million consent order against Trump Taj Mahal LLC for 'willful and repeated' Bank Secrecy Act violations. The fine is FinCEN's largest ever against a casino and reflects the casino's history of prior violations."},{"date":"2016-10-10","title":"Taj Mahal closes permanently","summary":"The Trump Taj Mahal closes after its final bankruptcy filing. The casino had opened in 1990 and had declared bankruptcy multiple times. Its closure ends Atlantic City's casino strip era."}],"location":{"name":"Atlantic City, NJ","lat":39.3643,"lng":-74.4229},"custom":{"era":"pre-presidency","posture":"judicial-finding","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations","article":"Recommendation 10","provision":"Customer due diligence — willful failure to maintain AML controls enabling suspicious cash movement through casino violates core FATF standards to which the U.S. has committed"}],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"U.S. financial integrity; money laundering prevention framework; law enforcement investigations potentially stymied by inadequate casino reporting","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"Owner of Trump Taj Mahal; casino operated under his control during violation period","institution":"Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2015-03-06","summary":"Documented from FinCEN consent order."}]}}