Union Bank of California accused me of structuring cash transactions to evade Federal reporting requirements, and they closed my account. Below I am posting all of my checking account statements so you can see the structured transactions for yourself.
Structuring is the act of breaking cash transactions into amounts less than $10,000 to avoid scrutiny by regulators or law enforcement. Banks must file a report for any cash transaction of $10,000 or more. If someone wanted to take $10,000 cash out of the bank but did not want to be reported to the Feds, they might take out $5000 one day and $5000 the next day. That would be Structuring. Structuring often appears in federal indictments related to money laundering, fraud, and other financial crimes.
The only cash transaction that I had during the time I had an account with Union Bank of California (except for the opening deposit) was an ATM withdrawal of $80. All the rest of the transactions were by check or online bill pay. At the rate that I was conducting cash withdrawals (one $80 withdrawal in a 4-month period), it would take me 41 years to structure a $10,000 transaction. They must have very thorough fraud prevention software to nip that one in the bud.
Here are my bank statements for the entire period that I had the account. I put a note in red explaining each transaction. Take a look and tell me in the comments what seems fishy to you.
July Statement
August Statement
September Statement
October Statement
November Statement
