Dear Board of Directors:
The purpose of this Regulatory Alert is to provide you with the February 3, 2006 Alert issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) pertaining to Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) filed to report hurricane-related benefit fraud. The FinCEN alert is attached for your review.
The alert contains a request by FinCEN for financial institutions to use the key words listed below in the narrative portion of SARs that relate to possible hurricane relief fraud.
- Katrina
- Rita
- Wilma
- FEMA
- Red Cross
- Hurricane
The use of these key words will assist law enforcement in identifying hurricane-related fraud as early as possible.
If you have questions about SAR filing, please contact your regional office, examiner, or state supervisory authority.
Sincerely,
/s/
JoAnn Johnson
Chairman