Splitting a pile of cash into several smaller deposits so your bank won’t file a currency report is a federal crime called structuring, and structuring cash deposits can send you to prison for up to five years even when every dollar was legally earned. The statute is 31 U.S.C. § 5324, and a companion provision, 31 U.S.C. § 5317, lets the government keep the money on top of any prison sentence or fine.
The $10,000 Rule You’re Trying Not to Trigger
Banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions must file a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) whenever a customer conducts a cash transaction over $10,000 in a single day. That includes one large deposit or withdrawal, and also multiple smaller cash transactions that add up to more than $10,000 in the same day. The bank files the form; you don’t file anything. Bank employees will collect your legal name, Social Security number, address, and a government ID number to complete it, and the report goes to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).1Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Notice to Customers: A CTR Reference Guide
A CTR by itself is not an accusation. Millions are filed every year on ordinary deposits. The reason people try to dodge it is the reason the crime exists in the first place: the pattern of dodging is what draws federal attention.
What Counts as Structuring
Structuring is the act of breaking up cash transactions so each one stays at or below $10,000 for the purpose of preventing a bank from filing a CTR. Under 31 U.S.C. § 5324, it is illegal to structure or help someone structure transactions with a domestic financial institution, and also illegal to cause a bank to file a CTR containing false information.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 5324 – Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirement Prohibited
The classic pattern: you have $25,000 in cash and deposit $8,000 Monday, $8,000 Wednesday, and $9,000 Friday. Each deposit is under the threshold. Each is legal on its own. Together, chosen for that reason, they are a federal crime. It does not matter that the cash was legitimate income. The offense is the evasion, not the source of the money.
The prohibition reaches beyond banks to casinos, money service businesses, and other financial institutions, and it reaches across branches and across institutions. Depositing $6,000 at one branch and $6,000 at another the same day to keep each location under $10,000 is textbook structuring. So is spreading the same total across two different banks.
What Prosecutors Have to Prove
The government must show you acted “for the purpose of evading” the reporting requirement.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 5324 – Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirement Prohibited This is where structuring cases are won or lost. Making several deposits under $10,000 is not automatically a crime. People deposit cash in smaller amounts for all sorts of innocent reasons. What turns a series of legal deposits into a federal offense is proof that you chose those amounts specifically to keep the bank from filing.
The intent standard has a specific history. In 1994, the Supreme Court held in Ratzlaf v. United States that the government had to prove the defendant knew structuring itself was illegal.3Legal Information Institute. Ratzlaf v United States Congress responded by amending § 5324 to remove the word “willfully.” Under the current statute, prosecutors need to show you knew about the $10,000 reporting threshold and acted to evade it. They do not have to prove you knew structuring was a crime.
That distinction catches people off guard. A bank teller mentioning the reporting requirement, a search history on CTRs, a text message about staying under the limit, a conversation with an accountant, or your own testimony that you’d heard about the $10,000 rule can all become evidence that you knew the threshold before you started splitting your deposits.
Prison Time and Fines
A base structuring conviction under § 5324 carries up to five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 5324 – Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirement Prohibited4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3571 – Sentence of Fine The $250,000 comes from the general federal felony fine cap at 18 U.S.C. § 3571.
The penalties double in aggravated cases. If the structuring happens while you’re violating another federal law, or as part of a pattern of illegal activity involving more than $100,000 in a twelve-month period, the maximum fine rises to $500,000 and the prison term to ten years.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 5324 – Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirement Prohibited This enhancement often applies when structuring sits on top of tax evasion, drug proceeds, or fraud.
Losing the Money on Top of the Sentence
For many people caught in these cases, forfeiture is the sharper blow. Under 31 U.S.C. § 5317, the government has two ways to take the cash.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 5317 – Search and Forfeiture of Monetary Instruments
Criminal forfeiture follows a conviction. When a court convicts someone of violating § 5324 (and certain related sections), the judge must order forfeiture of all property involved in the offense and any property traceable to it. The order is mandatory, not discretionary.
Civil forfeiture does not require a conviction, or even a criminal charge. The government proceeds against the property itself and follows the money-laundering forfeiture procedures at 18 U.S.C. § 981. The standard of proof is lower than in a criminal trial, and the case can go forward whether or not anyone is ever prosecuted.
Special Limits on IRS Seizures
Congress narrowed the IRS’s power in this area after years of controversy over the agency seizing bank accounts from small business owners whose only offense was depositing cash in patterns that looked like structuring. Under the current statute, the IRS can seize property for a structuring violation only if the money came from an illegal source or the funds were structured to conceal some crime other than structuring itself.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 5317 – Search and Forfeiture of Monetary Instruments The IRS cannot seize legitimately earned cash on the pattern alone.
When the IRS does seize, it must notify all owners within 30 days. An owner who requests a hearing within 30 days of that notice is entitled to get the property back unless a court finds probable cause that the structuring concealed another crime.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 5317 – Search and Forfeiture of Monetary Instruments These protections apply to the IRS. Other federal agencies operate under different forfeiture procedures.
Why Splitting Deposits Backfires
Beyond the $10,000 CTR threshold, banks watch for behavior that looks suspicious at any dollar amount. When a pattern doesn’t add up, the bank files a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) with FinCEN. Banks must file SARs for transactions of $5,000 or more when a suspect can be identified and the bank believes the activity may involve money laundering, illegal activity, or an attempt to evade Bank Secrecy Act requirements. Where no suspect can be identified, the threshold rises to $25,000.6FFIEC BSA/AML InfoBase. Suspicious Activity Reporting
Banks are legally forbidden from telling you a SAR was filed. The prohibition covers the institution and every employee, officer, and director, and it holds even against a subpoena. Courts have treated SAR confidentiality as an absolute privilege the bank cannot waive.7Federal Register. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network; Confidentiality of Suspicious Activity Reports If your bank suddenly seems curious about a deposit or closes your account without explanation, you will not be told a SAR was the reason.
The practical result is that a series of $9,000 deposits generates far more government attention than one straightforward $25,000 deposit with a routine CTR attached. Structuring behavior can trigger a SAR, flag the account for enhanced monitoring, and end the banking relationship even in cases that never produce criminal charges.
If Your Money Has Already Been Seized
Deadlines run fast in forfeiture cases. Under the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act (CAFRA) at 18 U.S.C. § 983, the government must send written notice of seizure to interested parties within 60 days, subject to certain extensions.8Forfeiture.gov. 18 US Code 983 – General Rules for Civil Forfeiture Proceedings If the government misses that window without an extension, it must return the property, though it can bring a new forfeiture action later.
Once you receive a notice letter, you file a claim contesting the forfeiture by the deadline stated in the letter, which cannot be earlier than 35 days after mailing. If you never receive personal notice, you have 30 days from the date of the final published notice.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 983 – General Rules for Civil Forfeiture Proceedings Miss the deadline and the money is almost always gone.
A timely claim moves the case to federal court, where the government must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the property is connected to the violation. You can raise an innocent-owner defense by showing you did not know about the conduct that triggered the forfeiture, or that you took reasonable steps to stop it once you learned. For property acquired after the underlying conduct, you have to show you were a good-faith purchaser with no reason to know the property was subject to forfeiture.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 983 – General Rules for Civil Forfeiture Proceedings
A Note on Border Cash
The rules above govern cash deposits and withdrawals at domestic financial institutions. Physically moving more than $10,000 in currency or monetary instruments into or out of the United States is governed by a separate reporting regime under 31 U.S.C. § 5316, and concealing that cash while crossing the border is a distinct crime called bulk cash smuggling under 31 U.S.C. § 5332. If your question involves travel rather than deposits, those statutes, not § 5324, are the ones to read.