Shellie Zimmerman, George Zimmerman's wife, allegedly used small transfers to hide finances

[cali]

(CBS/AP) ORLANDO, Fla. - The wife of the neighborhood watch volunteer who killed Trayvon Martin allegedly used money transfers of relatively small amounts to hide the true status of the couple's finances as they sought his release on bond, authorities allege in court documents.

Shellie Zimmerman, wife to George Zimmerman, was charged Tuesday with perjury, a third-degree felony that is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. She was released on bond herself.

Records show that in the days before an April bond hearing for her husband, Shellie Zimmerman, 25, transferred $74,000 in eight smaller amounts ranging from $7,500 to $9,990, from her husband's credit union account to hers, according to an arrest affidavit. It also shows that $47,000 was transferred from George Zimmerman's account to his sister's in the days before the bond hearing.

Shellie Zimmerman testified at the hearing that the couple, who married in 2007, had limited funds for bail because she was a full-time student and her husband wasn't working. As a result, George Zimmerman was released on $150,000 bond.

<snippers>

ww.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57452183/shellie-zimmerman-george-zimmermans-wife-allegedly-used-small-transfers-to-hide-finances/

[Ganja Ninja]

1. She may be looking at a federal charge for this.

The transfer of $10,000 is suppose to trigger reporting of the transfer to several federal agencies including the IRS. Intentionally trying to hide the transfer of large amounts by making multiple transfers of smaller amounts is illegal.

[leveymg]

2. That's called a "structuring offense" in money laundering cases.

Not a good idea to piss-off the Judge in a homicide case. Not very smart people.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

3. "...$47,000 was transferred to his sister's account..."

Well, let's bring her in, too. The more the merrier. What a fucking family.

[juniorbonner]

10. Bring the sister in on criminal conspiracy?

That would be the gist of a charge against her, I suppose. I am not a lawyer, nor a prosecutor.

Seems more like George is the one who will be implicated in a conspiracy when the time comes. First the state is going to apply pressure to the wife. She needs her own lawyer now since what is in GZ's best interest is for her to take the fall and try to leave him in the clear. I doubt she feels great about that prospect, but the fact is they don't have the same interests now. So she will need her own defense fund, website, TV ready lawyer, etc.

Then of course the rest of the family has to wonder when the other shoe is going to drop. There were over 100 calls from jail recorded. Did the brother Robert Zimmerman, Jr. say anything that puts him in on a crime, or a criminal conspiracy? He was named by Shellie as the one who knew how much was in the Pay Pal account. He better search his memory carefully and consider his options. Same for the father, Robert Zimmerman Sr. He forfeited ten thousand dollars to the bondsman of his own money secured against his home. Did he do so knowing that his son had over $200k at his disposal recently, and that his son's wife had a 20K cash slush fund on hand for "walking around money?" Or was he kept in the dark by his own son, the son he went on national television and pushed a potentially false narrative for? Don't forget mom, she testified as to her son's character too. And it's not just the jail calls - once the criminal activity was obvious, it would be easy to obtain a warrant for a wiretap and monitor the conversations by telephone between the brother and the dad, for instance, or the sister and the wife, or the wife and the brother, and so on and so on. What is the state holding back at present? Anything? Nothing? We don't know, and neither does the family. Paranoia strikes deep into any conspirator's mind. They hang together or they hang separately.

Imagine what is going thru George's mind after just one day. Now imagine that paranoia (and all those pills) and all that solitary time in a jail cell... how honest was he with his father? Would his father rat him out? How kind was he to his wife? Will she rat him out on anything BESIDES the hidden money and the hidden passport? What about his brother?

Then consider the individual family members mindset at present.... Each one has to consider which one may rat out the others in exchange for immunity from prosecution, and each one has to consider BEING the rat first - the rest will surely be on the hook for the crimes, if any.....

IANAL and everyone is innocent until proven guilty, George included. But you have to admit it ain't no picnic for them all right now.

[Lochloosa]

4. Seems to me the CU may have filed a SAR's (Suspicious Activiey Reports)....or they hope they did.

Who Must File a Report
Current federal law applies the reporting requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act to banks, savings banks, thrifts, insurance companies, stockbrokers, casinos, and any business that sells "stored value" instruments such as money orders or cashier's checks. Some of these entities are classified as Money Services Businesses (MSBs). The law imposes the reporting requirement on banks and MSBs rather than the individual involved in the transaction. In addition, IRS regulations also require individuals and businesses to report certain cash transactions. Failure to make the required report could lead to substantial fines or criminal charges.

Cash Transaction Report (CTR)
The Bank Secrecy Act requires that banks and MSBs report any cash transaction involving $10,000 or more, whether or not the transaction appears related to any crime.

Any person engaged in a trade or business who receives more than $10,000 in cash from any one transaction or series of related transactions during a one year period must file IRS form 8300.

Suspicious Activity Report (SAR)
Any "face to face" transaction with a bank customer involving $2000 or more which appears related to money laundering or a violation of the reporting requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act must be reported through an SAR. Multiple transactions that appear related and total $5000 or more will also trigger the reporting requirement. Banks are prohibited from informing the customer that an SAR has been filed. Federal law protects reporting institutions from any civil liability related to the report. Businesses which only cash checks or money orders are not required to file an SAR, but may do so voluntarily.

Structuring
Prior to 1986, bank customers could avoid triggering CTRs by simply breaking up a large deposit into several smaller transactions. Now 31 U.S.C. §5324 makes it illegal to manipulate a transaction in order to avoid federal reporting requirements. Bank personnel are trained to watch for multiple transactions that occur over short time periods. Any transaction that appears intended to violate the law must be reported, regardless of the amount.



Read more: Rules About Large Cash Deposits | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_6123439_rules-large-cash-deposits.html#ixzz1xg5P7WAV

[oldhippie]

9. Nothing in the OP indicates these were cash transactions .....

... so wouldn't have triggered any reports. Normal ACH or wire transactions do not trigger suspicious activity reports, nor do regular checks made out to payees.

From the limited facts in the OP it doesn't appear to me that any banking or money laundering laws were involved. But she still has enough of a problem with the perury charges.

[warrior1]

5. you beat me to it

Before I retired I had worked in a unit called Financial Investigation for the state of California. I had access to the treasury departments records and could see the CTR's and SAR's, etc. It's a tool we used to run reports and see the movement of money. A typical thing people would do is move $ under the reporting amount thinking they've fooled the gov. They would move the lesser amount, but it would be over a few days and that would send up red flags. Thanks for posting this.

[bpj62]

6. Wir Transfer vs Cashiers Checks

If she wired the funds then she has a big problem because she may have committed wire fraud and that gets the feds involved. If she got cashiers checks and then deposited the money in the other accounts then she is just guilty of perjury. I don't think they committed any money laundering acts because they obtained the money through a non criminal act. I do wonder what the IRS has to say about this issue as well. This is so sad because all George Zimmerman had to do was stay in the truck and none of these events would ever have happened. One mans reckless choice has affected so many other people.
'

[juniorbonner]

7. What was the motive for such activity?

One has to at least entertain the idea that the money was moved and hidden in preparation for a flight from justice. The self-admitted killer and his wife hid the money from the original two "legal advisors" before GZ's arrest, then while in custody they hid the money from their actual lawyer, Mark O'Mara according to his own admission. Also while in jail GZ directed the movement of funds into accounts other than his own, including his sister's. Meanwhile, GZ and his wife have a conversation regarding TWO passports - one "in that bag" and another in a safe or safety deposit box of some kind. Then, at the bond hearing the wife denies knowledge of any assets that could help GZ post bond. GZ sits like a potted plant and allows the court to consider him indigent, when he has at least the funds in his sister and wife's account at his disposal, not to mention a $20K cash slush fund and his good credit and debt limit raised if he desires based on the fact that he paid off his American Express card and SAMS card to the tune of some $40-50k.

What were they planning? If the judge had not put a GPS ankle bracelet on George, he would have walked out of jail with more than $100,000 at his disposal, a valid passport and a ride from the bondsman to wherever he needed to be dropped off. Like, the marina, or a private airstrip.

We don't know his motives, and if he said them in open court under oath I doubt I would believe him at this point, but WHAT WAS HE HIDING THIS MONEY FOR?


There are many possible explanations, but preparation for leaving the USA seems to be one of them.

[Whiskeytide]

8. I think most of the banking industry's large money transfer...

... regulations and laws are aimed at catching tax evaders. That's why the reporting goes through the IRS. What they did here was hide money from the state judge at the bond hearing so they could appear "poor" and unable to afford a large bail amount. She probably testified that GZ did not have much money, and probably produced an account statement with a small balance to support that testimony, and now they have caught her in the lie. I doubt federal charges are in the future, but I am sure they have pissed off the state court judge, and that's unwise.