Concord Ledger

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Hampshire issued the following announcement on March 2.

            Michael A. Albert, 52, of Chichester, was sentenced to six months in federal prison for structuring cash deposits from his business, Mike’s Affordable Auto, LLC, for the purpose of evading bank reporting requirements, money laundering, and evading reporting requirements with respect to cash transactions in excess of $10,000, United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced.

            According to court documents and statements made in court, Albert, who ran a used car business at locations in Concord and Chichester, knew that if he deposited cash in amounts more than $10,000, the bank was required to file reports of those transactions with the IRS.  Albert structured cash deposits from his business in order to evade the reporting requirements imposed on the bank.  Additionally, Albert accepted cash in amounts greater than $10,000 for the purchase of vehicles from a person who represented that the cash was proceeds of illegal drug trafficking.  Albert also failed to file required forms with the IRS identifying cash receipts in his business in excess of $10,000.

            Albert previously pleaded guilty on September 10, 2019.  In addition to his sentence, Albert agreed to forfeit $434,201 in a related civil forfeiture proceeding.

            “Federal bank reporting laws help to protect against money laundering and other financial crimes,” said U.S. Attorney Murray.  “The defendant’s criminal activities, including laundering money that he believed to be drug proceeds, were serious offenses.  Today’s sentence sends a message that those who commit financial crimes will face substantial consequences for their actions.”

            “Federal laws that regulate the reporting of financial transactions are in place to detect and stop illegal activities.  Michel Albert conducted transactions that were by design, intended to avoid such reporting requirements,” said IRS Special Agent In Charge Kristina O’Connell.  “IRS Criminal Investigation is committed to enforcing these laws and will continue working collaboratively with our law enforcement partners to investigate this type of criminal behavior.” 

            This matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, with assistance from Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Manchester Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Arnold Huftalen.  The civil forfeiture matter is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Rabuck.

            This case was supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).  The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations.  

Original source can be found here.