From: "Brian A. LaMacchia" <bal@martigny.ai.mit.edu>
Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 18:39:42 -0800 (PST)
To: jim bell <bdavis@thepoint.net>
Subject: Re: Legality of requiring credit cards?
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19961224213904.0073acc0@martigny.ai.mit.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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At 05:54 PM 12/24/96 -0800, jim bell wrote:
>"Man wins $27,000.  He will eventually be required to report and pay taxes 
>on the amount, but not quite yet.  Stupid I/R/S people alert him BEFORE he 
>files his taxes.  He reports the payment, as is ostensibly legally required. 
> He paid the taxes owed.  Period."
>
>THEN you said, "we settled the matter."   Huh?  What, exactly, was there to 
>"settle"?  

Why, of course, the fact that the guy attempted to structure the
transaction to evade the reporting requirements in the first place.  31
U.S.C. 5324(a).  Structuring (or attempting to structure) a financial
transaction to evade the reporting requirements is a violation of this
subsection, and 31 U.S.C. 5322(a) says that a willful violation is a
five-year felony.  Oh, and willful violation while violating another U.S.
law is a ten-year felony until 5322(b).  I'd suspect the guy was looking at
a 5322(b) charge (with "transmission of wagering information in interstate
commerce" as the "other U.S. law" being violated), but IANAL and I don't
know the case law.

EBD: Please correct me if I'm wrong.  Oh, and did you go after the guy who
wrote the three $9K checks for conspiracy or aiding-and-abetting?

					--bal