# Cash or check for a large transaction

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-or-check-for-a-large-transaction/781772>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 9, 2017, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-or-check-for-a-large-transaction/781772 "2017-03-09T15:55:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-or-check-for-a-large-transaction/781772/41 "2017-03-10T18:46:23Z")

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> [@SamuelA](#):
>
> There’s several hundred million bank accounts and not enough agents to examine them individually without cause, and automated bots can only spot so much.

At this point, automated bots can spot any ‘clever’ scheme that someone who doesn’t know the system well comes up with. You’re vastly underestimating how easy it is to spot the kind of ‘clever’ idea that someone who isn’t an expert comes up with on the fly.

> [@](#):
>
> I seriously doubt you’d get busted for structuring if that was the only crime you were doing, and you didn’t have any relatives or friends or known associates being investigated for a crime, and you were using multiple banks.

You doubt it because you don’t know anything about the topic, and are advising people to take a stupid action that could cost them a ton of money or jail time.  
[https://www.money-education.com/resources/financial-planning-news-and-blogs/blog/129-structuring-cash-transactions-under-10-000-is-criminal](https://www.money-education.com/resources/financial-planning-news-and-blogs/blog/129-structuring-cash-transactions-under-10-000-is-criminal)

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**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-or-check-for-a-large-transaction/781772/42 "2017-03-10T23:45:54Z")

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It seems like there’s a natural corollary to the “anyone can create an encryption scheme that he is not smart enough to decrypt”:

“Anyone can create a money laundering scheme that he’s not smart enough to detect.”

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**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2017, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-or-check-for-a-large-transaction/781772/43 "2017-03-11T03:47:32Z")

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Consider Dennis Hasert, speaker of congress at one time, and former wrestling coach who needed a wad of cash to pay off one of his students. You’d think a top congresscritter would know the score, but no… when the authorities asked him why he withdrew several less-than-$10,000 amounts, he happily told investigators he was avoiding the paperwork.

He’s doing 15 months.

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