Man, Woman sentenced for online activities

[TheWanderer]

Read this article on-line today. I read another that went into more detail.
Appears there was quite a bit of money involved. I figured many of you may have known about it already.

http://www.justice.gov/usao/txn/Pres...on_sen_pr.html

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/03/20/2054951/briefs-arlington-residents-sentenced.html

Man, woman sentenced for online prostitution
Two Arlington residents have been sentenced after pleading guilty to running an Internet prostitution ring. Kelly Marie Jellison, 24, will serve a two-year federal prison sentence on charges of money laundering and aiding and abetting, the U.S. attorney's office announced Friday. Co-defendant Byron Johnson, 46, was sentenced to five years in federal prison last week and fined $20,000. Johnson and Jellison were partners, according to court documents. Jellison and other women traveled from Texas to cities such as Chicago, New York and Boston to engage in prostitution with men solicited through the Internet. The prostitutes were paid with credit cards and cash, and the money was deposited into a bank account that Johnson and Jellison controlled, court documents said. The money was used for airline tickets, hotel rooms and advertising. The proceeds were also used to make a $10,000 down payment on a Flying Spur Bentley luxury car and to make payments on a home on River Legacy Drive in Arlington.

[ShysterJon]

They made a down payment on a Bentley, huh? Now THAT'S living low. It should be mandatory that "Goodfellas" be shown in pimp school.

[charlestudor2005]

U.S. Attys with nothing better to do than prosecute HDHs in federal court? Even with this kind of money involved?

No wonder they are refusing to prosecute drug dealers. Gotta spend their time prosecuting the hard criminals selling pussy and not H.

[looiecypher]

well it sounds like these folks set themselves up for the fall.ran all the funds through their personal accounts .bought Bentleys ect.Stayed real low keyed didn't they?

[Mazomaniac]

Can you say "tax evasion".

100-to-1 odds that the Bentley, etc. is currently being surrendered to the IRS in a civil proceeding.

They throw in the criminal case to make it easier to grab the cash.

Yeah, there's bigger fish. But the Feds still have reason enough to go after 'em. You gotta be ready for the consequences if you're gonna live large.

Cheers,
Mazo.

[TheWanderer]

Yeah. I think what alerted the FEDS was that interstate commerce. Somewhere a big red flag popped up for them. I imagine big deposits were made from different locations around the country. That would pop up to a bank auditor who may have alerted the FEDS.
The article says they were doing business as Darkside Productions, Inc., a/k/a EROS.

[SneakyCancer]

never put down any more that $5000 on a car. If you got the cash....great, send it as first payment. IRS questions lump sum down payments.

[Fast Gunn]

Originally Posted by windowshopper

never put down any more that $5000 on a car. If you got the cash....great, send it as first payment. IRS questions lump sum down payments.

Never put down more than $5,000 on a car?

Are you kidding?

The best way to buy a car is to pay cash!

Their mistake was not properly laundering the money and not keeping a low profile while raking it in. The money went to their heads.

Nonetheless, the punishment is much too severe. 5 years in the slammer or even 2 years is still a very large chunk of one's life!

[baytownswm]

Originally Posted by windowshopper

never put down any more that $5000 on a car. If you got the cash....great, send it as first payment. IRS questions lump sum down payments.

The actual number is $9,999. $1 more requires the dealer to submit a form to the IRS. The dealer may also submit the form for less for a given number of reasons. Like was said before, just put it on a note and pay it off in a few months. Plus it will build your score.

[Get_It_Greg]

Originally Posted by Fast Gunn

Never put down more than $5,000 on a car?

Are you kidding?

The best way to buy a car is to pay cash!

Their mistake was not properly laundering the money and not keeping a low profile while raking it in. The money went to their heads.

Nonetheless, the punishment is much too severe. 5 years in the slammer or even 2 years is still a very large chunk of one's life!

its not the best way to pay if you are doing something "illegal".

this is ridiculous, i though this was the land of the free and the home of the brave. let the pimps and hookers (of age) pay taxes legally, because its gonna happen whether the govt likes it or not. there are loopholes around anything but the way its set up now, they are damned if the do and damned if they dont. 5 years? there are child molesters getting 1-2 years.... we need to focus our efforts on serious shit like the two wars we are in, not to mention a war on drugs (lol, if i say so myself) and a global war on T. our justice system is f'ed up.

[pyramider]

Originally Posted by baytownswm

The actual number is $9,999. $1 more requires the dealer to submit a form to the IRS. The dealer may also submit the form for less for a given number of reasons. Like was said before, just put it on a note and pay it off in a few months. Plus it will build your score.

Actually any deposit over $5000 puts you on the radar. Banks have regulations that follows the money.

[Get_It_Greg]

Originally Posted by pyramider

Actually any deposit over $5000 puts you on the radar. Banks have regulations that follows the money.

http://www.ehow.com/about_4672449_tr...port-irs_.html

[Sensual,kneads]

The government became very intrusive after 9/11 and that’s when most of these requirements were created or strengthened. I am an ex-banker and I will be honest, there are 2 types of forms as mentioned in the article above but don't be mislead - banks OFTEN file the Suspicious Activity Report for amounts deposited and withdrawn well below the $5000 requirement. The key word is suspicious! A teller friend of mine completed one for this gentleman that was depositing anywhere between $500 - $1200 every few days, and I assume there is a real body in the government that reviews the reports daily because within a week we received notice that the account was part of a small but rapidly gaining momentum pyramid scheme. Red flags were raised because even though the deposits were well below the necessary amount to complete the form, it was suspicious! Other financial institutions must have thought so too because we were told they received several caution indicators by other institutions as well as ours!
Another business that is also required to complete a SAR form that you may not even be aware of - is a corner store! I ran a firework stand two years ago and as the business started to pick up closer to the holiday I did not feel comfortable or safe maintaining the massive amount of cash I was taking in so I went to the closest store to get a money order. The guy at the store was so nonchalant about it, I almost didn't even notice, he was asking what seemed to me like random conversation questions or making small talk and I didn't notice until he requested a drivers license that he was gathering information! I was on the defense immediately, why would this clerk need my id for a money order, and then it was explained to me! At that point, regardless if I followed through or didn't follow through with the money order purchase, the person was required to provide as much info as possible to complete this form (description of me, my car, approximately how many of each 5,10,20 etc. I had on my person). I thought it was slightly unusual that small corner stores that just offered money orders and no other financial instruments such as wire transfers were now required fill out the form for anything above $999. Most two bedroom apartment complexes are over $999!
One more to be aware of - businesses that are considered transaction brokers! A big name that most would know - PAYPAL! They also have the same reporting requirements that banks do!