[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 240 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 240

  To amend title 31, United States Code, to prevent the smuggling of 
 large amounts of currency or monetary instruments into or out of the 
                 United States, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 6, 1999

 Mrs. Roukema introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
             Committee on Banking and Financial Services   

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 31, United States Code, to prevent the smuggling of 
 large amounts of currency or monetary instruments into or out of the 
                 United States, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Bulk Cash Smuggling Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The use of large sums of cash is one of the most 
        reliable warning signs of drug trafficking, terrorism, money 
        laundering, racketeering, tax evasion, and similar crimes.
            (2) The prevention, investigation, and prosecution of such 
        crimes depends upon the ability of law enforcement to deter and 
        trace such movements of cash, and the failure to report such 
        movements accordingly undermines law enforcement's ability to 
        prevent and detect serious criminal activity.
            (3) The nonreporting of large cash transactions or 
        movements, in contravention of the provisions of subchapter II 
        of chapter 53 of title 31, United States Code, and regulations 
        prescribed under such subchapter, is therefore itself a serious 
        crime.
            (4) The intentional transportation into or out of the 
        United States of large amounts of currency or monetary 
        instruments, in a manner designed to circumvent the mandatory 
        reporting provisions of such subchapter is the equivalent of, 
        and creates the same harm as, the smuggling of goods.
            (5) The penalties in subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 
        31, United States Code, for nonreporting reflect the potential 
        harm caused by the crimes to which intentional nonreporting is 
        linked, and such penalties accordingly protect the following 
        important governmental interests:
                    (A) The obligation of government to prevent the 
                manipulation of commerce and trade by criminals.
                    (B) The cost to the government of investigating 
                criminal activity and enforcing the laws designed to 
                hinder such activity.
                    (C) The government's underlying right to taxes 
                sought to be evaded through the movement of unreported 
                cash.
    (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to authorize forfeiture 
of any cash or instruments whose movements are not reported under the 
terms of subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, United States Code, 
and regulations prescribed under such chapter, to emphasize the 
seriousness of the act of such nonreporting, and to prescribe 
guidelines for determining the amount of property subject to such 
forfeiture in various situations.

SEC. 3. BULK CASH SMUGGLING.

    (a) Enactment of Bulk Cash Smuggling Offense.--Subchapter II of 
chapter 53 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following:
``Sec. 5331. Bulk cash smuggling
    ``(a) Criminal Offense.--Whoever, with the intent to evade a 
currency reporting requirement under section 5316, knowingly conceals 
more than $10,000 in currency or other monetary instruments on the 
person of such individual or in any conveyance, article of luggage, 
merchandise, or other container, and transports or transfers or 
attempts to transport or transfer such currency or monetary instruments 
from a place within the United States to a place outside of the United 
States, or from a place outside the United States to a place within the 
United States, shall be guilty of a currency smuggling offense and 
subject to punishment pursuant to subsection (b).
    ``(b) Penalty.--
            ``(1) Term of imprisonment.--A person convicted of a 
        currency smuggling offense under subsection (a), or a 
        conspiracy to commit such offense, shall be imprisoned for not 
        more than 5 years.
            ``(2) Forfeiture.--In addition, the court, in imposing 
        sentence under paragraph (1), shall order that the defendant 
        forfeit to the United States, any property, real or personal, 
        involved in the offense, and any property traceable to such 
        property, subject to subsection (d) of this section.
            ``(3) Procedure.--The forfeiture of property under this 
        section shall be governed by section 413 of the Controlled 
        Substances Act.
            ``(4) Personal money judgment.--If the property subject to 
        forfeiture under paragraph (2) is unavailable, and the 
        defendant has no substitute property that may be forfeited 
        pursuant to section 413(p) of the Controlled Substances Act, 
        the court shall enter a personal money judgment against the 
        defendant for the amount that would be subject to forfeiture.
    ``(c) Civil Forfeiture.--
            ``(1) In general.--Any property involved in a violation of 
        subsection (a), or a conspiracy to commit such violation, and 
        any property traceable to such violation or conspiracy, may be 
        seized and, subject to subsection (d) of this section, 
        forfeited to the United States.
            ``(2) Procedure.--The seizure and forfeiture shall be 
        governed by the procedures governing civil forfeitures in money 
        laundering cases pursuant to section 981(a)(1)(A) of title 18, 
        United States Code.
            ``(3) Treatment of certain property as involved in the 
        offense.--For purposes of this subsection and subsection (b), 
        any currency or other monetary instrument that is concealed or 
        intended to be concealed in violation of subsection (a) or a 
        conspiracy to commit such violation, any article, container, or 
        conveyance used, or intended to be used, to conceal or 
        transport the currency or other monetary instrument, and any 
        other property used, or intended to be used, to facilitate the 
        offense, shall be considered property involved in the offense.
    ``(d) Proportionality of Forfeiture.--
            ``(1) In general.--Upon a showing by the property owner by 
        a preponderance of the evidence that the currency or monetary 
        instruments involved in the offense giving rise to the 
        forfeiture were derived from a legitimate source, and were 
        intended for a lawful purpose, the court shall reduce the 
        forfeiture to the maximum amount that is not grossly 
        disproportional to the gravity of the offense.
            ``(2) Factors to be considered.--In determining the amount 
        of the forfeiture, the court shall consider all aggravating and 
        mitigating facts and circumstances that have a bearing on the 
        gravity of the offense, including the following:
                    ``(A) The value of the currency or other monetary 
                instruments involved in the offense.
                    ``(B) Efforts by the person committing the offense 
                to structure currency transactions, conceal property, 
                or otherwise obstruct justice.
                    ``(C) Whether the offense is part of a pattern of 
                repeated violations of this section or any other 
                currency reporting money laundering offense.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for subchapter II 
of chapter 53 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 5330, the following new item:

``5331. Bulk cash smuggling.''.

SEC. 4. FORFEITURE IN CURRENCY REPORTING CASES.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (c) of section 5317 of title 31, United 
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
    ``(c) Forfeiture.--
            ``(1) In general.--The court in imposing sentence for any 
        violation of section 5313, 5313A, 5316, or 5324, or any 
        conspiracy to commit such violation, shall order the defendant 
        to forfeit all property, real or personal, involved in the 
        offense and any property traceable thereto.
            ``(2) Procedure.--Forfeitures under this subsection shall 
        be governed by the procedures established in section 413 of the 
        Controlled Substances Act and the guidelines established in 
        paragraph (4).
            ``(3) Civil forfeiture.--Any property involved in a 
        violation of section 5313, 5313A, 5316, or 5324, or any 
        conspiracy to commit any such violation, and any property 
        traceable to any such violation or conspiracy, may be seized 
        and, subject to paragraph (4), forfeited to the United States 
        in accordance with the procedures governing civil forfeitures 
        in money laundering cases pursuant to section 981(a)(1)(A) of 
        title 18, United States Code.
            ``(4) Proportionality of forfeiture.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Upon a showing by the property 
                owner by a preponderance of the evidence that any 
                currency or monetary instruments involved in the 
                offense giving rise to the forfeiture were derived from 
                a legitimate source, and were intended for a lawful 
                purpose, the court shall reduce the forfeiture to the 
                maximum amount that is not grossly disproportional to 
                the gravity of the offense.
                    ``(B) Factors to be considered.--In determining the 
                amount of the forfeiture, the court shall consider all 
                aggravating and mitigating facts and circumstances that 
                have a bearing on the gravity of the offense, including 
                the following:
                            ``(i) The value of the currency or other 
                        monetary instruments involved in the offense.
                            ``(ii) Efforts by the person committing the 
                        offense to structure currency transactions, 
                        conceal property, or otherwise obstruct 
                        justice.
                            ``(iii) Whether the offense is part of a 
                        pattern of repeated violations.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--(1) Section 981(a)(1)(A) of title 18, 
United States Code, is amended by striking ``of section 5313(a) or 
5324(a) of title 31, or''.
    (2) Section 982(a)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is amended 
by striking ``of 5313(a), 5316, or 5324 of title 31, or''.
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