Southern Illinois woman sentenced to 6 months' home confinement and 5 years' probation for structuring currency transactions

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A Southern Illinois woman was sentenced Friday to six months’ home confinement and five years’ probation for structuring currency transactions to avoid a currency transaction report.

This sentence was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney James L. Porter, Southern District of Illinois.  This case was investigated by members of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). 

Son Chong Fulton, 57, of Edwardsville, Illinois, received the sentence for structuring currency deposits to avoid IRS reporting requirements. The judge also ordered Fulton to forfeit $191,800, and ordered her to pay a fine of $34,185 and a special assessment of $100. The charge relates to 64 currency deposits that Fulton made into a bank account between Jan. 22, 2014, and Aug. 11, 2015. Under federal law, financial institutions are required to report to the IRS any currency transaction, such as deposits, exceeding $10,000. It is federal crime to structure financial transactions to avoid this reporting requirement. Documents filed with the court indicate that the total amount of deposits made by Fulton during the above period was over $191,800.

Fulton pleaded guilty to the charge Dec. 11, 2015.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Clark, Southern District of Illinois.