Glastonbury Man Sentenced to 10 Months in Federal Prison for Structuring Financial Transactions

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that DAVID E. RAYMOND, 75, of Glastonbury, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to 10 months of imprisonment, followed by two years of supervised release, for purposefully engaging in cash transactions at banks in order to avoid the filing of reports.

Federal law requires all financial institutions to file a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) for currency transactions that exceed $10,000.  To evade the filing of a CTR, individuals will often conduct their currency transactions so that no single transaction exceeds $10,000.  Structuring involves the repeated depositing or withdrawal of amounts of cash less than the $10,000.01 limit, or the splitting of a cash transaction that exceeds $10,000 into smaller cash transactions in an effort to avoid the reporting requirements.  Even if the deposited funds are derived from a legitimate means, financial transactions conducted in this manner are still in violation of federal criminal law. 

According to court documents and statements made in court, RAYMOND purchased rock and roll memorabilia for a doctor who owned a medical practice.  RAYMOND’s friend, Andrea Dobrozensky, was the office manager for the medical practice and also paid the doctor’s personal expenses.  For purchases of items for the doctor in amounts greater than $10,000, RAYMOND requested that any checks payable to him be made in amounts under $10,000 so as to avoid the bank filing a CTR when he cashed the checks.  The checks, ranging in amounts from $4,000 to $9,900, were payable to RAYMOND and many were dated on the same date.

Between August 2009 and May 2012, RAYMOND received 20 checks totaling $146,500 from the medical practice’s business bank accounts.  RAYMOND negotiated the checks for cash at local bank branches where RAYMOND had personal accounts.  He purposefully cashed the checks on different days and at different banks so that the banks would not file CTRs disclosing his receipt of cash.

The investigation also revealed that RAYMOND made material false representations to the doctor concerning the acquisition date and restoration of a painting in order to induce the doctor to buy and restore the painting.  In 2009 and 2010, the doctor paid RAYMOND $20,000 for the painting plus $30,000 for restoration, authentication, and framing costs.  The painting is a fake, and RAYMOND had bought and restored it before selling it to the doctor.

On November 27, 2012, RAYMOND and Dobrozensky traveled to a branch of Farmington Bank in Avon where RAYMOND told Dobrozensky to write checks in amounts below $10,000.  Dobrozensky wrote two checks, one to herself for $9,900 and one to RAYMOND for $9,900.  Dobrozensky then cashed the check payable to her and received $9,900 in cash, and RAYMOND cashed the check payable to him and received $9,900 in cash.  Later, RAYMOND provided the $9,900 to Dobrozensky.

The investigation revealed that RAYMOND has not filed a tax return since at least 1986.  RAYMOND has agreed to forfeit $10,000 related to his structuring activity.

On October 19, 2015, RAYMOND pleaded guilty to one count of structuring financial transactions.

On October 13, 2015, Dobrozensky pleaded guilty to tax and structuring charges.  On January 22, 2016, she was sentenced to five months of imprisonment, five months of home confinement and a $3,000 fine.

This matter was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Hartford Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John H. Durham and Peter S. Jongbloed.