Former FBI Special Agent Sentenced For Making Illegal Cash Deposits

FRESNO, Calif. —Travis Raymond Wilson, 38, of Huntington Beach, Calif., was sentenced yesterday by Judge Anthony W. Ishii to two years of probation for structuring, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

The Bank Secrecy Act requires financial institutions, such as banks, to file Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) on any cash transaction in an amount greater than $10,000. CTRs are filed with the United States Department of Treasury and are made available to law enforcement agencies, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is a federal crime to make cash deposits in an amount of $10,000 or less with the intent to prevent a financial institution from filing CTRs such transactions.

According to court documents, Wilson was a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation beginning in 2004 and continuing through 2013. He was most recently a supervisory special agent in the FBI Long Beach Resident Office of the Los Angeles Field Office until his resignation from the FBI in December 2013. Between January 2008 and February 2013, Wilson regularly gambled at casinos in California, Nevada, Arizona, and West Virginia. Even though he frequently left the Casinos with more than $10,000 cash, Wilson regularly made deposits in amounts of $10,000 or less into his bank account. Wilson structured his cash deposits to attempt to prevent CTRs from being filed on him because he did want not the FBI to become aware of his gambling activities. In total, Wilson structured more than $488,000 in cash into his bank account over this time period.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General, and the Central California Financial Crimes Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Grant B. Rabenn prosecuted the case.