Middlesex County Man Admits Structuring over $250,000 in Deposits to Evade Reporting Requirements

NEWARK, N.J. – A Middlesex County, New Jersey, man today admitted structuring over $250,000 in bank deposits, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Abdel Elgendy, 67, of Piscataway, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Esther Salas in Newark federal court to an information charging him with structuring.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From March 2021 to November 2021, Elgendy purposefully engaged in a pattern of structuring activity to deposit over $250,000 in cash at financial institutions in ways to avoid reporting requirements for transactions in excess of $10,000. For example, during one of the deposits in September 2021, Elgendy accidentally provided a teller with more than $10,000 to be deposited. When the teller informed him that the cash totaled more than $10,000, Elgendy took some of the money back from the teller to ensure that the total deposited amount was less than $10,000.

The count of structuring to which Elgendy pleaded guilty carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $500,000. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 29, 2024.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, under the direction of Inspector General John Gay; special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer L. Piovesan in Newark; special agents of Homeland Security Investigations Newark, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge William S. Walker; and special agents with the Department of Defense Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Cyber Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Kenneth A. DeChellis, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea. He also thanked the Springfield, New Jersey, and Teaneck, New Jersey, police departments.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carolyn Silane and Benjamin Levin of the Criminal Division in Newark.