I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2920
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
SEPTEMBER 20, 2001
Mrs. ROUKEMA (for herself and Mr. LAFALCE) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
A BILL
To amend title 31, United States Code, to prevent the smug-
gling of large amounts of currency or monetary instru-
ments into or out of the United States, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives 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 2001’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(1) Effective enforcement of the currency re-
porting requirements of subchapter II of chapter 53
of title 31, United States Code, and the regulations
prescribed under such subchapter, has forced drug
dealers and other criminals engaged in cash-based
businesses to avoid using traditional financial insti-
tutions.
(2) In their effort to avoid using traditional fi-
nancial institutions, drug dealers and other criminals
are forced to move large quantities of currency in
bulk form to and through the airports, border cross-
ings, and other ports of entry where the currency
can be smuggled out of the United States and placed
in a foreign financial institution or sold on the black
market.
(3) The transportation and smuggling of cash
in bulk form may now be the most common form of
money laundering, and the movement of large sums
of cash is one of the most reliable warning signs of
drug trafficking, terrorism, money laundering, rack-
eteering, tax evasion and similar crimes.
(4) The intentional transportation into or out of
the United States of large amounts of currency or
monetary instruments, in a manner designed to cir-
cumvent the mandatory reporting provisions of sub-
chapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, United States
Code, is the equivalent of, and creates the same
harm as, the smuggling of goods.
(5) The arrest and prosecution of bulk cash
smugglers are important parts of law enforcement’s
effort to stop the laundering of criminal proceeds,
but the couriers who attempt to smuggle the cash
out of the United States are typically low-level em-
ployees of large criminal organizations, and thus are
easily replaced. Accordingly, only the confiscation of
the smuggled bulk cash can effectively break the
cycle of criminal activity of which the laundering of
the bulk cash is a critical part.
(6) The current penalties for violations of the
currency reporting requirements are insufficient to
provide a deterrent to the laundering of criminal
proceeds. In particular, in cases where the only
criminal violation under current law is a reporting
offense, the law does not adequately provide for the
confiscation of smuggled currency. In contrast, if the
smuggling of bulk cash were itself an offense, the
cash could be confiscated as the corpus delicti of the
smuggling offense.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are as fol-
lows:
(1) To make the act of smuggling bulk cash
itself a criminal offense.
(2) To authorize forfeiture of any smuggled
cash and other monetary instruments, together with
any other property involved in the smuggling of-
fense.
(3) To emphasize the seriousness of the act of
bulk cash smuggling.
(4) To prescribe guidelines for determining the
amount of property subject to forfeiture in various
situations.
SEC. 3. BULK CASH SMUGGLING INTO OR OUT OF THE
UNITED STATES.
(a) ENACTMENT OF BULK CASH SMUGGLING OF-
FENSE.—Subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing:
‘‘§ 5331. Bulk cash smuggling into or out of the
United States
‘‘(a) CRIMINAL OFFENSE.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whoever, with the intent to
evade a currency reporting requirement under sec-
tion 5316, knowingly conceals more than $10,000 in
currency or other monetary instruments on the per-
son 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 out-
side 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 of-
fense and subject to punishment pursuant to sub-
section (b).
‘‘(2) CONCEALMENT
ON
PERSON.—For pur-
poses of this section, the concealment of currency on
the person of any individual includes concealment in
any article of clothing worn by the individual or in
any luggage, backpack, or other container worn or
carried by such individual.
‘‘(b) PENALTY.—
‘‘(1) TERM OF IMPRISONMENT.—A person con-
victed of a currency smuggling offense under sub-
section (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 seizure, restraint, and
forfeiture of property under this section shall be gov-
erned 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 insufficient sub-
stitute 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 com-
mit such violation, and any property traceable to
such violation or conspiracy, may be seized and, sub-
ject 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, con-
tainer, or conveyance used, or intended to be used,
to conceal or transport the currency or other mone-
tary instrument, and any other property used, or in-
tended 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 de-
rived from a legitimate source, and were intended
for a lawful purpose, the court shall reduce the for-
feiture to the maximum amount that is not grossly
disproportional to the gravity of the offense.
‘‘(2) FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED.—In deter-
mining 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, con-
ceal property, or otherwise obstruct justice.
‘‘(C) Whether the offense is part of a pat-
tern of repeated violations of Federal law.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions for subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, United
States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relat-
ing to section 5330, the following new item:
‘‘5331. Bulk cash smuggling into or out of the United States.’’.
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 fol-
lows:
‘‘(c) FORFEITURE.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The court in imposing sen-
tence for any violation of section 5313, 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 sub-
section shall be governed by the procedures estab-
lished in section 413 of the Controlled Substances
Act and the guidelines established in paragraph (4).
‘‘(3) CIVIL
FORFEITURE.—Any property in-
volved in a violation of section 5313, 5316, or 5324,
or any conspiracy to commit any such violation, and
any property traceable to any such violation or con-
spiracy, 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 instru-
ments 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 max-
imum amount that is not grossly dispropor-
tional 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 miti-
gating 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 trans-
actions, conceal property, or otherwise ob-
struct justice.
‘‘(iii) Whether the offense is part of a
pattern of repeated violations of Federal
law.’’.
(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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