Shelton Man Pleads Guilty To Structuring Of Cash Deposits

Nora R. Dannehy, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that PETER C. BOTTI, 81, of Shelton, pleaded guilty today before Senior United States District Judge Charles S. Haight, Jr. in New Haven to one count of structuring currency transactions.

According to documents filed with the Court and statements made in court, from approximately June 2006 through November 2006, BOTTI intentionally structured cash transactions by having cash deposits of $97,800 made to his accounts at two different financial institutions in amounts less than $10,001.

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 structure 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 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.

In pleaded guilty, BOTTI admitted that he was aware that the two financial institutions involved were legally obligated to report currency transactions in excess of $10,000, and that he committed these structuring acts with the intent to prevent the financial institutions from filing Currency Transaction Reports.  

When he is sentenced, BOTTI faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $250,000.  In addition, the Court is permitted to order BOTTI to forfeit a maximum of $147,166, as set forth in an Indictment against BOTTI that was returned on November19, 2008.   However, the Government will seek forfeiture of only the $97,800 in structured funds that were deposited into BOTTI’s accounts.

This case has been investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The case is being prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Richard J. Schechter and Assistant United States Attorney Rahul Kale.