The SAR Activity Review Suspicious Activity Report Statistics

Section 1
Suspicious Activity Report Statistics¹
1 April 1996 - 31 August 2000

The statistics on the following pages relate to SARs filed since April 1996 by depository institutions (i.e., banks, thrifts, and credit unions). A small part of the total volume relates to reports filed by affiliates of depository institutions or, in some cases, filed voluntarily by brokers and dealers in securities, money services businesses, or gaming businesses.

Note: SAR data is continuously updated as additional forms are filed and processed. For this reason, there may be minor discrepancies between the statistical figures contained in various portions of this report.

Chart 1
SAR Filings by Year² and Month

Month	Number of Filings
	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
January	261	5794	7600	8621	10789
February		5522	7107	9950	9910
March		6967	8718	10986	14923
April	2022	7628	8293	9759	11928
May	3315	6814	7646	10625	13364
June	5756	6414	8163	10715	13908
July	6882	6844	9061	8759	12031
August	6785	6930	7696	10014	13500
September	6139	7221	8625	8735
October	7269	7486	8223	10049
November	5060	6384	7577	10540
December	6297	7593	8223	11753
Subtotal	49,786	81,597	96,932	120,506	100,353³
Total Filings	449,177

¹ Statistics generated for this study were based on the Record Control Number of each record within the SAR system. Numeric discrepancies between total number of filings and the combined number of filings of States and/or territories is a result of multiple filers listed on one or more SARs.

² SARs were erroneously filed for the years 1937 (1); 1988 (1); and 1994 (1).

³ Represents those SARs currently in the system as of 31 August 2000.

Chart 2
SAR Filings⁴ by State & Territories

Month	Number of Filings
	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000⁵
Alabama	352	451	407	528	407
Alaska	63	59	132	157	240
American Samoa	2		7	2	8
Arizona	1817	3100	2428	2505	2494
Arkansas	197	335	298	430	325
California	12217	18151	23370	25042	27354
Colorado	844	1081	1480	1702	1155
Connecticut	398	785	950	4449	3228
Delaware	1097	1426	1664	2006	1888
District of Columbia	166	234	281	285	292
Fed. States Micronesia	1	3	3	1
Florida	3971	6637	7131	7969	6642
Georgia	869	1504	1688	2205	1799
Guam	25	80	56	84	55
Hawaii	390	535	553	575	475
Idaho	106	155	124	186	262
Illinois	1471	2768	2899	3866	3112
Indiana	556	769	969	1186	881
Iowa	251	363	326	427	288
Kansas	254	284	363	555	305
Kentucky	262	388	426	754	516
Louisiana	480	594	714	926	1311
Maine	115	186	194	213	147
Marshall Islands				1
Maryland	615	937	1201	1537	1371
Massachusetts	857	1402	1848	213	1929
Michigan	1119	1717	1858	2753	2377
Minnesota	950	2263	2212	2513	1866
Mississippi	152	251	222	283	343
Missouri	604	960	1153	1215	922
Montana	71	107	101	156	130
Nebraska	178	248	316	371	391
Nevada	662	1488	2009	2062	2135
New Hampshire	244	503	419	573	255
New Jersey	888	1536	2437	3450	2536
New Mexico	220	237	286	314	247
New York	5259	9679	13441	17931	11710
North Carolina	893	1625	2119	2392	2042
North Dakota	42	215	213	122	148
Northern Mariana Islands	22	5	13	33	42
Ohio	903	1721	2230	2297	1897
Oklahoma	379	497	506	698	525
Oregon	555	1129	1201	1807	1699
Overseas	12	39	7	2	19
Pennsylvania	1452	2482	2544	3571	2244
Puerto Rico	146	562	456	316	714
Rhode Island	155	290	285	503	314
South Carolina	279	563	640	669	473
South Dakota	316	430	574	675	163
Tennessee	525	802	922	998	973
Texas	3805	4906	6231	7606	6286
U.S. Virgin Islands	3	8	12	14	15
Unknown/Blank	318	205	28	26	17
Utah	374	882	1114	1384	1476
Vermont	55	91	68	58	44
Virginia	598	1206	1564	1537	1221
Washington	753	1766	2192	3147	2334
West Virginia	109	151	680	737	137
Wisconsin	360	552	677	755	614
Wyoming	26	43	54	40	37

⁴ SARs were erroneously filed for the years 1937 (1-GA); 1988 (1); and 1994 (1-CA).

⁵ Represents those SARs currently in the system as of 31 August 2000.

Chart 3
SAR Filings Since 1996 Ranked by States & Territories

Rank	State/Territory	Filings (overall)	Percentage⁶ (overall)
1	California	106134	23.5%
2	New York	58020	13%
3	Florida	32350	7.2%
4	Texas	28834	6.5%
5	Illinois	14116	3.15%
6	Arizona	12344	2.75%
7	Pennsylvania	12293	2.75%
8	New Jersey	10847	2.4%
9	Washington	10192	2.25%
10	Michigan	9824	2.2%
11	Connecticut	9810	2.2%
12	Minnesota	9804	2.2%
13	North Carolina	9071	2%
14	Ohio	9048	2%
15	Nevada	8356	1.85%
16	Delaware	8081	1.8%
17	Georgia	8065	1.8%
18	Oregon	6391	1.4%
19	Colorado	6262	1.4%
20	Massachusetts	6249	1.4%
21	Virginia	6126	1.35%
22	Maryland	5661	1.25%
23	Utah	5230	1.15%
24	Missouri	4854	1%
25	Indiana	4361	Less than 1%
26	Tennessee	4220	Less than 1%
27	Louisiana	4025	Less than 1%
28	Wisconsin	2958	Less than 1%
29	South Carolina	2624	Less than 1%
30	Oklahoma	2605	Less than 1%
31	Hawaii	2528	Less than 1%
32	Kentucky	2346	Less than 1%
33	Puerto Rico	2194	Less than 1%
34	South Dakota	2158	Less than 1%
35	Alabama	2145	Less than 1%
36	New Hampshire	1994	Less than 1%
37	West Virginia	1814	Less than 1%
38	Kansas	1761	Less than 1%
39	Iowa	1655	Less than 1%
40	Arkansas	1585	Less than 1%
41	Rhode Island	1547	Less than 1%
42	Nebraska	1504	Less than 1%
43	New Mexico	1304	Less than 1%
44	District of Columbia	1258	Less than 1%
45	Mississippi	1251	Less than 1%
46	Maine	855	Less than 1%
47	Idaho	833	Less than 1%
48	North Dakota	740	Less than 1%
49	Alaska	651	Less than 1%
50	Unknown/Blank	594	Less than 1%
51	Montana	565	Less than 1%
52	Vermont	316	Less than 1%
53	Guam	300	Less than 1%
54	Wyoming	200	Less than 1%
55	Northern Mariana Islands	115	Less than 1%
56	Overseas	79	Less than 1%
57	U.S. Virgin Islands	52	Less than 1%
58	American Samoa	19	Less than 1%
59	Fed. States of Micronesia	8	Less than 1%
60	Marshall Islands	1	Less than 1%

⁶ All percentages are approximate.

Chart 4
SAR Filings Since 1996 Ranked
by Characterization of Suspicious Activity

Rank	Violation	Filings (overall)	Percentage⁷ (overall)
1	BSA/Structuring/Money Laundering	221402	45.3%
2	Check Fraud	64237	13.15%
3	Other	35646	7.3%
4	Counterfeit Check	25670	5.25%
5	Defalcation/Embezzlement	22700	4.65%
6	Credit Card Fraud	21856	4.5%
7	Unknown/Blank⁸	18561	3.8%
8	Check Kiting	18392	3.75%
9	False Statement	10441	2.15%
10	Consumer Loan Fraud	10347	2.1%
11	Mortgage Loan Fraud	10276	2.1%
12	Mysterious Disappearance	8097	1.65%
13	Misuse of Position or Self Dealing	7455	1.5%
14	Commercial Loan Fraud	4301	Less than 1%
15	Debit Card Fraud	3021	Less than 1%
16	Wire Transfer Fraud	2737	Less than 1%
17	Counterfeit Credit/Debit Card	1746	Less than 1%
18	Counterfeit Instrument (Other)	1326	Less than 1%
19	Bribery/Gratuity	473	Less than 1%
20	Computer Intrusion ⁹	9	Less than 1%

⁷ All percentages are approximate.

⁸ The Unknown/Blank classification encompasses those alpha and/or numeric characters which
do not correspond to an established violation, fields containing unrelated symbols or nothing
more than carriage returns, or instances where the field is null (void of any data or action).

⁹ Violation did not appear until Revised June 2000 TD F 90-22.47.

Chart 5
SAR Filings by Characterization
of Suspicious Activity (Matrix)

Violation	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000¹⁰
BSA/Structuring/ Money Laundering	20565	35949	47509	61007	56371
Bribery/Gratuity	91	109	93	101	79
Check Fraud	8639	13274	13832	16239	12253
Check Kiting	2747	4298	4037	4061	3249
Commercial Loan Fraud	554	960	905	1080	802
Computer Intrusion	0	0	0	0	9
Consumer Loan Fraud	1148	2048	2185	2549	2417
Counterfeit Check	2317	4244	5918	7396	5795
Counterfeit Credit/Debit Card	385	387	182	351	441
Counterfeit Instrument (Other)	212	292	265	321	236
Credit Card Fraud	3375	5083	4383	4938	4077
Debit Card Fraud	245	610	566	721	879
Defalcation/Embezzlement	3136	5306	5260	5179	3819
False Statement	1807	2204	1978	2376	2076
Misuse of Position or Self Dealing	914	1537	1645	2063	1296
Mortgage Loan Fraud	1265	1719	2268	2936	2088
Mysterious Disappearance	1168	1767	1855	1857	1450
Wire Transfer Fraud	284	499	594	772	588
Other	4600	6777	8696	8755	6817
Unknown/Blank	1652	2317	2728	7295	4569

¹⁰ Represents those SARs currently in the system as of 31 August 2000.

Chart 6
SAR Filings by Characterization
of Suspicious Activity (Matrix)

Regulator	Total Filings by Year
	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000¹¹
Federal Reserve Board	5486	9676	10798	14656	11790
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation	9839	14908	14735	15883	12818
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency	25072	41722	51879	64946	59299
Office of Thrift Supervision	2071	2624	2846	3041	2159
National Credit Union Association	5760	9133	11463	12316	9798
Unspecified¹²	1558	3534	5211	9664	6031

¹¹ Represents those SARs currently in the system as of 31 August 2000.
¹² Unspecified regulator may include those financial and/or non-bank financial institutions not
regulated by one of the five agencies listed above. Such entities include, but are not limited to
Money Services Businesses, Insurance Companies and Securities Brokers/Dealers.

Chart 7
Direct Referrals of SARs by Financial Institutions
to Law Enforcement ¹³ & Regulatory Agencies

Agency	Referrals
Federal Law Enforcement
Federal Bureau of Investigation	10849
Internal Revenue Service	6937
United States Secret Service	3522
United States Postal Inspection Service	1396
United States Attorney’s Office	167
Department of the Treasury	117
United States Customs Service	98
Department of State	43
Naval Criminal Investigative Service	18
Drug Enforcement Administration	17
Detroit Computing Center	14
Department of Justice	11
Total Federal Law Enforcement	23,189

Federal Regulatory Agencies
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation	44
Federal Reserve Board	32
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency	30
Total Regulatory Agencies	106

State and Local Law Enforcement
City Police Department	9424
County/Parish	1391
State Police	598
State/District Attorney’s Office	207
State (Other)	41
Total State and Local Law Enforcement	11,661

Other	594
Unspecified	486

¹³ Figures reflect those entities receiving ten (10) or more SAR referrals. Some SARs may
reference making referrals to multiple law enforcement agencies.

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