Compliance officer BSA case a cautionary tale for small banks

DOJ

Instead of using his expertise to build a small credit union’s Bank Secrecy Act compliance program, a New York-based BSA compliance officer facilitated more than $1 billion in high-risk international financial business through an “unsophisticated” institution, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

Gyanendra Asre pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York to violating the BSA by failing to maintain an anti-money laundering (AML) program, the DOJ announced in a press release. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 3.

In a parallel action, FinCEN fined Asre $100,000 and banned him from serving at any institution covered by the BSA for five years.

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