• Sold planes to Mexican drug lords
• ‘Selling to criminal elements and helping them conceal their cash is a losing proposition’
• ‘Selling to criminal elements and helping them conceal their cash is a losing proposition’
Stancil Enterprises Inc., a Placerville corporation that sold aircraft, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to aid and abet structuring financial transactions, says U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner.
The guilty plea was entered before U.S. District Judge Morrison England Jr. in Sacramento.
Joseph Stancil, the owner and president of Stancil Enterprises, spoke on behalf of the company at the plea hearing Thursday, admitting the factual basis for the plea was accurate.
As part of the plea, Stancil Enterprises agreed to forfeit $428,589 to the federal government.
Joseph Stancil and salesman Daniel Mathis were also charged with conspiracy to aid and abet structuring financial transactions.
Stancil Enterprises and its agents were required by federal law to report the receipt of cash in amounts exceeding $10,000 for a single transaction unless a bank was required to report the transaction on a Currency Transaction Report (relating to cash transactions of over $10,000 made for a single person or company in a single day).
According to the plea agreement, Stancil Enterprises sold multiple planes for cash in 2008 and 2009 to purchasers whom they believed to be Mexican, involving deposited cash they believed to be from illegal narcotics trafficking.
The company and its agents knew that the buyers were structuring cash into the Stancil Enterprises account in increments of less than $10,000 in order to avoid federal cash transaction reporting requirements, Mr. Wagner says.
The company and its agents tracked deposits by these purchasers, requiring them to alert Stancil Enterprises of the deposits and which plane sales the deposits related to. Often the purchasers faxed cash deposit tickets to Stancil Enterprises as proof to ensure credit for the payment. They made deposits in such a way that the banks could not connect the transactions to a specific buyer or plane, and could not identify the individuals making the deposits or purchasing the planes, and therefore could not make a Currency Transaction Report for large cash transactions, court documents show.
According to the plea agreement, in November 2009, an undercover agent with the Internal Revenue Service made contact with Joseph Stancil, stating that he wished to purchase a plane for his son with cash and asked for advice on how to accomplish that without having any reports filed on the cash transaction.
Mr. Stancil’s response indicated that he understood that the fictional son was engaged in drug trafficking activity in Mexico, specifically marijuana, Mr. Wagner says.
The aircraft dealer proceeded to advise the agent how “the Mexicans” did it, depositing cash in increments into Stancil Enterprises accounts. Mr. Stancil and the undercover agent proceeded into the office of Daniel Mathis, who advised the agent about Stancil Enterprises’ Form 8300 reporting requirement for such cash transactions.
When asked how they got away with not reporting “the Mexicans,” Mr. Mathis advised that no one had ever “hassled” Stancil Enterprises about the issue, court documents say.
From September 2008 and through August 2009, Stancil Enterprises received $428,589.30 in structured funds for six planes, each with a separate buyer.
“Selling to criminal elements and helping them conceal their cash is a losing proposition. Stancil Enterprises lost the planes to its customers and lost all of the payments for those planes through forfeiture to the United States, and put its employees and officers at risk of very significant time in prison,” says Mr. Wagner.
“These crimes matter – doing business with drug dealers, from Mexico or anywhere else, enables these criminals to engage in dangerous criminal activity. We urge all businesses to review their own cash accounting practices and ensure that any suspicious cash transactions are reported according to the law,” he says.
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com
A Placerville aircraft dealership that helped several alleged drug traffickers from Mexico conceal the purchases of six airplanes has agreed to forfeit more than $428,000 as part of a plea deal.http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com
Appearing before U.S. District Judge Morrison England Jr. today, Joseph Stancil, president and owner of Stancil Enterprises Inc., admitted that his company and its employees helped buyers from Sinaloa, Baja California and Sonora, Mexico evade federal reporting requirements for large cash transactions.
Federal law requires U.S. businesses and banks to file a currency transaction report anytime a person makes a cash purchase of $10,000 or more.
According to federal prosecutors, Stancil and Stancil Enterprises helped the buyers parcel payments totaling more than $428,000 into 57 different transactions of $9,500 or less during 2008 and 2009.
"Selling to criminal elements and helping them conceal their cash is a losing proposition," said U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner.
The plea deal covers the company, Stancil Enterprises. Joseph Stancil, a former owner of a local Toyota car dealership, and one of his salesman Daniel Mathis also were charged with conspiracy to aid and abet structuring financial transactions. They have worked out a deferred prosecution agreement.
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