Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988

PART V - ENFORCEMENT  

SECTION 31   OFFENCE TO CONDUCT TRANSACTIONS SO AS TO AVOID REPORTING REQUIREMENTS  

31(1)   [Offence re conduct of cash transactions]  

A person commits an offence against this section if:

(a) the person is a party to 2 or more non-reportable cash transactions; and

(b) having regard to:

(i) the manner and form in which the transactions were conducted, including, without limiting the generality of this, all or any of the following:

(A) the value of the currency involved in each transaction;

(B) the aggregated value of the transactions;

(C) the period of time over which the transactions took place;

(D) the interval of time between any of the transactions;

(E) the locations at which the transactions took place; and

(ii) any explanation made by the person as to the manner or form in which the transactions were conducted;

it would be reasonable to conclude that the person conducted the transactions in that manner or form for the sole or dominant purpose of ensuring, or attempting to ensure, that the currency involved in the transactions was transferred in a manner and form that:

(iii) would not give rise to a significant cash transaction; or

(iv) would give rise to exempt cash transactions.

31(2)   [Offence re conduct of currency transfers]  

A person commits an offence against this section if:

(a) the person conducts 2 or more non-reportable transfers of currency; and

(b) having regard to:

(i) the manner and form in which the transfers were conducted, including, without limiting the generality of this, all or any of the following:

(A) the value of the currency involved in each transfer;

(B) the aggregated value of the currency involved in the transfers;

(C) the period of time over which the transfers occurred;

(D) the interval of time between any of the transfers;

(E) the locations at which the transfers were initiated or conducted; and

(ii) any explanation made by the person as to the manner or form in which the transfers were conducted;

it would be reasonable to conclude that the person conducted the transfers in that manner or form for the sole or dominant purpose of ensuring, or attempting to ensure, that no report in relation to the currency involved in the transfers would be made under section 15 .

31(3)   [Penalty]  

A person who commits an offence against this section is punishable, upon conviction, by imprisonment for not more than 5 years.

Note:

Subsection 4B(2) of the Crimes Act 1914 allows a court to impose in respect of an offence an appropriate fine instead of, or in addition to, a term of imprisonment. The maximum fine that a court can impose on an individual is worked out by multiplying the maximum term of imprisonment (in months) by 5, and then multiplying the resulting number by the amount of a penalty unit. The amount of a penalty unit is stated in section 4AA of that Act. If a body corporate is convicted of an offence, subsection 4B(3) of that Act allows a court to impose a fine that is not greater than 5 times the maximum fine that could be imposed by the court on an individual convicted of the same offence.