6-1241. Reports to the attorney general; investigation; violation; classification

A. Within thirty days after any transaction or series or pattern of transactions that is conducted or attempted by, at or through the business and that involves or aggregates five thousand dollars or more in funds or other assets, each licensee and authorized delegate of a licensee and each money transmitter shall file with the attorney general's office in a form prescribed by the attorney general a report of the transaction or series or pattern of transactions if the licensee, authorized delegate or money transmitter knows, suspects or has reason to suspect that the activity either:

1. Involves funds that are derived from illegal activities, is intended or conducted in order to hide or disguise funds or other assets that are derived from illegal activities, including, without limitation, the ownership, nature, source, location or control of the funds or other assets, as part of a plan to violate or evade any law or regulation or to avoid any transaction reporting requirement under this chapter or may constitute a possible money laundering violation under section 13-2317 or another racketeering violation as defined in section 13-2301.

2. Has no business or apparent lawful purpose or is not the sort of activity in which the particular customer would normally be expected to engage and the licensee, authorized delegate or money transmitter knows of no reasonable explanation for the activity after examining the available facts, including the background and possible purpose of the activity.

B. A licensee, authorized delegate or money transmitter that is required to file a report regarding business conducted in this state pursuant to the currency and foreign transactions reporting act (31 United States Code sections 5311 through 5326, including any special measures that are established under 31 United States Code section 5318A, and 31 Code of Federal Regulations chapter X or 12 Code of Federal Regulations section 21.11) shall file a duplicate of that report with the attorney general.

C. All persons who are engaged in a trade or business and who receive more than ten thousand dollars in money in one transaction or who receive more than ten thousand dollars in money through two or more related transactions shall complete and file with the attorney general the information required by 31 United States Code section 5331 and the federal regulations relating to this section concerning reports relating to cash received in trade or business.

D. A licensee, authorized delegate or money transmitter that is regulated under the currency and foreign transactions reporting act (31 United States Code section 5325 and 31 Code of Federal Regulations chapter X) and that is required to make available prescribed records to the secretary of the United States department of treasury on request at any time shall follow the same prescribed procedures and create and maintain the same prescribed records relating to each transaction.

E. In addition to the requirements under subsection D of this section and in connection with each transaction that involves transmitting money in an amount of one thousand dollars or more, whether sending or receiving, a licensee or, for transactions conducted through an authorized delegate, an authorized delegate shall retain a record of each of the following:

1. The name and social security or taxpayer identification number, if any, of the individual presenting the transaction and the person and the entity on whose behalf the transaction is to be effected.

2. The type and number of the customer's verified photographic identification, as described in 31 Code of Federal Regulations section 1010.312.

3. The customer's current occupation.

4. The customer's current residential address.

5. The customer's signature.

F. Subsection E of this section does not apply to transactions by which the licensee's customer is making a bill payment either to a commercial creditor pursuant to a contract between the licensee and the commercial creditor or to a utility company.

G. Each licensee shall create records that reflect the provision of updated operating policies and procedures pursuant to section 6-1208, subsection B and of instruction that promotes compliance with this chapter, title 13, chapter 23 and 31 United States Code section 5318, including the identification of the provider and the material and instruction that were provided.

H. On request of the attorney general, a county attorney or the superintendent, a licensee, authorized delegate or money transmitter shall make any records that are created pursuant to this section available to the attorney general, a county attorney or the superintendent at any time.

I. A licensee or, for transactions conducted through an authorized delegate, an authorized delegate shall maintain any customer identification records that are created pursuant to subsection E of this section for three years. After three years, the licensee or, for transactions conducted through an authorized delegate, the authorized delegate shall deliver the customer identification records to the attorney general. The attorney general shall make the records available on request to the superintendent or a county attorney but shall not otherwise distribute the customer identification records without a court order. The customer identification records shall not be used for any purpose other than for criminal and civil prosecution and the prevention and detection of fraud and other criminal conduct.

J. If the superintendent or the attorney general finds that reasonable grounds exist for requiring additional record keeping and reporting in order to carry out the purposes of this chapter and to prevent the evasion of this chapter, the superintendent or the attorney general may:

1. Issue an order requiring any group of licensees, authorized delegates or money transmitters in a geographic area to do any of the following:

(a) Obtain information regarding transactions that involve total dollar amounts or denominations of five hundred dollars or more, including the names of any persons participating in those transactions and any persons or entities on whose behalf they are to be effected.

(b) Maintain records of that information for at least five years and make those records available to the attorney general and the superintendent.

(c) File a report with the attorney general and the superintendent regarding any transaction in the manner prescribed in the order.

2. Issue an order exempting any group of licensees or authorized delegates from the requirements of subsection E of this section based on the geographic area, the volume of business conducted, the record of compliance with the reporting requirements of this chapter and other objective criteria.

K. An order issued pursuant to subsection J of this section is not effective for more than one hundred eighty days unless renewed after finding that reasonable grounds exist for continuation of the order.

L. The timely filing of a report required by this section with the appropriate federal agency shall be deemed compliance with the reporting requirements of this section, unless the attorney general has notified the superintendent that reports of that type are not regularly and comprehensively transmitted by that federal agency to the attorney general.

M. This chapter does not preclude a licensee, authorized delegate, money transmitter, financial institution or person engaged in a trade or business from instituting contact with and disclosing customer financial records to appropriate state or local law enforcement agencies if the licensee, authorized delegate, money transmitter, financial institution or person has information that may be relevant to a possible violation of any criminal statute or to the evasion or attempted evasion of any reporting requirement of this chapter.

N. A licensee, authorized delegate, money transmitter, financial institution, person engaged in a trade or business or director, officer, employee, agent or authorized delegate of any of them that keeps or files a record as prescribed by this section, that communicates or discloses information or records under subsection M of this section or that requires another to make any such disclosure is not liable to any person under any law or rule of this state or any political subdivision of this state or under any contract or other legally enforceable agreement, including any arbitration agreement, for the disclosure or for the failure to provide notice of the disclosure to the person who is the subject of the disclosure or to any other person who is identified in the disclosure. This subsection shall be construed to be consistent with 31 United States Code section 5318(g)(3).

O. The attorney general may report any possible violations indicated by analysis of the reports required by this chapter to any appropriate law enforcement agency for use in the proper discharge of its official duties. If an officer or employee of this state or any political subdivision of this state receives a report pursuant to 31 United States Code section 5318(g), the report shall be disclosed only as provided in 31 United States Code section 5318(g). A person who releases information received pursuant to this subsection except in the proper discharge of official duties is guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor.

P. The requirements of this section shall be construed to be consistent with the requirements of the currency and foreign transactions reporting act (31 United States Code sections 5311 through 5326 and federal regulations prescribed under those sections) unless the context otherwise requires.

Q. A person who refuses to permit any lawful investigation by the superintendent, a county attorney or the attorney general or who refuses to make records available to the superintendent, a county attorney or the attorney general pursuant to subsection H of this section is guilty of a class 6 felony.