BROOKLYN, N.Y.–A former credit union employee has pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an anti-money laundering program in violation of the Bank Secrecy Act “as part of a scheme to bring lucrative and high-risk international financial business to a small, unsophisticated credit union,” according to the Justice Department.
Gyanendra Asre, 56, of Greenwich, Conn., who was previously employed by New York State Employees FCU, entered the guilty plea before United States District Judge Diane Gujarati. Asre faces up to 10 years in prison.
New York State EFCU was closed by NCUA in October of 2017 and merged into Palisades FCU. At the time it was closed it had approximately $2 million in assets and 1,200 members.
The Justice Department, the New York Attorney General’s office, and the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations were all involved in the investigation.
‘Deliberately Ignored’
“Asre was an experienced anti-money laundering specialist well-versed in the Bank Secrecy Act’s provisions and deliberately ignored these protections, exposing financial institutions to the risk of illicit criminal activity,” stated United States Attorney Breon Peace. “
According to court filings, from 2014 to 2016, Asre devised a scheme to “bring lucrative and high-risk international financial business lines such as international currency trading to small, unsophisticated financial institutions. Asre was trained in anti-money laundering compliance and procedures, and represented to the financial institutions that, because of his experience and training, he understood the risks associated with the high-risk business lines and would conduct appropriate anti-money laundering oversight as required by the Bank Secrecy Act.
‘High-Risk Transactions’
“Based on Asre’s representations, the New York State Employees Federal Credit Union (NYSEFCU), a small financial institution with a volunteer board that primarily served New York state public employees, allowed Asre to conduct high-risk transactions through the NYSEFCU,” the Justice Department statement continued. “Asre then caused the transfer of more than $1 billion in high-risk transactions, including hundreds of millions of dollars originating from high-risk foreign jurisdictions, through the NYSEFCU and other entities. Asre, who was a certified anti-money laundering specialist with experience in international banking and anti-money laundering compliance and procedures, was a member of the NYSEFCU’s supervisory board during this time period. However, contrary to his representations, Asre willfully failed to implement and maintain the requisite anti-money laundering programs or conduct oversight required to detect, identify and report suspicious transactions.
‘Not a Single SAR’
“This caused, among other things, the NYSEFCU to process more than $1 billion in high-risk transactions during Asre’s tenure, without ever filing a single Suspicious Activity Report as required by law,” the statement noted.
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