Woman admits to dodging report law

Broke up payments to skirt threshold

A Conway woman who owns Duncan Outdoors Inc. with her husband is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty May 5 to one of 21 federal structuring charges they were jointly facing.

Patrice Donnell Duncan, 59, admitted May 5 that in September and October 2011, she told a customer she would break up his cash payment for a motorcycle into two payments when she deposited it, so that the bank and the government wouldn't know about the transaction. The customer turned out to be an undercover Internal Revenue Service agent who was wearing a recording device.

Under federal law, a domestic financial institution is required to file a currency transaction report for each deposit, withdrawal, exchange of currency, or other payment or transfer involving more than $10,000 cash. The report to the U.S. Treasury Department identifies the individual making the transaction.

Duncan and her husband, Gary Ronald Duncan, were indicted Sept. 5, 2012, on 21 counts of structuring a financial transaction to evade the reporting requirements. The indictment alleges 21 instances of making partial deposits of less than $10,000 between Oct. 22, 2007, and Oct. 25, 2011.

Patrice Duncan admitted last week to U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. that she deposited $9,400 from the agent's purchase Oct. 25, 2011, and then deposited the remaining $2,000 Oct. 28 so the bank wouldn't fill out the transaction forms.

When sentenced at a later date, she faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Her husband's trial date is expected to be rescheduled.

Metro on 05/17/2014

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