The Six Million Dollar Pilot

• Mozzy News

Guyanese pilot Khamraj Lall, who was stopped by Customs Agents in Puerto Rico on his way to Guyana with US$620,000, spent three years making hundreds of small deposits totalling US$6.4M into numerous bank accounts in order to disguise the source of his income, US prosecutors say.

Two days after Lall’s arrest on November 23rd a New Jersey judge issued seizure warrants for the contents of the bank accounts. The matter is currently only in the complaints stage and no opposition has yet been filed. Lall is out on $100,000 bail and faces a criminal trial for bulk cash smuggling on February 23rd.

The details of his activity are included in court documents filed December 18 2014, running to 30 pages, and part of a “civil action seeking to forfeit and condemn to the use and benefit of the United States”  bank accounts in his name, and his mother’s, totalling US$442,747.59,  two aircraft and a Lexus car that the US government says were all purchased for cash and improved by monies run through those accounts. Properties in New Jersey New York and Florida are listed but the government says it is is not looking to seize these at this time.

“Structuring”

The government says Lall was engaged in structuring which is a practice used by persons attempting to hide the origin of income by making numerous deposits of less than the US$10,000 limit which then requires a currency transaction report (CTR). The government notes that “Many individuals involved in illegal activities, such as tax evasion, money laundering, and narcotics trafficking, are aware of the reporting requirements and take active steps to cause financial institutions to fail to file CTRs in order to avoid detection of the movement of large amounts of cash.”

The government charges that “between April 2011 and September 2014, approximately 1,086 structured U.S. currency deposits totaling approximately $6,324,411.41 were made into bank accounts controlled
by K. Lall or J. Lall (his mother). Those accounts included the fourteen bank accounts from which the defendant funds were seized….”

“None of the cash deposits to the Subject Accounts, the LOC Accounts, or Closed Account 6261 exceeded $10,000, the amount that would have triggered the filing of a CTR, and many of the deposits were made on the same day or on consecutive business days. While none of the deposits during this period of time were in an amount in excess of $10,000, there were a number of instances where the total of two or more deposits made on the same day or during a short period of time exceeded $10,000. For instance, during the week of July 8, 2013, 19 separate deposits, none of which individually exceeded $10,000, but which together totaled $111,700 in U.S. currency, were made into nine of the Subject Accounts and
LOC Accounts. Similarly, during the week of September 16, 2013, 17 deposits totaling $109,000 in U.S. currency were made into ten of the Subject Accounts and LOC Accounts without a single deposit exceeding $10,000, the amount that would have triggered the filing of a CTR.”

Ignored Bank Warning

“On or about October 30, 2013, his bank JP Morgan Chase sent K. Lall a letter indicating that a pattern of cash transactions involving LOC Account 3944 appeared designed to evade the CTR filing requirements. Enclosed with the letter was an instructional pamphlet published by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) informing K. Lall that structuring is illegal. Notably, none of the structuring behavior changed after K. Lall received this letter and pamphlet. 29. While the accounts controlled by K. Lall and J. Lall did receive some limited non-cash deposits during the relevant period, it is clear from the records that the source of the funds used to purchase and improve the defendant nonmonetary properties was currency that had been structured into the accounts in a pattern indicative of an intent to avoid the filing of a currency transaction report. Furthermore, transfers among accounts and advances from lines of credit appear to have been used to obfuscate the fact that the source of the funds used to purchase the defendant nonmonetary properties was currency that had been deposited in a structured manner.”

Cash for houses, jets and a Lexus

The government alleges Lall used funds from these accounts to pay off the mortgage on the Ringwood NJ property purchased back in 2002 as well as purchase other properties including plunking down US$350,000 for a house in Hamptonburgh and paying cash for the two aircraft associated with Exec Jet Club and on which the President of Guyana flew.

“In summary, a total of $381,232.41 that is traceable to structured funds was transferred from the Subject Accounts and LOC Accounts for the purchase and improvement of Aircraft N822QL…” (purchased July 6 2012)  “The total price for Aircraft N923SL received by IATS, including sales price, inspection fees, and escrow fees, was $525,000. The entire purchase price is traceable to structured funds that were disbursed from Account 7493″ ( purchased around June 25 2014)

On or about December 11, 2012, check #1399 in the amount of $47,101.13, which is traceable to structured funds, was disbursed from Account 5891 and made payable to “Prestige Lexus” with the memo “Lexus 2013 GX460”

Background…

“The  government says Khamraj Lall, a licensed pilot owns and operates Exec Jet Club as well as Kaylees Investments and Shannon Investments “which appear to be real estate and investment holding companies. His mother Joyce Lall “is a licensed real estate broker and was previously an employee of KLX Logistics, also known as KL Express (“KLX&rdquo. KLX was a transportation and storage business owned by K. Lall and located at 13-25 Edward Hart Road, Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey (the “KLX Property&rdquo. The KLX Property was owned by Kaylees.  In May 2011, Kaylees sold the KLX Property to Liberty Storage, an unrelated third party. According to bank records, K. Lall is currently receiving monthly checks from Liberty Storage.”