Brink’s Settles Anti-Money Laundering Charges With DOJ and FinCEN

The Brink’s Company said Thursday (Feb. 6) that its subsidiary, Brink’s Global Services USA (BGS USA), reached agreement with two U.S. agencies to resolve investigations related to cross-border currency shipments and compliance with federal money-transmitting laws.

BGS USA reached a non-prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and a consent order imposing civil money penalty with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the company said in a press release.

Brink’s said in the release that it agreed to pay a total of $42 million over three years and that it cooperated throughout the investigations. The company added that the resolutions involve currency shipments that occurred from 2018 to 2020 and that it strengthened its global Ethics & Compliance program over the last several years.

“Upon learning of the DOJ investigation in 2020, we conducted our own thorough internal review and have since implemented further enhancements to our global Ethics & Compliance program, which were acknowledged by the DOJ in our agreement,” Brink’s President and CEO Mark Eubanks said in the release. “As an industry leader, we are committed to continuous improvement and are always evolving our program to address changing compliance risks.”

FinCEN said in a Thursday press release that it assessed a $37 million civil money penalty against BGS USA for willful violation of the anti-money laundering (AML) law, the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), and that the company will be subject to an AML program review.

The agency said that the resolution with BGS USA sets forth that the company failed to register with FinCEN as a money services business, failed to develop an effective AML program, and failed to file suspicious activity reports.

“For years, Brink’s moved large sums domestically and across the Southwest border without required AML controls, exposing the U.S. financial system to a heightened risk of money laundering, including from narcotics trafficking and other illicit activity,” FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki said in the release.

The DOJ said in a Thursday press release that BGS USA would forfeit $50 million to settle criminal allegations that it operated as an unlicensed money transmitting business and that, as part of the non-prosecution agreement, the company admitted that it illegally transported money domestically and internationally.

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