By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
FBI agent Travis Raymond Wilson, 38, of Huntington Beach, Calif., thought he could hide his gambling activity from his bosses.
He was wrong.
Wilson pleaded guilty Wednesday to structuring financial transactions in violation of the federal Bank Secrecy Act, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Fresno, Calif.
Authorities stated in court documents that Wilson was a FBI special agent assigned to offices in California.
Between January 2008 and February 2013, Wilson regularly gambled at casinos in California, Nevada, Arizona, and West Virginia, authorities said.
Authorities charged that he frequently left the Casinos with more than $10,000 cash and regularly made deposits in amounts of $10,000 or less into his bank account “to attempt to prevent CTRs from being filed because he did want not the FBI to become aware of his gambling activities. In total, Wilson structured more than $488,000 in cash into his bank account.”
“Agent Wilson was well aware of the CTR requirement, and engaged in a pattern of transactions intended to circumvent the reporting of cash transactions under the Bank Secrecy Act,” said U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner. “It is particularly important that federal law enforcement agents be faithful to the letter and spirit of federal law.”
This was the tragic loss of an agent’s career. The FBI knew he had a gambling issue back in 2009, when I told them. They looked the other way. Did order him to counseling before they gave him another 5 year security clearance. Only when the IRS got up in their business did they finally pay attention. This ending could have been rewritten years earlier.
Correct, “Did order him” to “Could have ordered him.” Sorry!